Policies and Statements

The Professional Teachers’ Council NSW has developed, in consultation with the member associations, informed and independent opinions in the following areas:

Human Rights In Australian Schools

Equal Opportunity Statement (51 kB)

Indigenous Education Australia

Occupational Health & Safety Statement (42.43 kB)

Privacy Information Statement

The Professional Teachers Council NSW is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Information Statement governs data collection and usage. The personal information is collected only by lawful and fair means and is not unreasonably obtrusive.

COLLECTION OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

The Professional Teachers Council NSW will collect personal information directly from you. This personal information will only be used for the purposes for which you give it to us and for related, internal management purposes. We do not provide personal information about you to other agencies, organisations or anyone else unless one of the following applies:

• you have consented
• you expect us to or we have told you we will
• it is required or authorised by law
• it will prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to someone’s life or health or
• the disclosure is reasonably necessary for law enforcement

The Professional Teachers Council NSW does not sell, rent or lease its member lists to third parties. However we may contact you on behalf of education stakeholders about an offering that may be of interest to you. In these instances, your unique personally identifiable information is not transferred to the third party. The Professional Teachers Council NSW may share data to assist in statistical analysis; however confidentiality of your information is maintained. The Professional Teachers Council NSW does not collect or disclose sensitive personal information such as race, religion or marital status.

We analyse non-identifiable website traffic data to improve our services. Please keep in mind that if you directly disclose personally identifiable information or personally sensitive data through public message boards, this information may be collected and used by others.

You may access personal information that we hold about you or you may ask us to update or alter personal information. If you are on one or more of our email lists you may opt out of further contact from us by indicating that you would like to unsubscribe from our email lists. Professional Teachers Council NSW may contact you via surveys to conduct research about your opinions of current services or forums that may be of interest to you.

SECURITY OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

Professional Teachers Council NSW secures your personal information from unauthorised access, use or disclosure. Personally identifiable information is hosted in a controlled and secure environment and is protected from unauthorised access, use or disclosure.

Professional Teachers Council NSW encourages you to review the privacy statements of businesses you chose to provide information to, so that you can understand how your information may be collected, used or shared. The Professional Teachers Council NSW is not responsible for the privacy statements or other content outside the Professional Teachers Council NSW website.

Professional Teachers Council NSW will periodically update this Privacy Information Statement to reflect internal and external feedback. You are encouraged to review this Statement to be informed of how The Professional Teachers Council NSW is protecting your information.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT POLICY

Ongoing professional development contributes to the quality of teaching practice and supports student learning. The recognition of professional development experiences values the contribution of teachers to the community. A significant role of teaching associations is to provide quality continuing development for their teacher members. The Professional Teachers Council NSW will assist member associations and affiliates through the provision and support of quality professional development.

QUALITIES OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The Professional Teachers Council NSW identifies the following as features of quality professional development, it will be:

• proactive and visionary leading teachers into new pedagogies and thinking
• active learning relating to teachers practice and efficacy
• evidence-based
• responsive to contemporary demands upon member associations and teachers involving teachers in the identification of what they need to learn and the development of the learning experience in which they will be involved
• formative and predictive in finding new ways of enhancing the learning capacities and performance of associations and their members
• ongoing, flexible and reflective, allowing for learning styles, distance, time and isolation
• based on good pedagogy that recognises and values prior learning and skills
• assessed and evaluated to ensure learning outcomes are met for all participants
• purposeful in that it meets identified needs of teachers and is relevant to student learning
• collaborative and engaging of professional networks, professional learning communities, partnerships and experts in the professional development of teachers
• broad in scope and nature to meet the overall needs of teachers, their professional teacher associations and schools
• valued and recognised

SCOPE

The target groups for professional development are member associations and affiliate members; their members; teachers; schools; principals and school executive staff; administrative and support staff and other educational institutions.

PTCplus

For professional development designed by teacher, delivered by teachers directly in Schools where individual Schools create their own PL programs – contact PTCNSW for full details.

PRINCIPLES

Professional development should be an ongoing process extending from initial teacher preparation across a total teaching career. This includes a reflection on individual teaching practice, planning for ongoing professional growth and participation with colleagues in learning communities. Opportunities for continuous development are readily available to all teachers with involvement in teaching association activities. All members have equal rights and equal responsibilities in participating in professional development opportunities, irrespective of their schools or workplaces.

The design and delivery of professional development programs are needs based and reflect the ways in which adults prefer to learn. Evaluation is an integral part of all professional development programs. This can be measured through a variety of means and at different times throughout the professional development activities. Prior learning and skills are recognised, valued and utilised. Clear procedures for planning, monitoring, evaluation and reporting contribute to quality assurance and effectiveness of professional development activities.

Professional Development is intended to contribute to the growth of the individual, improve student learning and enhance the standing of the profession within the community.