ASSOCIATION OF TEACHERS AND LECTURERS

Response to ‘Teaching: High Status, High Standards: General Teaching Council A Consultation Document’

ABSTRACT

This document is the response of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) to the Labour Government’s consultation document ‘‘Teaching: High Status, High Standards: General Teaching Council A Consultation Document’, which the Government has indicated in the White Paper, ‘Excellence in Schools’, it intends to introduce by legislation. It stresses that the Government’s ambitions for the teaching profession of high status and high standards must be underpinned by genuine professional accountability and professional independence; that the GTC must be fit for that purpose, with devolved maximum responsibility to the profession for all aspects of professional standards and professional development; and show evidence that the Government is prepared to share powers with the teaching profession.

Any comments would be welcome and any further information can be obtained from Meryl Thompson, Head of Policy Unit, Association of Teachers and Lecturers, 7 Northumberland Street, London WC2N 5DA, E-mail:

1.The Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) is a teachers’ professional association and trade union with 150,000 members who are teachers in maintained and independent schools, lecturers in further education and student teachers. ATL has consistently supported the establishment of a General Teaching Council (GTC) on a statutory basis, which would have responsibility for teachers’ qualifications, their registration and re-training for re-entry, their initial training, induction and continuing professional development and research related to these matters, believing that professional self-regulation is long overdue in the teaching profession. ATL has worked as part of the General Teaching Council (England and Wales) and associates itself with its response on these issues. These comments should be read in conjunction with that response.

2.However, on a issue which we regard as so fundamental to creating the conditions of openness, transparency and trust only upon which our mutual longer term ambitions for high status and high standards can be founded we are duty bound to respond independently on behalf of our members. The Minister, writes that ‘the GTC will take its place in our new national partnership to raise standards in schools’ What exactly is to be the nature of that partnership will be demonstrated to teachers most critically through the Government’s intentions in legislating for the GTC and its part in deterministically shaping its parameters and nature. As we have said in our response to ‘Excellence in Schools’ it will be for Government ‘to reassure teachers beyond mere words that it genuinely regards them as the leading edge partners rather than simply as foot soldiers to be set off on yet another politically forced route march.’ The presentation of the GTC, by Ministers or others, in the manner of officers discussing discipline for the lower ranks will not provide that reassurance.

3.A key issue is what powers and responsibilities the legislation will pass to the GTC. Trends towards centralisation since the mid-1980s, most specifically in the establishment of a detailed national curriculum for schools by legislation and the Secretary of State’s increased involvement in determining the criteria and curriculum for initial teacher training, have radically altered the relationship between the teaching profession and the State and the result is that, paradoxically, the establishment of a GTC is now both a more problematic and a more sensitive issue than it might have been in 1979.

4.We agree that it is right to move at a pace which retains the confidence of the profession, with a sound framework and the tools for the job, based on wide agreement on its role, status and functions, but it is not right to do this by means which undermine professionalism at the same time as establishing a GTC. The issue is to create for the future a GTC which is genuinely fit for its purpose. It should be an independent professional body, whose advice - because it is founded in professional criteria - is respected both by the Government, the public and the profession. In order to achieve this certain principles must underpin the GTC. These principles underpin ATL’s views expressed in detail later in this paper.

5.These principles underpin, too, the ambitions of high status and high standards. Most succinctly they can be expressed as professional accountability and professional independence. The first principle was clearly identified by the GTC (England and Wales) in ‘Proposals for a Statutory General Teaching Council for England & Wales: A report from GTC (England and Wales) Revised January 1996’. (Hereafter, all GTC references are to the paragraphs in this document) as: ‘The first purpose must be to safeguard the public as learners and clients in general and young people required to attend schools in particular.’ (GTC 11). It is from their concern for the quality of education for all learners that our members’ commitment that a GTC should establish agreed professional standards and have its advice respected on the quality of professional performance applicable at all stages of a teacher’s career flows. However, it is only by the second principle, of professional independence, that the public can be assured that these standards and that advice are genuinely independent of any constraints to quality that may for pragmatic, economic or political reasons be proposed by Government and gain the professional respect to act as a single voice for the teaching profession. Thus the second purpose identified by the GTC (England and Wales) is that ’teachers should be able to exercise a large measure of responsibility for the standards and quality of the professional service they provide for the public.’ (GTC 11)

6.There is surely an unarguable case for a body with a clear professional voice, independent of Government, to speak for the teaching profession. We believe that it is appropriate here to indicate the degree of consensus, from bodies which have considered these matters, to this conception of the GTC as an independent body. In 1993 , the National Commission on Education in its report ‘Learning to Succeed’ said:

