Standards for the Teaching Profession
There are six standards that, together, describe what it means to be a teacher in Aotearoa New Zealand. The additional detail contained in the elaborations provides depth and context to the standards themselves.
The standards can be pictured as a series of six nested circles or spheres, in which the innermost represents the actual processes and activities of teaching. The order of the standards is deliberate, with each subsequent standard building on to the framework for quality teaching
Te Tiriti o Waitangi partnership describes how all teachers need to frame how we consider ourselves as professionals and citizens with Aotearoa New Zealand. It is a notion of a ‘deep context’ for all other decision-making and action as a teacher and provides a framework for thinking about the subsequent standards.
Professional learning then describes the evaluative or inquiry mindset that surrounds all professional practice. Continuous, informal rigorous critique of what we think and what we do underpins the job of enabling learners to make sufficient progress and monitor for equity and excellence
Professional relationships asserts that teaching is not a professional activity that exists in isolation, but that we need to build and foster a range of relationships in the interests of learning and improvement for all involved: with colleagues, with family/whanau, with community.
Learning-focused culture then describes the tone of the learning setting which we are expected to develop and the relationships we foster with and between learners.
These first four standards describe the context within which the teacher must then design and implement the processes and activities that will enable learners to learn
Design for learning is about planning the what, why, when and how of the learning experiences
Teaching, at the centre, is about adaptively implementing the designed programme of learning
