Professional development courses in four core areas, including curriculum delivery, will no longer be mandated for NSW teachers, with the state’s school’s regulator scrapping the accreditation process for thousands of training courses.
The teachers’ union and private school sectors have welcomed the overhaul to professional development programs, but others warn it will erode quality assurance and put the state government’s push for evidence-based teaching at risk.
Last week, more than 170,000 NSW teachers were told of the changes to the 100 hours of professional development they must complete every five years.
The new rules mean teachers will no longer complete 50 hours of accredited courses in mandated areas of curriculum delivery and assessment, disability, mental health and Aboriginal education.
Instead, principals and teachers will choose training courses they deem appropriate for their school. At least 100 hours of training will still be mandated over a five-year period.
The NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) will abolish the accreditation system, which had previously given the green light to around 6,000 courses and 200 providers over the past three years. The former accreditation system demanded providers undergo regulatory checks and list evidence-based teaching practices and learning goals.
Course operators can now apply to be placed on a ‘recognised provider list’, meaning at least one of their courses must align with the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers.
NSW Education Minister Prue Car says the changes will bring the state in line with the rest of Australia and remove “red tape that was adding to teachers’ administrative workload”, adding that “professional development shouldn’t be about box ticking, it should be supporting our expert educators to enhance their practice”.
But head of the Professional Teachers’ Council NSW, David Browne believes phasing out accreditation would “silo professional learning within school systems”.
“We really appreciated the checks and balances accreditation gave and removing that will potentially make it more complex for teachers and schools to select quality courses,” Browne says.
Union welcomes reduced admin workload
The changes will mean NSW teachers do not need to complete evaluation forms for programs they complete.
NSW Teachers Federation deputy president Amber Flohm says the union welcomes the “significant reduction to the administrative workload of teachers and a rightful return to professional respect and trust”.
But NSW opposition education spokeswoman Sarah Mitchell flagged concerns the decision removes accountability from training programs.
“There will be no way for schools or teachers to know if the courses they are taking are high quality and evidence-based. This will almost certainly lead to teaching fads returning to our schools,” she says.
Association of Independent Schools of NSW chief executive Margery Evans says the changes will see schools have more flexibility over professional development pathways.
“The decision removes a requirement, introduced in late 2020, forcing teachers to choose half of their hours from a narrow band of priority areas to maintain their accreditation.”
“The restrictive categorisation put pressure on schools and distracted them from focusing their staff growth and development in the areas of greatest need for each school’s context.”
