Mentoring New Teachers

I have just been re-reading the notes I took at the Education Council (EC) workshop on the new standards at the beginning of this year. Provisionally certificated teachers (PCTs) are always worried about having enough evidence and what to record. I currently mentor 7 PCTs, 3 of whom are coming up for certification this year. What the EC has said is that they do not want voluminous portfolios of stuff and that they want to shift the emphasis from the showing of evidence to improvement of practice done through discussion and documentation. Teachers engaging in “learning talk” analyse, critique and challenge their current teaching practices to find and/or create more effective ways of teaching. ( Annan, Lai & Robinson 2003) The current situation is that ERO will audit the documentation for certification of teachers recently certificated. They are looking to see that the school has a robust system well founded in evidence. They will be looking at the level of support and inducti...

On the 27th February I was fortunate to be able to attend a workshop run by the Education Council on the "new" standards that have been put out for teachers in schools. Unfortunately, some teachers have brushed this off with "Oh they have just put 12 criteria into 6 standards but really nothing has changed". When you read the standards carefully you notice that there has been a sea change which has already been reflected in the more progressive schools especially those who engaged with assessment for learning , Kia Eke Panuku , and to a lesser extent PB4L . So what has changed? Std1   Waitangi partnership - Practise and develop the use of te reo and tikanga Māori Std2 Professional learning - Critically examine how my own assumptions and beliefs, including cultural beliefs, impact on practice and the achievement of learners. Std3 Professional Relationships - Communicate clear and accurate assessment for learning and achievement for learning Std4 Learning-fo...

Teaching as Inquiry is criteria 12 of the Practising Teacher Criteria  which all teachers, including provisionally certificated teachers, need to provide evidence both for appraisal & certification. For this criteria teachers are required to use critical inquiry  to critically examine their own beliefs,  including cultural beliefs, and how they impact on their professional practice and the achievement of ākonga (learners). I found this set of descriptors of good practice for teaching as inquiry in an article "Leading inquiry at teacher level" by Mike Fowler. The inquiry is based on a group of students you teach which could be selected students in one class, a whole class or students from different classes. You look for evidence of what is happening for these student in the classroom by asking these questions: Why are students in my class struggling with....? What are the challenges students are facing in this topic, course? How confident are these students a...

At a recent meeting with PCTs there seemed to be some confusion around evidence for appraisal and evidence for certification. Appraisal Appraisals are about   " improving teacher capability and student outcomes " (ERO). That is why the teacher's goals are linked to the vision and goals of the strategic plan of the school. Often there will be a school goal, a department goal and a personal goal. The appraisal process is  focused on valued outcomes for students, from goal-setting, evidence gathering and analysis, observations and professional discussions to the annual report (ERO). Attention can de directed to priority students and evidence from teachers' inquiries can form the basis of an appraisal discussion. So teachers choose their own goals within the guidelines & parameters set by the school. Originally this process did not include the Registered Teacher Criteria but the Practising Teacher Criteria are now being used in appraisal. There has been confus...

As part of the certification process, provisionally certificated teachers are required to reflect on the learning that has taken place on the things that they are reporting on. There could be reflection on: PLD - what did you learn from whole school PLD, departmental PLD, Mentor PLD meetings - what meetings have you attended, date, time, who with, brief summary reflection teachers whose lessons you have observed - what did you take bck into your own practice and how did it go? learning conversations with mentors, colleagues, SLT reflection on the PAT & asTTle data you have received for your classes reflection on NCEA assessments you have made How does the use of the SOLO taxonomy lift the quality of student thinking and work? What culturally responsive practices have you used with Maori/Tongan, Samoan etc students - what was the result? How do the key competencies and school RISE values fit into the students' learning? This reflection tool can help with the refle...