Edition 3, July 2010
This is the third edition of the TRB update for 2010. If you know a teacher who has not received an email from the Board, please encourage them to advise the Board of their current contact details.
Registrations
Currently there are 5,832 teachers registered to teach in the Northern Territory. We have registered 16 beginning teachers from Charles Darwin University and they are now teaching schools. The Board wishes them success in their first semester of teaching.
Commencement of new Act and successful passage of the Regulations
The Teacher Registration (Northern Territory) Amendment Act 2010 (the Amendment Act) was passed in the Legislative Assembly on 17 February 2010. Before the commencement of the Amendment Act, however, the subordinate legislation, otherwise known as 'the Regulations', had to be assented to by the Administrator for the Northern Territory on the advice of the Executive Council. While an Act deals with matters of principle or substance, matters of a functional or administrative nature are prescribed in the Act to be dealt with in the Regulations.
On the 21 July 2010, the Administrator, acting on the advice of the Executive Council, assented to the Teacher Registration (Northern Territory) Amendment Regulations 2010.
We now expect the new Act and the new Regulations will commence on 1 September 2010.
What the new Act means for currently registered teachers
In short, all currently registered teachers will be deemed to hold Full Registration for a period of five years at the commencement of the Act. This five year period is referred to as the 'term of registration'. In order to renew your term of registration, you will be required to meet registration renewal requirements which include evidence of maintaining currency of practice, ongoing professional learning and good character. This requirement will apply every five years thereafter.
All currently registered teachers will be sent advice about their new registration category by mail shortly after the commencement of the Act.
Information about being a fully registered teacher
Currently registered teachers are encouraged to visit the Fully registered teachers page for the most recent advice about the changes being introduced under the new Act.
TRB website
Over the coming months, the TRB website will undergo some minor changes in order to provide provisionally and fully registered teachers quick and easy access to information relevant to their category of registration. The website will become the focal point of all communication and information sharing through the use of Web 2 tools. Teachers will be notified when the changes have been completed.
More information will be released in the coming weeks and while we will alert you through the group email we do recommend you visit the website regularly for the release of new information packages.
Teacher education courses approved by the Board
A key function of the Board’s work is to assess pre-service, initial teacher education courses delivered by Charles Darwin University and Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education. In June, the Board recommended to the Minister for Education and Training the following courses as being suitable for the purposes of teacher registration in the Northern Territory:
- Bachelor of Teaching and Learning Early Childhood
- Bachelor of Teaching and Learning Inservice (Early Childhood)
- Bachelor of Early Childhood Learning
The assessment of pre-service teacher education courses is rigorous and done so using the Board’s Standards, Guidelines and Process for the Approval of Initial Teacher Education Programs.
The Board appoints a panel to assess courses and in this instance the panel members were:
- Sue Crowe - Chair and Principal of Braitling Primary School
- Dr Faye McCallum - Associate Dean, Teaching and Learning, University of South Australia
- Brenda Keenan - Deputy Directory, Teaching and Learning, Catholic Education Office
The work of assessing courses is no easy task, and the Board is very grateful for the work of the panel.
In the coming months, the Board will be carrying out an assessment of the Bachelor of Education (Primary) and Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood) offered by the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education.
Inside Teaching and Research Digest
The latest editions of Inside Teaching and the Research Digest can be found on the TRB website. The second edition of Inside Teaching covers a range of topics that are of interest to classroom teachers such as maximising learning with Indigenous students and teachers’ top ten tips about teaching.
Language in the Mathematics Classroom is the focus of the second edition of the Research Digest and contains useful information for the teaching of mathematics.
Copies of past editions of both publications can be found on the website.
Response to Draft National Standards for Teachers
The Board’s Standards and Professional Learning Committee met in Semester 1 2010 to form a response to the Draft National Standards for Teachers. The Committee spent the better part of a day carefully perusing and unpacking the Draft National Standards in order to make a formal response.
The consensus of the group was that the Standards did not necessarily reflect the complex and dynamic work of teachers and a number of recommendations were made in the Board’ submission to MCEECDYA . In all there were 120 submissions made to MCEECDYA.
A new draft is being developed taking into account the feedback from the profession. The next phases concerning the validation and implementation of the Draft National Standards for Teachers will made available soon.
The National Standards for Teachers will ultimately replace The Northern Territory Standards of Professional Practice for Teaching and will then be used for the accreditation of pre-service teacher education courses, Provisional and Full Registration and Registration Renewal requirements.