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Snippets 4 August 2006.
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A) Meeting With Director-General
Representatives of the ISEA State
Council met with the Director-General (Andrew Cappie-Wood), the Deputy
Director-General (Trevor Fletcher) and the General Manager, Industrial
Relations and Employment Services (Peter Riordan) on the 26th July to
discuss a range of topics nominated by the ISEA. In each instance a
commitment or response in writing was sought from
Director-General.
The topics discussed and responses requested
included:
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Teaching Experience and Education
Qualifications for Senior DET Positions.
The
ISEA sought a commitment from the DET that the ISEA will be consulted
prior to the advertisement of senior positions, including CEO positions,
where extensive school experience and post-graduate studies in education
are deemed to be not necessary.
-
The establishment of Senior Officer positions
at the expense of Chief Education Officer
positions.
The ISEA sought a full disclosure by
the DET of its intentions in regard to unfilled CEO positions and as to
the future of the CEO classification as a whole.
-
The temporary/permanent status of advertised
positions.
The ISEA sought the opportunity to
peruse all advertisements for CEO positions before they are placed in
publications.
-
Career Progression Opportunities for
CEOs
The ISEA sought a firm commitment
from the DET that a policy for the Career progression of CEOs will be
developed in consultation with the ISEA and that immediate opportunities
will be identified.
-
Professional development for DET staff in
senior positions including induction for CEOs and opportunities for
international study.
The ISEA again
sought a commitment to the professional development of CEOs and asked
that a clear and specific indication be given of how that commitment
will be honoured and that the applications for support from officers
taking part in the 2006 ISEA Study Tour will be considered on their
merits.
-
The Role of the ISEA in Supporting the
DET
The ISEA sought from the D-G his
ideas on how the ISEA might best support the policies, programs and
achievements of the DET.
The meeting was congenial with a full discussion
taking place around each of the topics raised by the
ISEA.
The Director-General undertook to provide a
written response to the ISEA’s requests.
Members will be provided with the D-G’s response
when it is received.
B) Meeting With the NSW Teachers
Federation
Representatives of the ISEA State
Council met with the General Secretary (John Irving) and staff members of
the NSW Teachers Federation the 20th July to discuss matters of mutual
interest.
The topics discussed included:
-
Teaching experience and education qualifications for
senior DET positions
The ISEA and Teachers Federation share a concern
about the growing numbers of senior positions, within the DET, that do
not require extensive teaching experience and post-graduate
qualifications in education. While it is conceded that not all senior
positions should require such criteria there are key positions where an
extensive knowledge of the operation and culture of schools and of
current research is clearly essential.
Both
organisations believe that it is not in the interests of schools
(students, parents and teachers) to have such key positions filled by
staff without such experience and qualifications.
The ISEA and
Teachers Federation will take up the issue with the Minister, the
Director-General and other key groups before further action is
considered.
Meanwhile members are asked to notify the ISEA of
advertised positions where it is believed that extensive school
experience and post-graduate qualifications in education should have
been included as essential criteria.
-
The establishment of Senior Officer positions
to the detriment of Chief Education Officer
positions.
The ISEA and the Teachers Federation
have noted that in “Out of School locations” there has been an increase
in Public Service positions at the expense of Education Teaching Service
positions. In particular, the disestablishment or non-advertisement of
Chief Education Officer positions, while there has been a rapid increase
in the numbers of Senior Officer positions, is of concern. Likewise the
non-advertisement of established Senior Education Officer and Principal
Education Officer positions is not considered to be in the interest of
the support services needed by schools.
Both organisations will
seek detailed data in relation to this matter be fore pursuing it with
the Director-General.
-
Temporary/permanent status of advertised
positions.
As members of both organisations are
aware the issue of the inconsistent advertising by the DET of positions
as either “Permanent” or “Temporary” has been a major concern for
several years. Both the ISEA and the Teachers Federation have found it
necessary to approach the Industrial Relations Commission in recent
years to resolve disputes where it was believed the DET had breached
agreements over the matter.
