PARLIAMENT | PARTY | GRASSROOTS

Red Alert

Posts Tagged ‘teachers’

Strike One, Strike Two….

Posted by Grant Robertson on August 30th, 2010

The news that secondary teachers are set to strike within the next two weeks sets up an interesting situation. The Ministry of Education do the negotiating on behalf of the government with teachers. My sources tell me that industrial action is looming in the Ministry of Education itself, with pay talks stalled and the mood souring.

Will Anne Tolley soon have on her hands not only the teachers on strike, but her Ministry staff out as well? And will the negotiators for the Ministry of Education be able to come back to the table if there is movement from the teachers, or will they be on strike as well?

Tags: , ,
Filed under: education, labour, public services, union
54 Comments

Hands up for learning

Posted by Trevor Mallard on October 30th, 2009

handsup

Like several Labour MPs inclding Phil I went to a school today to celebrate World Teachers Day by putting our hands up for learning. I was at Pukeatua School in Wainuiomata.

Good to have a special opportunity to tell teachers that we value them.

I am finding that more and more parents are making it clear to me their view that their local school does a good job and that they get good quality reports on their kids progress.

More on this over the next few days.

Tags: ,
Filed under: education
12 Comments

Reconnecting #2: The education community

Posted by Chris Hipkins on August 12th, 2009

As part of my work in the electorate I spend quite a lot of time in school staff rooms. Every Friday I visit one of my local schools, speak to the principal, take a look around and then chat with the teachers over morning tea. I’m always impressed at how well connected with their local communities our schools actually are. That’s one of the reasons I find these visits so useful – it’s like checking a social barometer.

Prior to the last election I encountered quite a few teachers who were a bit grumpy with Labour. Although they had enjoyed several years of respectable pay rises, many now found themselves in the top tax bracket and yet they felt anything but rich. The school network review in Upper Hutt left a bad taste in the mouths of some, and the fact that it took nearly four years to finally decide the future of the intermediate and secondary schools is still a bone of contention.

Thankfully, Anne Tolley has been doing her very best to drive the entire educational community into Labour’s camp. The mere mention of her name in school staffrooms sends eyes rolling towards the heavens, and not in a kind way. Her national standards policy and the potential for league tables has primary teachers really worried. In secondary schools, nobody can understand why the government chose to cut night class funding and then spend $35 million more on private schools.

The feedback I’ve been getting suggests there are still some meaty issues for us to deal with in the education area. Support for students with special needs is a growing area of concern and I’m not convinced that we have the policy right. A whole bunch of our schools are also struggling to work with buildings and facilities that are well past their use by date – but that’s an expensive problem to fix.

Then of course there is the issue of overall funding. Education spending increased hugely under Labour, although schools still argue they need more. So how much is enough, and is it a question of needing more or asking whether we are spending it in the right places?

Tags: , , , , ,
Filed under: education, labour
26 Comments

Raising achievement

Posted by Kelvin Davis on July 22nd, 2009

So how do we raise educational achievement?

Well, actually anything a classroom teacher does makes kids learn because almost everything works to some degree or another. There are very few teaching strategies that make kids dumber. So that means all the other strategies work to some extent or another.

So which teaching strategies make kids learn faster and to higher levels?

I said yesterday that the secrets to raising achievement are no longer secret. I doubt if there is a teacher out there who can’t name some of the best practice teaching strategies proven by research to make kids learn fast.

The question is – do they use them, every second, of every hour, of every day, they are teaching – if not, why not?

Excellent teachers will raise achievement. It is the right of every child, in every class, in every school across New Zealand to have an excellent teacher.

The government’s responsibility is to provide the conditions where those excellent teachers can weave their magic.

In parliament we need to debate the following two educational issues:

  1. How do we ensure every teacher is excellent?
  2. What are the conditions that excellent teachers need in order to make kids achieve?
Tags: , ,
Filed under: education
19 Comments