Voice: McCormac report “not as radical as expected” but a “leap in the dark” for the teaching profession
Tuesday, 13 September 2011 11:04 AM
Voice: the union for education professionals, which represents teachers, education support staff and early years professionals across Scotland and the rest of the UK, has given its reaction to The Report of the Review of Teacher Employment in Scotland.
Commenting on the report, Senior Professional Officer (Scotland) Maureen Laing said:
“The McCrone agreement was supposed to be ‘a teaching profession for 21st century’ not just for ten years.
“The title of the McCormac Review might be Advancing Professionalism in Teaching but, while it’s not as radical as expected, many teachers will see elements of it as a retreat back to the pre-McCrone days of the twentieth century
“The report’s recommendations erode rather than advance the professionalism of teaching, throw up a number of inconsistencies, and potentially threaten the posts of many support staff.
“The teaching profession is being expected to take a leap in the dark with some of the proposals such as how non-contact time will be used and the practical implications for timetabling.
“As we said in our response to the Review, ‘there should be no erosion of the terms and conditions agreed under the McCrone Agreement, which set out parameters for the profession and recognised the necessity of non-contact time and collegiate time to provide a sound basis for effective learning and teaching to take place. There should be professional autonomy and McCrone has provided this to teachers’.
“I fear that, if adopted, some of the new proposals would erode both those terms and conditions and professional autonomy. Prescribing how teachers should carry out their non-contact duties certainly erodes their professional autonomy.
“We are very concerned about the wholesale removal of Annexes from the Teachers’ Agreement. The GTCS’s Standards (Annex B) have not yet been developed. I am concerned about too much power over the profession being concentrated in the hands of one body – in this case, the GTCS.
“Annex E is the ‘list of tasks [that] should not routinely be carried out by teachers…. These tasks would generally be undertaken by support staff thereby allowing the particular skills and experience of the teacher to be deployed most effectively’. Where would its removal leave those support staff – redundant? – or the effective deployment of teachers’ skills and experiences? I fear the impact on support staff jobs. It seems more like a cost-saving exercise than an advancement of professionalism.
“On the positive side, we are delighted that the Report avoids some of the more extreme elements of COSLA’s controversial submission. We are therefore pleased with the recommendations that there should be no change to the length of the current contracted week of 35 hours or to the current 855 hours per year of class contact time.
“While we welcomed its introduction, the Chartered Teacher status has not lived up to expectations because of its focus on the academic, rather than the practical, classroom-based aspects of teaching. There should be other career paths for those teachers who do not want to move into senior management along the same lines as the medical profession.”
“The measures for probationers are largely a firming up of what is already in place and, provided the safeguards remain in place, they should continue to prepare probationers for their future career.
“There are admirable proposals on Professional Review and Personal Development and Continuing Professional Development. We are particularly pleased with the recognition that ‘Other staff, within a school, who contribute to the education of pupils should be entitled to PRPD’. Classroom assistants – the ‘valuable assets’ as they were once described – deserve greater recognition.
“However, we are concerned about the availability of resources for implementing the structured programme.
““There is also a fundamental inconsistency at the heart of these particular proposals. One the one hand support staff are being offered PRPD but, on the other hand, many of their tasks may be taken away. Will they be in post to take up this professional development? Is this an attempt to look generous and supportive while saving money at the same time?"
Notes
The Report: http://www.reviewofteacheremployment.org
Voice's Official Response to McCormac Review of Teacher Employment in Scotland http://www.voicetheunion.org.uk/index.cfm?cid=768.
www.voicetheunion.org.uk/mccormacreview
Donaldson Review: Voice's statements and official response: http://www.voicetheunion.org.uk/index.cfm?cid=596
A Teaching Profession for the 21st century (McCrone): http://www.snct.org.uk/library/278/2001%20Teachers%20Agreement.pdf
ends
Contacts: Senior Professional Officer (Scotland) Maureen Laing (scotland@voicetheunion.org.uk) on 0131 320 8241 or 07969 959 727 or Communications Officer Richard Fraser in the Voice Press Office (pressoffice@voicetheunion.org.uk) on 01332 372337 or 0794 871 0413.
www.blog.voicetheunion.org.uk
http://twitter.com/voicetheunion
Voice: the union for education professionals
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Tags:
- education ,
- mccormac review ,
- schools
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