Headlines: Empowering Principals
Principal members are encouraged to embrace the recent NESA policy changes that streamline the accreditation and professional development processes. These reforms, advocated for by the IEU, seek to alleviate the workload of principals.
The first of these reforms was the removal of the final report requirement for teachers seeking accreditation at proficient. Principals now only need to submit a report if they intend to recommend that a teacher should not attain proficient status. This change should prove particularly beneficial for schools which regularly engage a number of graduate teachers each year, freeing up time to allow schools to focus their energies where it is most needed, supporting beginning teachers.
Self-attestation and professional development reform
The IEU has also played a significant role in reshaping the maintenance of accreditation process, specifically the ability for teachers to self-attest. This transformative step eliminates the need for a principal attestation. This shift provides teachers a direct relationship with the accreditation authority, and frees up principals to focus on their core responsibilities of running the school. It should also prove enormously beneficial in maintaining our much needed supply of casual teachers who will no longer have to seek out a principal to support their accreditation application.
The IEU has similarly pushed for reforms to the professional development process, with teachers only needing to maintain a log of their elective PD undertakings. While it is expected an appropriate amount of accredited PD will continue to be provided by schools and systems, the union is reminding teachers they only need 50 hours of accredited PD, and they are encouraged to seek out elective PD which suits their needs. It is to be hoped that this will raise the status of elective PD while removing some of the burden from schools and systems to provide extensive amounts of accredited PD.
Addressing workload concerns
Despite the IEU’s historic success in salary increases, the persistent challenge of work intensification remains a pressing concern.
The IEU has been engaged in discussions with NESA for some time to address workload issues around compliance. The NESA Curriculum and Program Requirements Fact Sheets are a product of those discussions. NESA has clarified that the level of detail and duplication often requested at the school level is not required for compliance purposes. To further support principals and teachers, the IEU has crafted a comprehensive poster identifying practices that can be modified or eliminated to reduce workload.
Principals should feel confident to engage in professional discussions with their staff to establish what unnecessary or duplicative administrative tasks can be modified, reduced, or eliminated. As an example of how transformative such discussions can be, the Canberra-Goulburn diocese recently removed teacher comments from its student reports, immediately returning hours of professional time to hundreds of teachers.
Principals can also leverage the NESA Statement of Expectations, released in October, which outlines the expectations of NSW Education Minister Prue Car. This document outlines the minister's expectations stressing the reduction of unnecessary workload, clear communication as to why tasks are being required, and support for new curriculum implementation. These documents empower principals to change current work habits and reduce unnecessary workload intensification.
These streamlined accreditation processes and clarified compliance requirements will play a vital role in the broader strategy of teacher recruitment and retention. By reducing the workload associated with accreditation and compliance, the changes which the IEU has worked to secure should contribute to creating a more attractive work environment for teachers.
Lyn Caton (lyn@ieu.asn.au) is the Principals’ Organiser and Assistant Secretary. Any feedback principal members might have as to how these new policies and procedures are implement in the coming months will be warmly welcomed.
Read more from Headlines (November 2023)