Bulletin for the Network of Establishing Teachers (NETs) 30 November 2012. The bulletin is published as an information update for teachers who are members of the the New Zealand Post Primary Teachers' Association / Te Wehengarua (PPTA) and are in their first 10 years of teaching.
Four myths about PPTA
In the recent battles over charter schools and class sizes, PPTA has been in the news a lot.
This has seen the media and political commentators making many accusations about who we are and what we stand for.
Along with the distortions about teachers’ salaries and the notorious long-tail claim that the state system fails 20% of our students, the media has popularised several myths about PPTA itself.
Myth 1 PPTA is a branch of the Labour Party
PPTA is not aligned with any political party.
PPTA is dedicated to implementing research-backed improvements in education and urges all parties to back best practice policies.
PPTA has recently been campaigning for all parties to reach a consensus on education policy to stop the ping-pong game of changing policies with each election. This non-partisan approach to education has succeeded in Finland and PPTA urges New Zealand to copy that model.
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Myth 2 PPTA is a trade union concerned only with teachers’ salaries
PPTA is more than just a union, it is a professional association.
As part of our commitment to delivering students the best quality education possible, PPTA has provided teachers with excellent professional development, such as the cluster workshops on implementing the new curriculum.
Recent conference papers dealt with the unfair and inequitable burden of school fees (also known as “donations”) on students and parents, school funding models, student loans, class size, disruptive behaviour and NCEA.
Our most recent Collective Agreement claim specifically asked the Government to work with us to improve quality teaching and laid out several steps to achieve this goal.
The battle for smaller class sizes is focussed on improving student outcomes, not just cutting back teacher workload.