‘It is important that those who are actually teaching have a degree of control over and responsibility for their own profession and involvement in the process of change. The Commission, in line with a wide range of individuals and organisations that have provided it with evidence on the teaching profession, recommends statutory self-regulation of the teaching profession through a General Teaching Council. Most professions in Britain have such a body and Scotland has had a GTC since 1966. A GTC south of the border might eventually have more extensive powers, but its initial functions should, we suggest, be:

(i)maintenance of a register of all teachers with qualified status;

(ii)responsibility for professional standards of discipline and conduct, taking appropriate action in cases of serious misconduct and ill-health;

(iii)a statutory source of advice on issues such as professional training and development, qualification level of teachers, and changes in curriculum and assessment.’

7.In 1997 the Sixth Report of the Education and Employment Committee, ‘The Professional Status, Recruitment and Training of Teachers’ made the following recommendations:-

‘We agree with themajority of those who gave evidence that the establishmentof a General Teaching Council could improve the self-esteem of the teaching profession and, in time, improve its status and enhance its effectiveness. We therefore support the principle of establishing such a Council.

We agree with the GTC (England & Wales) that the Council’s membership should have a majority of teachers and should include representatives of parents and of higher education: and that it should not have the responsibility for the funding and accreditation of teacher training courses. This should be left to the TTA, as at present.’

8.Most recently Professor Sutherland in his Report to the National Committee on Inquiry into Higher Education stated:

‘The second issue concerns the functions of the GTC. The concept of a profession is clearly based on self-regulation and responsibility for standards and ethics. I believe, therefore, that the GTC should have statutory responsibility for the registration of qualified teachers and for professional standards. Eventually, it should also have responsibility for national standards in ITT, induction and CPD, including the development of a national curricular framework that covers the full continuum of TET.’ (Paragraph 87)

9.The challenge to the Government in legislating for the GTC will be to devolve maximum responsibilities to the profession and to share powers with the profession in matters where the Government, too, has a legitimate concern for the standards of a public service. We should like to remind Government and others, too, that the existence of a GTC alone will not raise the morale of teachers nor will it alone convince teachers that they have a say in determining the shape and future of the profession. For example, findings from a research study commissioned by ATL from the NFER, ‘Conditions of Success: A feasibility study examining the relationship between school effectiveness and teachers’ conditions of service’ show that teachers identified their main ‘conditions for success’ as:

  • ‘a sense of congruence between personal goals and the school’s goals
  • a sense of trust and value from managers: giving a perception of teacher autonomy within a structure of support
  • management working as organisers and enablers: equally meeting their part of the agenda. not wasting time nor effort - maintaining the same achievement focus
  • effective management problem-solving which ensures adequate resources to carry out the job
  • collaboration, and success in collaboration (whether planning, monitoring, or sharing ideas, classroom experience and expertise)
  • national guidance and incentives which will promote teacher collaboration as well as school achievement - ensuring that teachers are encouraged and supported to exploit the advantages to be gained, personally, and collectively, from co-operation with colleagues’

10.Teachers need to see their professionalism reflected and respected in their day to day management in schools, in the nature of consultations over the curriculum with the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), in developments by and interactions with OfSTED and in policy development and its practical consequences led by the DfEE.

11.As we have said in our response to ‘Excellence in Schools’, ‘The gravest political mistake of recent years has been the failure to connect the idealism, commitment and hard work of the vast majority of teachers to a sense of national educational mission.’ Other means of re-building the self-confidence of the teaching profession and encouraging professional empowerment must be pursued alongside and independently of the GTC. In this respect, the standards of the relationships with the teaching profession and the quality of partnerships with it, also matter more than structures. A GTC should not be looked on as a panacea in changing the climate, although we are convinced that it is necessary component of so doing.

1 Standards in the Profession

12.It should be clear from the above that, as a point of principle, there is an indisputable role for a GTC in all that relates to professional standards, although the nature and execution of that role may vary. The immediate issue may be to manage the transition from a position where a GTC would have no proven record in some of these areas to the desired position in which its role, in partnership with Government, is to provide respected and professional advice which becomes the very basis of policy, legislation and regulation. What will be unacceptable will be if the GTC is to be seen as no more than one of numerous consultees of Government agencies such as the Teacher Training Agency (TTA) and the QCA or of the DfEE in matters relating to the Secretary of State’s powers. The GTC must, in the medium term, assume responsibility for developmental work related to professional standards, have a duty to consult and to advise the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of State should be under a duty to explain why he is not minded to accept advice offered by a GTC.

