Queensland College of Teachers (QCT)
2006–2009
The Review of the Powers and Functions of the Board of Teacher Registration (the MeMeniman Report) was published in November 2004. The Education (Queensland College of Teachers) Act 2005 replaced the Education (Teacher Registration) Act 1988. As such the Queensland College of Teachers, the third iteration of a teaching regulatory authority in Queensland, commenced on 1 January 2006.
The McMeniman Report had over 80 recommendations and all were accepted by the State Government.
Key reforms to be implemented included:
- the Permission to Teach reform
- five yearly renewal of registration
- compulsory criminal history checks for renewal of registration
- approval of initial teacher education programs
- revised complaint procedures and investigative and disciplinary procedures
- development of professional standards detailing the abilities, skills and knowledge expected of teachers and implemented through approval processes though initial teacher education programs and compliance with professional practice requirements
- development of a framework for continuing professional learning programs and supporting the implementation of returning to teaching professional learning programs.
The three main policy objectives of the new Act were to uphold the standards of teaching; to maintain public confidence in the teaching profession; and to protect the public by ensuring education in schools is provided in a professional and competent way by approved teachers.
Six standing committees were appointed in 2006, each chaired by a member of the Board. These were the Teachers Disciplinary Committee, the Professional Practice and Conduct Committee, the Professional Standards Committee, the Registration Committee, the Professional Standards Internal Review Committee, the Professional Conduct Internal Review Committee, and the Corporate Services and Resources Committee,
In addition to changing the teacher registration system, the new Education (Queensland College of Teachers) Act 2005 introduced new ways of dealing with disciplinary matters involving Queensland teachers. A new disciplinary framework was developed and the 2006 Annual Report notes that 119 disciplinary matters were received during that year. (In 2009, the function of the Teachers Disciplinary Committee was transferred to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal).
The new Board acted quickly to implement some of the reforms of the new Act. The first major achievement was the development of Professional Standards for Queensland Teachers which was launched by the Minister for Education and Training Rod Welford on 1 March 2007.
In 2008, the Continuous Professional Development Framework was introduced, as was an updated Code of Ethics.
In support of the important function of promoting the profession, the first QCT Awards for Excellence began in 2009. These awards continue to be celebrated annually (rebranded as TEACHX Awards) in conjunction with World Teachers Day.
In February 2007, the Top of the Class Report on the Inquiry into teacher education was published. This was representative of an ongoing focus into teacher education at a national level which was particularly evident in the decade beginning 2010.
In addition to national reports, Queensland conducted reviews which were published in 2009 and 2010 respectively. Responding to recommendations from each one of these reviews posed ongoing work for the QCT in the ensuing years. These were the review into literacy, numeracy and science learning (Masters, 2009) and a review of teacher education and school induction (Caldwell & Sutton, 2010).
An outcome of the Masters Review (known as the Queensland Education Performance Review) for the QCT was its being tasked by the State Government to strengthen the accreditation of initial teacher education programs through:
- the development of a pre-registration test for literacy, numeracy and science
- the development of a professional development framework for these areas, in addition to assessment in them. Work on these tasks continued into the next decade.
Research
As had been instituted during the early 1980s, the QCT continued to support and undertake research related to QCT functions.
Registration data
In 2006, the registration of 87000 teachers was transferred from the BTR to the QCT.
As at December 2009, there were 98000 teachers on the register.
Personnel
The new Queensland College of Teachers was led by Founding Director, John Ryan.
The inaugural Chair of the Board was Professor John Dewar. In March 2009 this role was vacated by Professor Dewar following his accepting a new role in Victoria.
Dr Joe McCorley began as Chair in September 2009 and led the Board into the next decade.
Communication to teachers
The new QCT communicated with teachers via the College Connection (3 issues in each of 2006 and 2007), and QCT Connection which published 2 issues in 2008 and again in 2009.
In addition, a summary of relevant research for teachers, Research Digest, began publication once per term from Term 3, 2007.
References
Caldwell, B., & Sutton, D. (2010). Review of teacher education and school induction. Queensland Government.
House of Representatives Standing Committee on Education and Vocational Training (2007). Top of the Class: Report on the inquiry into teacher education. Commonwealth of Australia.
Masters, G. N. (2009). A Shared Challenge: Improving Literacy, Numeracy and Science Learning in Queensland Primary Schools. Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER).