The professional status as a crowbar
In schools where a professional statute has been agreed, it is often at the bottom of the cupboard. Yet the self-awareness of teachers has increased in those schools.
Image: XF\x26amp;M
Three years after the introduction of the Teacher Profession Act, of which the professional statute is a part, it appears that more than half of the schools do not (yet) have a statute. Is that bad?
At the Municipal Dalton Lyceum in Dordrecht, the professional status is 'gathering dust in a cupboard somewhere', admits Niki Reintjens, senior secondary school team leader and mathematics teacher. Yet she calls it 'a valuable document'. Reintjens was a member of the MR three years ago and was active in the establishment of the professional statute at the Dordrecht school community. “The way we discussed it with everyone led to great commitment from the staff and good conversations. How do we want it as teachers, that's what it was all about. We found a common thread, we formulated four core values and posters with those texts (don't be afraid to do, dare to ask, take your space, show guts) are still hanging here and there in the buildings. It did make a difference at the time, people dared to take the freedom to talk about what they wanted differently and that contributed to a turnaround.”
How do we want it as teachers, that's what it was all about
She finds it difficult to indicate exactly what has changed. Reintjens: “The way in which we as staff communicate with each other and with the management has changed. We have also moved from an all-male to an all-female board in the meantime. At the time, it also emerged that there was a need for a different type of management.” She finds that - at least at the location where she works - self-awareness has increased. “When people complain now, people are more likely to say to each other: Okay, but what are we going to do about it? We have become more active. Someone always suggests: Maybe we should talk to the management about this. No one here is afraid of not being heard.”
No one here is afraid of not being heard
How does the statute end up at the bottom of that cupboard? “Due to corona, our annual Dalton days were canceled, where the statute was on the agenda. Now we are busy with the NPO funds again. Everything has to be done in education and it has to be done quickly. The professional status has lost this competition for attention in the past year and has faded into the background. In an ideal world, I would say that it is not a big deal, because the values of the statute are embedded in everyone, so that we all know our own limits and that they are safeguarded, but practice shows that in one location this is easier then go to another.” But, says Reintjens: “When Dalton days come again, I definitely want to put the professional status on the agenda again.”
The professional statute has lost the competition for attention in the past year
dissatisfaction
The establishment of the professional statute at the De Breul school community in Zeist initially did not go so smoothly, says Anne de Ruiter, mr member and geography teacher. “Do we have to get started with this again, that was a bit of the atmosphere.” Finally, a small group arranged a survey among all teachers. “What do you want control over and what needs to be done differently, that's what it was all about. The response was very high, it was already known that there was a lot of dissatisfaction, people felt that they were allowed to participate in decisions about too little.” The initiative group then organized a number of discussions, which were reflected in a report. De Ruiter: “Forty pages thick and far too detailed. This was mainly about meeting time. Which consultation is when and who is involved and who decides what. The school management recognized themselves in it, but it was a huge document and unworkable.”
The school management has meanwhile started working together with an external organizational consultancy, out of the need for more professionalism and restoration of trust after a difficult period with an interim school leader. “We consulted with those advisers and it turned out that the core could fit on one A4 sheet of paper. It is now a guideline to have the professional conversation with each other. It's about trust, questioning each other, listening to each other. I think it's a nice document.”
And did it do anything? Frankly, De Ruiter has doubts about this. “It is also the zeitgeist. The school management actually runs a parallel trajectory. The VO Council also deals with themes such as shared leadership, the professional teacher and control from below. Even without that professional status, I think we would be on the same page now.” Still, she sees gains. “Because of our professional status, we are more aware of the rights and obligations you have as a teacher.” Despite this, she finds that decisions are still occasionally made without involving the team. “A real culture change takes time, of course. But we can say to the school management: Practice what you preach. If you want us to be pros, you have to respect our space as well. Sometimes a decision is then reversed.”
Moreover, it is always good to talk to each other about how you treat each other at school and to reflect. Anne de Ruiter: “If things have been going the same at a school for years, the conversation about the professional status can be a crowbar. The most important thing I like about it: always start the conversation. Get rid of presuppositions and succinct reasoning. Have a professional dialogue with each other.”
Always start the conversation. Get rid of presuppositions and short-sighted arguments
Tap the fingers
The Adelbert College in Wassenaar also has a professional status, but it is not a very 'living' document, acknowledges mr-chairman Jean Merlet. “We used a standard text from the VO Council. Our autonomy as a teacher is well regulated at both teacher and department level. There are frameworks, but how you shape them is up to the teacher himself. As a section, we also have a lot of control over teaching materials and methods and the way in which we consult with each other and arrange matters. We try to give each other something. But sometimes it is useful to deviate from what someone would like from a timetable and then we discuss it as professionals. Our autonomy and professional space is guaranteed, but it is good to have it on paper, because it is not so well organized in all schools. I think that the inspectorate should tap schools on the fingers if they do not yet have a professional status. Of course, teachers are always busy with what really needs to be done, such as preparing lessons, teaching, grading and mandatory meetings. But reflecting, developing yourself as a teacher, section and team and improving the school as a whole, that increasingly disappears into the background. I find that worrying.”
Boarding up
In 2018, the ZuidWest College in The Hague was one of the first schools with a professional status. Such a document is part of a professional organisation, believes Quincy Angelista, member of the MR and teacher of physical exercise. “But honestly, we don't use it. There is an open atmosphere here, we don't feel the need to board everything up and put it on paper. If there is friction, we tell each other and we solve it together. The law of the strongest does not apply here. One of our behavioral anchors is: we are warm and loyal to each other. We are professionals, we really get things done and the decisions here are certainly not only made by management, most of it comes from the departments. In our professional statute, the rights and obligations are mutually established. It's a manual that we don't really need here. But we can fall back on it if necessary.”
The teacher 'in control'
The professional status is part of the Teacher Profession Act, which has been in force since 1 August 2018. Lecturers must draw up the statute themselves and regulate their professional space in it: what do they need to provide good education and who decides what?
It can therefore contain agreements about who chooses the teaching materials, who determines when and how the assessment is carried out and how teachers want to keep track of student files. In this document, teachers record, both in teams and individually, how education at their school takes shape in practice. By being a teacher yourself more 'in control' to be reduces the workload, is one of the ideas behind the statute.
The teachers' register, which was also part of the same law, was abolished this spring. Teachers would keep their diplomas and further training in this register, to show that they meet the requirements for the teaching profession. The register was criticized from the start and has now been scrapped. The professional statute remains mandatory, but a recent study by the Education Inspectorate (State of Education, 2021) shows that 55 percent of schools do not yet have a statute.
Would you like to know more about the professional status? Go to this page on AOb. Nl
