LEADING AND MANAGING
TEACHER DEVELOPMENT
LET’S KISS AND MAKE UP
Preview
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South Africa’s Crisis in Education & the Causes
The National Education Evaluation and Development Unit
(NEEDU)
The Teacher Development Summit
The New, Strengthened, Integrated Plan for Teacher
Development
Continuing Professional Teacher Development (CPTD)
A Critique of the Proposals
An Alternative Model
Conclusion
Questions and discussion
South Africa’s Education Crisis
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1 in 10 white pupils achieves an A aggregate in the senior
certificate examinations compared with only 1 in 1000 black
pupils;
Only 30% of pupils who start Grade 1 obtain a senior
certificate, but only 1 in 29 of these is a black pupil;
Only 5% of those who start Grade 1 enter higher education;
South Africa is ranked 137th out of 139 countries based on
the quality of mathematics and science education;
South Africa is ranked 125th out of 139 countries based on
the quality of primary school education;
Roughly 75% of SA’s unemployed are blacks under the age
of 35, and most of these are unemployable, except as
unskilled labourers.
Causes of the Crisis
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Too little teaching taking place;
Teachers lack subject knowledge;
Teachers lack pedagogical skills;
Principals neglect instructional leadership;
Parents neglect their responsibilities;
Schools lack basic resources;
External stakeholders are not used optimally.
The Major Cause of the Crisis
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“Poor quality teaching is the key reason why the
education system is failing.” (Financial Mail, 8 Sept,
2006)
“Underachievement can be ascribed to the lower quality
of teachers in the mainly black townships.” (Prof.
Servaas van der Berg, Cape Argus, 12 May, 2008)
“The greatest obstacle to transforming the education
system is the lack of accountability for teachers.” (Prof.
Jonathan Jansen, The Times, 13 Sept, 2007)
“Our main problem is the thousands of teachers in the
system for whom we have absolutely no evidence of
their competence to teach.” (Prof. Jonathan Jansen,
Financial Mail, 8 Sept, 2006)
NEEDU
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In 2008 the then Minister of Education, Ms Naledi Pandor,
established a Ministerial Committee (chaired by Prof.
Jonathan Jansen) to advise her on the establishment of a
National Education Evaluation and Development Unit
(NEEDU).
The committee presented its findings on 17 April 2009.
It listed 14 key findings, inter alia:
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There is broad recognition of the crisis in education and the
limitations of existing evaluation instruments to, in themselves,
remedy the situation;
There is widespread consensus on the need for stronger
accountability measures alongside developmental support to be
introduced into the school system;
The existing system for evaluation and appraisal faces a growing
credibility crisis because of the functional breakdown between
school/teacher evaluation and developmental follow-through
actions to effectively address problems identified.
The Teacher Development Summit
June-July 2009
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It identified the following challenges, inter alia:
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The system is unable to meaningfully identify and
address teacher development needs;
Teachers lack access to meaningful, quality, relevant
education and development opportunities;
There is an unco-ordinated approach to teacher
development;
Funding mechanisms for teacher development are
inefficient.
“The New, Strengthened, Integrated
Plan for Teacher Development”
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The Draft Plan (dated 9 July 2010) envisages the
gradual establishment of a 3-tiered, co-ordinated
Teacher Education and Development (TED)
system, which will look something like this:
The Professor’s invention for peeling potatoes
Professional Learning Communities (PLCs)
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Besides all of the above structures, the Plan also
envisages the formation of Professional Learning
Communities (PLCs) comprising two or more
teachers from a single school or a cluster of
schools who will meet regularly to participate in a
variety of professional development activities,
including:
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Learning to engage with evidence-based assessments;
Participating in curriculum orientation activities;
Learning to use curriculum support materials;
Learning from video recordings and training materials.
SACE’s CPTD
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The Plan is aligned with the Continuing
Professional Teacher Development system
(CPTD) currently being piloted by the South
African Council of Educators (SACE).
Once CPTD is approved, every teacher in SA
will have to participate in this system in order
to remain registered with SACE.
A teacher has to be registered with SACE in
order to teach in SA.
