Schools across New Zealand are now expected to be implementing the Registered Teacher Criteria for all teachers renewing or reapplying for a practising certificate in 2011. These criteria have been designed to be used as a framework for teachers’ ongoing reflections and professional learning, not just as criteria to be assessed against (Registered Teacher Criteria Handbook, 2010).
The criteria do provide plenty of guidance based on what is known about quality teaching and learning. However, in a modern 21st century teaching and learning context, it is quite surprising that there is no mention of e-learning or teaching using digital content in any of the twelve criteria. Given the roll out of ultra-fast broadband to schools, I believe we are approaching the ‘tipping point’ where the expectation will be that all teachers are implementing e-learning in their classrooms. Therefore, I would have thought that the criteria would have been a place where this could have been embedded to send a signal to the teachers still pressing back that they are going to have to take a deep breath and come on board.
Working as Digi Advisors, my colleague Rocky and I felt that this was an area where we could try to ‘plug the gap’ and give some guidance on how the criteria could align with e-learning. Out of this work has arisen the Registered Teacher Criteria wiki.
The wiki has a page for each of the criteria with a range of ideas and examples on how this criteria could be met through the use of e-learning.
The feedback on the wiki has been very positive to this point and the speed at which it has been ‘passed around’ through social networks has shown us that there is a place for this kind of resource. We have also been in touch with the New Zealand Teachers Council and we see some exciting possibilities in aligning our work with theirs in the future. At this point, we are really keen to get the perspectives of those working in schools on what is useful and what could be improved. So if you can, why not go and look at the criteria and be part of the conversation.
In general, though, I’d be really interested to hear your thoughts in relation to the following questions:
- Do you think that e-learning should be an integral part of the criteria or was it appropriate that it wasn’t included?
- If the implementation of e-learning should be considered, what are the things that should definitely be a ‘baseline’ in terms of e-learning implementation that all teachers should be demonstrating to be considered ‘satisfactory’?
What would you see as the way forward to best promote the use of e-learning in schools in relation to the critieria?
Suzie Vesper is an online facilitator for the Digi-Advisers programme. She has a strong interest in the use of online technologies within education, and maintains a number of websites to provide resources to schools in this area. She runs several blogs; her personal blog is Share the addiction.
Suzie Vesper
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- Meeting the criteria - September 19, 2011
Thanks for the overview, Suzie.
Your first question is a bit 'chicken and egg', I think. The criteria could specifically include a whole raft of aspects of teaching – e-learning, special educational needs, gifted and talented – that are important. But I guess the argument is that, while they are important, the focus is on the practice of teaching and the curriculum, first and foremost. I wonder if profiling e-learning might have sent the signal that the technology is important, when actually the starting point should be the students and their understanding/engagement with the learning areas….
Mind you (and I'm having a bob each way here!), the resource you and Rocky developed does push it up the agenda a little – and that is no bad thing for those teachers who may wish to enhance their understanding further:-)
The e-learning planning framework currently in development will hopefully support teachers to review their baseline and set themselves goals. I'm not sure there is a single point at which we are 'satisfactory'… but an understanding of how we might make decisions about what tech to use when might be useful:-)
Thanks for your comments Karen. I think that you have a very valid point that the focus should remain clearly on teaching and learning rather than starting with the technology. Perhaps the criteria themselves shouldn't mention elearning but I would have thought that the supporting material provided by the Teachers Council would include examples that demonstrate how teachers are meeting the criteria using elearning. Many of the other areas you mention above are included in the examples but not elearning. We have now put together a resource to try and do this but it would be great if the material provided by the Teachers Council would reflect this and that it was something that was evident in the content presented in the workshops they have been running with school leaders.