Again in recent months both the ISEA
and the Teachers Federation have drawn the DET’s attention to the
advertisement of positions as “Temporary” contrary to the written
agreement signed with the DET.
Unfortunately the DET, despite accepting the
incorrect advertising of some positions as “Temporary”, has declined to
withdraw the advertisements and re-advertise them as
“Permanent.”
This is an entirely unacceptable situation
to the ISEA and Teachers Federation which only leads to a proliferation
of “Temporary” positions and uncertain career prospects for hard working
and highly skilled officers.
The two organisations will cooperate in
identifying positions incorrectly advertised and will immediately take
them up with the Director-General. If necessary the IRC’s involvement
will be sought if breaches of the agreement are not
rectified.
The associated matter of the “Right of Return”
conditions applying to long-term Temporary CEOs is also of major concern
to the ISEA. A series of case studies is being prepared and they will be
presented to the DET in order to negotiate a case-by-case consideration
of each situation.
C) Scheduled Meeting with
Minister
The Minister has agreed to meet
representatives of the ISEA’s State Council on the 20th
September.
While a list of topics for discussion has yet to
be forwarded to the Minister it is likely that the ISEA will nominate
several of the issues taken up with the Director-General (see A above) and
the NSW Teachers Federation (B above) and in particular the growing trend
in the DET to remove the requirement for extensive school experience and
post-graduate qualifications in education for senior administrative
positions.
D)
ISEA Professional Development
Activities.
The ISEA has
conducted, or is planning, a range of Professional development activities
for 2006 including:
-
A Breakfast
Session featuring ACER’s Deirdre Jackson demonstrating
the on-line student assessment program “iAchieve” Held at the Ryde
College of TAFE the session attracted ISEA members, State and Regional
colleagues, principals and teachers interested in this contemporary and
flexible mode of student assessment.
-
A Professional Dinner held
in the CBD following the ISEA’s Annual General Meeting. The after-dinner
speaker was Dr Melinda Mangin, Associate Professor of Educational
Leadership at the Michigan State University, who spoke of the demands on
school leaders in the USA and the range of training offered by school
systems and universities for aspiring school
leaders.
-
The number and depth of questions to Dr Magin
posed by the ISEA members, colleagues and friends was a fair indication
of the significance of the topic in Australia and the
USA.
-
A Lunch Time
Session held at the Ryde State Office featuring Ms Judy
O’Brien, Senior Lecturer at the Teacher Education Faculty of the
Michigan State University (MSU). Ms O’Brien spoke of the mentoring
program conducted by MSU in cooperation with Michigan School districts
for exit-students from the University. The MSU program identifies,
trains and pays experienced teachers to act as mentors to
beginning-teachers for the first 3 years of their careers.
The
gathering of several ISEA members, State and Regional colleagues,
principals and teachers stayed well after the scheduled completion of
the session to discuss the MSU’s innovative Mentoring program with Judy
O’Brien.
-
2006 ISEA Study Tour On
Track
The ISEA’s Study Tour to the USA and Canada, to be conducted in
October this year, is scheduled to visit a range of educational
institutions and educators in Seattle (USA), Lethbridge, Calgary and
Vancouver Island (Canada). Assisted by Professor Paul Shaw of the
University of British Columbia and Professor Richard Butt of the
University of Lethbridge the Tour promises to be as informative (and
demanding) as the Study Tour conducted by the ISEA to the UK and Germany
in 2005.
E)
Legal
and Financial Services Available to ISEA Members.
ISEA members and potential members are reminded
that the ISEA is able to arrange for legal and financial advice as
required.
Newly appointed SES members are offered expert
advice by Jones Staff and Co prior to signing a Contract with the DET.
Financial advice is available to all members through the experienced
services of Chifley Financial Services.
F) Membership Details and
Application Form, see the ISEA’s Website
http://www.iseansw.org.au/
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