IPPN

Published: 22 February 2011

Yesterday, IPPN met with the Teaching Council in relation to the plans to change the process of probating new teachers.  You may be aware that in the course of school visits, the Inspectorate have been telling Principals that they would no longer be involved in probating NQTs from 2011-2012 onwards.  This was confirmed last month by Chief Inspector, Harold Hislop at our conference.

In response, the views of members were sought and these formed the basis of a meeting with Áine Lawlor, Director, Teaching Council.  It appears that there is a gap in information about how probation will take place in the future.  It is an issue in which IPPN has an obvious interest and one which we will all have to monitor closely.

Is sinne le meas

Seán Cottrell & Pat Goff

Key Questions for the Teaching Council:

1. As the statutory agency set up to regulate the teaching profession, is the probation of NQTs not a core function and responsibility of the Teaching Council? If not, then who is?
2. Why is it assumed that Principals – already the most over loaded role in the entire education system, are going to take on such additional responsibility and workload?
3. This transfer of function has been spoken about openly by the Inspectorate during school visits for almost two years; why has there been no dialogue between The Teaching Council & IPPN?
4. Why can’t the Teaching Council - recruit, train and manage a team of early retired Principals (and there are hundreds to choose from) to carry out the probation function in an impartial, objective and consistent manner across all schools 
5. Why are Principals on one hand being asked to encourage all teaching staff to pay a €90 membership fee for the Teaching Council, and on the other hand be taken for granted for their willingness to take on this extra workload and responsibility?

Why it cannot work:

1. 7 out of 10 Principals are full time class teachers – how, where, when? The Inspectorate currently estimates that it takes 2.5 days to probate one NQT
2. Principals have neither qualifications nor the training to carry out a probation process on another teacher
3. Principals are already stretched beyond their limits trying to fulfill an instructional leadership role which is increasing all the time as more and more is expected of schools – compliance with legislation, policy development, bullying counteraction, ICT implementation, assessment, tackling obesity, child protection, literacy and numeracy initiatives, inclusion of children with SEN, traveller children, children with no English, special classes and many more. 
4. Quite simply – Principals do not have the time.

Why it must not happen:

1. A new 4 year BEd will apply from 2012. Could the NQTs not be probated before they graduate? There is a big risk here that we might begin to mirror second-level, where probation is a meaningless farce and has no value; there is no evaluation involved ... just a signature of the Principal
2. Staff Relations – imagine probating a colleague in a two or three teacher school? Small schools depend on a teamwork dynamic which is completely different to anything in larger schools. It is not based around PoRs but out of a sense of support for the Principal. The Principal as probator of NQTs would destroy that dynamic
3. There would be an obvious conflict of roles is Principals were to become the inspector/evaluator of NQTs as well their leader, motivator, coach etc
4. The current model of probation by the Inspector is at least impartial and objective. It is also fairly rigorous – some say not rigorous enough. Most Principals would agree that probation as an extra filter of teacher competence is important, as not every NQT can make a successful transition from training college to school. Prevention is better than cure; much easier to address teacher competence during probation year than trying to deal with it years later
5. The Principal's leadership role involves inducting, coaching and mentoring NQTs. At a whole school level successful principals are engaged in team building, motivating staff, boosting morale, giving advice and exercising a duty of care to  each individual. Assessing and probating NQTs is not compatible with the nature of the leadership role that Principals have in schools
6. Requiring Principals to sign-off on the ‘Passing’ and ‘failing’ of colleagues would be an anathema to current practice.