The possible role of the GTC in establishing agreed standards of conduct for the teaching profession

Professional Conduct

13.We agree that it should be the role of the GTC, through consultation and consensus, to establish the ethical principles of the teaching profession, and, in due course, to express these in a codified form. From such principles, expectations as to professional conduct can be derived. We do not agree that there should be any expectation that these will not cut across any existing policies. We should expect headteachers and employers to take these into account and that existing policies may need to be amended accordingly. The very essence of such professional standards is that they are agreed, shared and practised across the profession, without exception. They are central to the concept of professional accountability and, we believe, will be an expectation of the public and parents.

Such a role has the unequivocal support of the GTC (England and Wales)

‘An essential function for the Council of a self-regulating profession is to ensure a high standard of professional conduct amongst its members. The General Teaching Council should have the responsibility of determining what should be the scope and nature of ethical guidance or rules for professional guidance. It should have in its organisation the capacity to investigate allegations of unacceptable professional conduct; and thirdly, it should have a mandate and a mechanism to impose penalties or set conditions on continuing professional practice’. (GTC 61)

A possible role for the GTC in ensuring that grossly incompetent teachers are not able to teach again.

Competence

14.We regard the issue of the concept of gross incompetence as closed following the report of the Working Group on Capability Procedures for Teachers. Whether or not a teacher dismissed because of incompetence should be subject to any further detriment is a serious issue. Removal from a register introduces the additional concept of losing a ‘licence to practice’ because of incompetence. Put clearly it is an additional form of ‘barring’ from the profession. However, failure in a certain post can be highly contextual and not per se a reason to lose the licence to teach. As we understand it, the Working Group made no recommendations as to a ban on future employment and we consider that this is appropriate for a transitional period.

15.To ATL the crucial issue in relation to removal from a register on grounds of professional incompetence is whether the threshold criteria for such an assessment can be established, which can be applied nationally in a manner which is fair and consistent. We do not consider that currently this is the case. In the absence of such a fair and consistent objective assessment process, not even a GTC could operate fairly.

A possible role for the GTC in any new arrangements for appraisal.

Appraisal

16.As we understand appraisal, it is themeans to motivate and encourage continuing professional development (CPD) and to maintain standards. The GTC will be concerned with both and so its advice should be sought both on the nature and purpose of appraisal - as it should be on all matters relating to teachers - including on effective implementation.

17.We are concerned to see appraisal conceived here as a ‘check’ on quality rather than an essential collegial part of professional quality. As we have said in our response to ‘Excellence in Schools’: ‘We strongly counsel the Secretary of State against accepting any suggestion that a principal purpose of the appraisal process should be the identification of incompetence. The emphasis for all teachers should be on marrying the identification of individual targets and development needs with the targets which the school has set itself’. In that response, too, we have recommended that the teacher appraisal review should be by a group composed similarly to that which designed the present teacher appraisal arrangements, augmented by governor representation.

The role of the GTC in continuing professional development for the profession.

The Professional Framework for Teachers

18.We warmly welcome the Government’s wish to ensure well-targeted and high quality training opportunities for teachers at all levels and its commitment to ensure that skilled and experienced classroom teachers who mentor and support colleagues to raise standards across the system are rewarded and encouraged. ATL has consistently emphasised the anomaly in the TTA’s work in that it has ignored the development of standards for mentoring, even though consistency in mentoring is such a critical element in the quality of ITT and in its quality assurance. We also strongly agree with the Sutherland Report that CPD should be regarded as equally as important as initial teacher education (ITE) in the development and training of teachers and that inadequate CPD can be related to both wastage from the profession and underperformance. We are firmly convinced that effective arrangements for professional development are central to high standards and high status.

19.We are confident that teachers will expect an independent GTC to take an expert perspective on the professional needs and career development of teachers, independently of the TTA, and that they will expect the Secretary of State to recognise the GTC as the leading voice of the teaching profession. For example, we would expect the GTC to have a role in advising on the programme to be supported by the Standards Fund. The GTC should also be able to offer advice to the Secretary of State, whether requested on not, on the future developmental needs of the teaching profession and CPD should be seen as an intrinsic part of manpower planning for the profession.

20.Not everything related to CPD will be directly related to specific standards, but where it does so this should be a matter for the GTC. Notwithstanding the work done by the TTA in this area, we believe that the profession lacks a sense of ownership and commitment to these standards. We consider that this can be better achieved by a GTC. We agree with the Government that a clear task for the GTC should be to advise the Secretary of State on ensuring the quality and standard of all in the profession. It is ATL’s view that the Advanced Skills Teacher (AST) grade should rest on a qualification and we have recommended that a representative task group be established to investigate the feasibility of so doing. Future developments of this kind should be led by the GTC.