PPTA

Having just read Teacher in a strange land: Regular Teachers, Regular Schools  it got me thinking about conferences/forums and how often (when I do go to these events) I get to meet 'regular teachers'. It certainly can be an issue, who speaks for teachers - who the experts are and who nominated those experts to speak for and/or about teachers/teaching? An issue that extends beyond the boundaries of conferences and forums to areas such as submissions processes and the workings of advisory groups.

Although, you could add 'who is a regular teacher and what is a regular school' given the number of extraordinary teachers working in extraordinary schools :-)

PPTA National office this week has annual conference on the collective mind. Conference is where the elected representatives of NZ secondary teachers get to discuss and work towards a better secondary school education system.  PPTA Annual Conference is 18-20 October  - the programme is online and conference papers include:

Accelerated Change in the Senior Secondary School
Class Size – The Struggle Continues
Constitutional Amendment
Nau te rourou, Naku te rourou . . . Educative mentoring
Supporting teachers to do their jobs: There’s got to be a better way
There Is Always A Reasonable Alternative (TIAARA)

Visitors to conference are welcome - come and observe the proceedings - or you can watch/listen online (haven't got the webstream link yet).

Across the Tasman this week is the Australian Curriculum Studies Association  Conference, Robin is attending this and visiting the NSW Teachers Federation.

PPTA members are also involved in the Secondary School Staffing Group
(SSSG) and they are meeting this week. The SSSG arose out of the Secondary Teacher Collective Agreement (STCA) negotiations over class size.

Another issue that become a hot topic post STCA negotiations is over a salary anomaly. The proposed STCA variation to resolve this issue is online  and PPTA members (covered by the STCA) are requested to vote to accept or decline the variation.

Regarding PPTA representation of teachers - nominations are declared at annual conference and elections begin the week of 25 October.

Have a great week!