CPTD in a (Large) Nutshell
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Each teacher will compile a Professional
Development Portfolio (PDP) according to SACE
guidelines.
Each teacher will sign up with SACE and will be
provided with a personal PD points scorecard
that will be kept by SACE.
SACE will allocate professional development (PD)
points for each recognised PD activity according
to an approved schedule of points.
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Each teacher will be expected to achieve
150 PD points on the scorecard in every
three-year cycle.
SACE will issue a Certificate of Achievement
to each teacher who achieves the target
number of PD points within the three years.
External service providers will have to apply
to SACE to be officially approved and to
have their courses, workshops, etc.
officially endorsed.
3 Types of PD Activity
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Type 1: Activities initiated by the teacher
Reported to SACE by the teacher
Type 2: Activities initiated by the school
Reported to SACE by the principal
Type 3: Activities initiated externally
Reported to SACE by the provider
Teachers will have to accumulate points for all
three types of activity and will record the points
in their PDPs.
Critique of the Proposals: Positives
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Consultation with a wide variety of role players
about current problems;
A renewed commitment to teacher development
by major education role players;
The intention to establish Professional Learning
Communities (PLCs);
SACE’s compulsory CPTD system, which
(although flawed) will at least force teachers to
take professional development more seriously.
Critique of the Proposals: Negatives
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Instead of heeding teachers’ calls for a more streamlined
system, the working groups and task teams have
designed a system that is generally far more complex;
“The New, Strengthened, Integrated Plan for Teacher
Development” proposes a top-heavy, three-tiered
bureaucratic structure to manage teacher development;
SACE’s CPTD-MS proposes a highly complicated points
system, to be centrally managed on-line by SACE;
SACE’s CPTD-MS will require service providers to be
approved and to have each of their PD activities
endorsed, which is an onerous requirement, likely to
cause great resentment;
A wonderful opportunity to introduce a more effective
model for managing teacher development could be lost.
A Simpler, Decentralised Model
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The model that I propose makes the teacher, his/her
immediate senior and the principal accountable for
managing professional development.
It entrusts district officials with monitoring and evaluating
each school’s management of PD.
It should make it easier for teachers to identify their
professional development needs.
It makes classroom practice the major focus for Post Level
1 teachers.
This simple, decentralised model is far less complex and
cumbersome than the centralised model currently being
piloted.
TEACHER PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL (TPA)
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PS 1: TEACHING ABILITY
 Subject knowledge
 Use of resources
 Presentation skills
 Learner engagement and behaviour
PS 2: ADMINISTRATION
 Lesson planning
 Time management
 File management
 Routine administrative duties
PS 3: ASSESSMENT
 Quality of assessments
 Variety of assessments
 Feedback to learners
 Record keeping
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PS 4: INVOLVEMENT OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM
 Extra-curricular and co-curricular activities
 Pastoral care
 Human relations
 Professional development
POST LEVEL 2 ONLY
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PS 5: PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT & LEADERSHIP
 Motivation and team building
 Communication
 Monitoring and evaluation
 Provision of professional development
PS 6: ORGANISATIONAL EFFICIENCY & EFFECTIVENESS
 Accountability/responsibility
 Resource management and utilisation
 Record keeping
 Initiative
The Challenge Facing Those Tasked with
Leading and Managing Teacher Development
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“Education is about relationships. And aspirations.
We understand the difference education can make,
and have hopes for how education can transform
society, create good citizens, raise levels of skill,
ensure opportunities, employment and advance for
individuals and society as a whole.”
“We all know the difference that a single good
teacher can make… The classroom, and the magic
that happens at that coalface of interaction
between pupil and teacher, is the starting point for
all else in education.”
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“If we don’t get it right – in the classrooms, with
teachers – what we are doing is reinforcing
inequalities, and smashing the hopes and
dreams of the post-democratic generation. We
cannot continue betraying generation after
generation of young people.”
- Graeme Bloch, author of The Toxic Mix,
in an article entitled How Does SA become a
Learning Nation? (Cape Times, 16 March, 2009)
The End
Thank You