'Taking control yourself increases job satisfaction'
More control for teachers sounds nice, but in practice it just doesn't happen. Five years after the legal obligation, the professional statute seems to be dying a silent death. The AOb wants to breathe new life into it.
Image Len Munnik
'Drawing up a professional statute does not seem to be a priority at the moment,' the inspectorate writes in the 2022 education report. The year before, 46 percent of schools still had a statute, in 2022 that share will be approximately back at 35 percent. at the level of the baseline measurement in 2019'. The entire subject is no longer discussed in this year's inspection report.
And yet it is a mandatory document for every school. It is part of the Teacher Profession Act, which was introduced five years ago to give teachers in primary, secondary and vocational education more control. In a professional statute, the teachers themselves determine what they need to provide good education at their school. Together they answer questions such as: what is covered during the lessons, who chooses the learning materials, how and when are tests taken?
Leaders
A nice idea, but the ideal image is far away. This is also evident from the Onderwijsblad's research into autonomy. More than half of the 680 participants do not know what a professional status is. Of the 20 percent of participants where there is a professional status at school, the vast majority indicate that they have had no influence on it. A secondary school teacher even sees her autonomy decrease as a result. 'The statute has been used to restrict freedom instead of indicating what freedom is.' According to an MBO teacher, the document has no status and is 'a scrap in the bottom drawer of the archive'.
The fact that no secondary school was found for this article where the statute has been working well for years is mentioned AObdriver Jelmer Evers quite shocking. “It is legally required, so boards have also neglected this and the inspectorate has not looked into it enough. It says something about how important everyone actually finds that autonomy. There is a lot of talk about it, but in practice it does not get off the ground.”
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This is also because the subject is not sufficiently concrete for many teachers, Evers thinks. “The professional status often doesn't mean much to them. But if you ask: do you want to influence which ICT comes into the school, who purchases which method or how colleagues are trained? Then the answer is: yes of course. If you want a say, you have to arrange it and put agreements in writing. That is the professional status, that's all it is. Simple, but you have to do it.”
Difficult
According to him, the 'how' is something that needs more attention. “Teacher training does not teach you how to enter into conversations with each other, achieve autonomy and how to hold each other when things get difficult,” he says. “The union can play a good role in this, because there is always an employment condition aspect to it. If you know what is possible in terms of regulations, what research shows and how fellow schools are doing, then you are much stronger to properly conduct the discussion within the school.”
AObDistrict director Jan Menger notices that teams benefit greatly from the training day on professional status that the association organizes upon request. “How control is properly shaped in the school, also from a legal perspective, can be quite difficult. Then guidance on how to put together a teachers' council that really has influence and how to draw up a good statute is very welcome.”
The teacher shortage and high workload do not make it easier to find time for this, Menger knows. “In recent years, there has been little demand for guidance on professional status. It feels like something that still needs to be done. But if you can take control again and are given the space to do the things that you find important, this will increase job satisfaction. This demonstrably reduces the workload.”
If you want a say, you have to arrange it and put agreements in writing
The common idea that the participation council already has sufficient say is incorrect. The mr only has participation, such as the right of consent for new school policy. With a professional statute, teachers can make agreements in advance. “This means, for example, that teachers can work on the school plan together with the management,” says Menger. “The fact that the plan is already supported by the teachers also makes the work easier for the director. Conversely: changing existing policy is often a very difficult path.”
Model
To help teachers get started better, the AOb to a model professional statute that can serve as an example. Menger: “This way, teams don't have to reinvent the wheel themselves.”
Good news is that the professional status for primary and secondary education has recently been included in the supervisory framework, just like for secondary vocational education. According to Evers, the law is not yet clear enough about the status of the statute and the authority of teachers. “We would like to see this formulated more clearly. Ultimately, the final authority lies with the competent authority and the council can also set aside the statute. That has to change.”
In addition, the AOb with other educational organizations to create a strong professional group and formulate a professional standard. “It helps enormously if you can say nationally: we as teachers find this important,” says Evers, who wants to stipulate in the collective labor agreement that teachers are given sufficient time for a say. “Teaching is fantastic, but not if too much is determined from above. A professional statute allows you to do your work at your school as you would like. This is in everyone's interest, because it benefits both job satisfaction and the quality of education.”
Help us take control!
As a teacher, do you have useful experience in drawing up the professional statute at your school? Let it be the AOb know and help take control at school. Contact person: Roos Bonnemaijers, rbonnemaijers@aob. Nl
Or talk about your profession at Professional image Teacher
Check everything you need to know about your autonomy in the AOb-autonomy file
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