Tension over teacher standards - Professional standards coming 2012
Published:Sunday | August 28, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Tyrone Reid, Sunday Gleaner Reporter
Despite lingering tensions over the conceptualisation of the long-awaited Professional Standards for Educators in Jamaica, the head of the Jamaica Teaching Council (JTC) announced that teachers will have to adhere to its stipulations by 2012.
The declaration was made at a Gleaner Editors' Forum on Thursday by Dr Winsome Gordon, chief executive officer of the JTC, which has responsibility for the enhancement and maintenance of professional standards in teaching, as well as the professional status of teachers.
Dr Gordon disclosed that a draft document was already in the hands of teachers, who would be given this upcoming academic year to work with the proposed standards.
"Principals have told me that they have already discussed the draft standards with their teachers, so come this school year, they will be able to see what it is they can do, what they don't understand, and what are the shortcomings," said Dr Gordon.
The proposed standards are apparently not cast in stone as Dr Gordon said the JTC would welcome feedback from the teachers.
A section of the draft document states that "every child has a right to be taught by qualified and competent teachers". The document also contains leadership standards for principals, which include "the collecting and analysing of student-performance data to identify patterns of achievement and underachievement in order to design and implement appropriate instructional interventions".
Quick response
The JTC head also noted that the professional standards document is a platform from which the council will redefine appraisal systems for teachers and principals to ensure that both instruments cohere.
But the mention of the draft document drew a quick response from Nadine Molloy Young, principal of Buff Bay High School and immediate past president of the Jamaica Teachers' Association. She challenged Dr Gordon's assertion that the tenets of the professional standards document had been agreed upon after consultation with the body that represents the island's teachers.
"When I came to office, a number of questions were raised by teachers about the (JTC) sessions," she said.
Molloy Young added that during her recently concluded tenure as JTA president, she sought clarification on issues raised by the teachers she represented, but no answers were forthcoming from the JTC. The Buff Bay principal also argued that she "checked with former JTA heads and documentation regarding the standards document", but to date had not been able to "get from anyone how the standards were arrived at".
Extensive collaboration
An unflinching Gordon insisted that the standards were formed after extensive collaboration with various stakeholders in the sector including non-educators and JTA presidents. "We have had many discussions with teachers. We have had discussions with the principals and what you see here is the outcome of two years of dialogue.
"When we developed the standards, the JTA was present around the table," she remarked. Molloy Young hit back swiftly. "And Dr Gordon cannot show any evidence of the discussion with the JTA," the principal said.
However, Gordon was equal to the task. "I have my photographs," she asserted.
Despite the heated debate, Gordon said the country could tie her down to a September 2012 roll-out of the official standards document. "Once we get our standards off the ground, then we will have a yardstick against which to appraise people," she said.
According to Molloy Young, the JTA will not stand in the way of anything legal and correct.