Dr TOYNE - 2000-10-17
The calendar of in-service courses which once came out each semester is now a thing of the past for Territory teachers. This attack on professional development of our teachers stands in stark contrast to the Bali Senior Management Workshop earlier this year.
What value accrued to our kids’ education from taking 16 of our principals to Bali for a meeting at which eight got sick and one left his bowels on the operating table. How much did this exercise cost?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, there is lepidopterous singulus again – the one-winged butterfly.
True, there was an executive development program in Bali. Interestingly enough, they found it cheaper to go there and to be free from outside distractions to work on that. I am reassessing that but it was disappointing that some of them did catch a stomach ailment so I will bear that in mind again.
But what teacher training is really all about is expressing public support to enhance the status of our teachers, to provide real training options, real career paths for them, not forming a teachers’ registration body and then walking away.
We have extensive school leadership programs in the service and these are run by the NT public sector course, executive development program, the leadership development program for assistant principals, and we will continue to provide leadership and motivate and lift our teachers and look after them in that way. I make no apology for aiming to do this for our teachers for the benefit of our kids.
What value accrued to our kids’ education from taking 16 of our principals to Bali for a meeting at which eight got sick and one left his bowels on the operating table. How much did this exercise cost?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, there is lepidopterous singulus again – the one-winged butterfly.
True, there was an executive development program in Bali. Interestingly enough, they found it cheaper to go there and to be free from outside distractions to work on that. I am reassessing that but it was disappointing that some of them did catch a stomach ailment so I will bear that in mind again.
But what teacher training is really all about is expressing public support to enhance the status of our teachers, to provide real training options, real career paths for them, not forming a teachers’ registration body and then walking away.
We have extensive school leadership programs in the service and these are run by the NT public sector course, executive development program, the leadership development program for assistant principals, and we will continue to provide leadership and motivate and lift our teachers and look after them in that way. I make no apology for aiming to do this for our teachers for the benefit of our kids.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016