I have long thought that the idea should be supported, and agree with you that it will probably never work.
The majority of teachers at the school I work in opt for time rather than money if given the choice. I think this is why Victorian teachers voted in favour of the latest agreement. I am confused that there wasn’t a better compromise with pay however as there is a scant reward, bordering on disgraceful, for what teachers have been able to do to keep a system working for the last two years.
At the school I work in all of our Instructional Leaders (they all lead Year level teams) are given extra time every week to support their work, this is an extra hour a week. The Learning Specialists who are also Instructional Leaders as part of their role, are allocated an extra day a week to support their work. The Curriculum Team leaders, one for English and one for Maths, also receive an extra hour a week. All other teachers receive more time than the previous agreement allocated, about 30 minutes extra a week.
The model we use rewards those who display excellence in practice and knowledge, both at a classroom level and with leadership skills. The people making decisions about those leadership positions are working in the school and have the best knowledge about staff in relation to their expertise with teaching and learning.
From my experience in 35+ years of secondary teaching the reward is given to those who do the least. If you have little conscious as a teacher you turn up just as the school day is to start, leave as soon as the day finishes and pare down the assessment load to the bare minimum. Plus take sick leave like as if it is a fortnightly RDO. This may seem very cynical but I have seen it work very effectively for some teachers. It suddenly turns a 6 hour working day and 12 weeks of leave into a very well paid occupation.
Thanks for another interesting article Rebecca.
I have long thought that the idea should be supported, and agree with you that it will probably never work.
The majority of teachers at the school I work in opt for time rather than money if given the choice. I think this is why Victorian teachers voted in favour of the latest agreement. I am confused that there wasn’t a better compromise with pay however as there is a scant reward, bordering on disgraceful, for what teachers have been able to do to keep a system working for the last two years.
At the school I work in all of our Instructional Leaders (they all lead Year level teams) are given extra time every week to support their work, this is an extra hour a week. The Learning Specialists who are also Instructional Leaders as part of their role, are allocated an extra day a week to support their work. The Curriculum Team leaders, one for English and one for Maths, also receive an extra hour a week. All other teachers receive more time than the previous agreement allocated, about 30 minutes extra a week.
The model we use rewards those who display excellence in practice and knowledge, both at a classroom level and with leadership skills. The people making decisions about those leadership positions are working in the school and have the best knowledge about staff in relation to their expertise with teaching and learning.
From my experience in 35+ years of secondary teaching the reward is given to those who do the least. If you have little conscious as a teacher you turn up just as the school day is to start, leave as soon as the day finishes and pare down the assessment load to the bare minimum. Plus take sick leave like as if it is a fortnightly RDO. This may seem very cynical but I have seen it work very effectively for some teachers. It suddenly turns a 6 hour working day and 12 weeks of leave into a very well paid occupation.