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| AEU News Vol 21, Issue 4, June 2014 |
I am a believer in lifelong
learning and development, but I really question whether the recent changes to
the performance and development process will achieve this? I worry that it will
achieve the opposite if we don’t manage it locally. Instead of a climate of collegiate
collaboration, this creates an aura of self-interest where ironically our prime
focus is ourselves, rather than our students.
John Hattie suggests that the
greatest point of influence on education is teachers and that our goal should
be to help improve every teacher. Yet I wonder if a process with the spectre of
fear hanging over it is going to achieve this? If we really want the best then
schools need to foster an environment that not only challenges teachers, but
also welcomes error and provides adequate feedback. In this scenario, teachers
are able to passionately engage with their teaching based on the evidence at
hand.
The problem is that a focus
on pay means that we miss the point. Instead of saying ‘how can I be the best’,
the focus is on ‘what do I need to do to achieve my next increment’. Our view
then is of today, not tomorrow.
With a new system being
implemented we have an opportunity to make this review process work for
us. We need to demand that the implementation be consulted on at our
schools and that it support and advance the work we do, rather than let it be
something that is done to us.
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