Our Union needs new, honest and hard working leadership that will:
- Provide a highly professional and competent public image
- Listen and respond to the needs of classroom teachers as a top priority
- Develop an up to date list of current policies which is available to members
- Consult to establish new policies covering the changing circumstances of modern teaching
- Ensure good governance, including the development of procedures and adherence to principles of natural justice
- Review the duties of our employees to maximise benefits in line with our changing work environment.
A Professional Public Image
- Act smart, look smart
After seeing the welcoming and friendly face of the subbranch Secretary the next thing that a new member will see is our AEUNT web page.
This must be an informative, up to date and engaging contact point. Access to current issues, recent events and policies must be easy. Guidance through the latest changes or the usual recurring problems should be a click away. While on the site, the reader should be able to communicate concerns or questions or perhaps an answer will already available in the " frequently asked questions". Major educational issues must be addressed on our site, perhaps in an a variety of forms promoting discussion and debate, but most importantly helping our members and the wider community to gain a positive view of what we do.
When given the rare opportunity to be seen on TV or heard on radio, the appearance and manner of our representatives must reflect the high professional standards demanded in our occupation.
The manner in which enquiries are dealt with is important. A record should be kept of the nature of enquiries and the numbers received to allow prompt recognition of underlying systemic issues.
A log must be maintained of planned / required actions with proposed action dates and this must be reviewed and updated on a regular basis to ensure promises are kept and work is actually done.
Needs of Classroom Teachers
- Stay in touch with ordinary members
Every Union official is going to say this is what they are about. I am saying this is what I am about.
The needs of the front line classroom teacher must at all times be our highest priority. It is important to have a good relationship with Ministers and CEOs. However, responding promptly and appropriately to a teacher at Sanderson Middle School or Nightcliff Primary is our core business. Staying in touch with our subbranches is something I will do. I will visit as many subbranches as I possibly can on a regular basis because that is our core business.
Current Policies
- Give members easy access to policies
There must be a readily available and comprehensive set of current AEU NT policies. This is really important because it is increasingly difficult to access DET material on many day to day matters and too often even the headline matters. Members should be able to read what the AEU NT policy is so as to inform their actions. This is not possible at the moment.
AEU NT policies are not on the website. It is also of some concern that at the recent Annual Conference reference to current policy was based on recall of the last few Conferences. No file was brought to Conference to refer to and that may be because none is readily available.
Our AEU NT policies must be placed on our website for all to see and use. In my first year, I will make sure that current AEU NT policies are available on our website so that members can easily find the information they need.
New Policies
- Take the lead, set the agenda
With the rapidly changing nature of our work we need to regularly review our present policy statements and we also need to take the lead developing new policy and setting new goals.
Virtual Teaching and the Virtual Classroom raise many issues that must be addressed urgently. This will be an expanding form of delivery in the NT, especially in remote education. While our Union may be invited to participate on some working parties or be directly consulted by senior management within DET, we require a considered position to work from and clear goals to work towards. Implementing any new system will involve a degree of pragmatism of those involved BUT the policy cannot simply be one of addressing day to day glitches as they arise. We have the local experienced members and the resources of an Australian wide Union to draw upon that should see us developing a policy that can shape where virtual teaching heads and the form it will take.
Vocational Education in Schools (VETiS) and School Based Apprenticeships also raise many concerns and we must have a comprehensive policy position that members can refer to. Matters such as the increasing responsibility for pastoral care and guidance required by students doing VET options, plus missed work and catch up time raise concerns about workloads. These types of demands on our time are not considered face to face instruction. With up to 70% of all senior students undertaking some VET, this is an area we must have a policy on.
Transition/Reception in Junior Primary has been significantly changed. Again while some pragmatic Union involvement is important, it is not good enough. We must have our policy clearly expressed and regularly articulated. Creating policy does not ensure that DET will rush to align itself with that policy, but it does give guidance to our members at the front line. They can resist and insist with justification and confidence. We all have something to work towards.
Full time Officers (FTOs) can not develop policy by themselves. It requires the commitment of members who have the necessary knowledge and passion to work on the issue in voluntary subcommittees. These subcommittees must be supported by the FTOs and office staff with secretarial and research services.
Good Governance
- be fair and honest
- be accountable and transparent
- be efficient and effective
Our Union must be better managed. Good governance is about open and transparent management. There have been incidents when our Full time Officers (FTOs) have moved motions that contravene our union rules and infringe the rights of members. When informed of these breaches, Executive has not corrected these actions, the FTOs have not apologised or been admonished. In fact too few on Executive even seemed to be alarmed. Executive depends on the integrity of the FTOs in that it is informed by them and must be able to trust that the advice given is truthful, accurate, verifiable and consistent with our rules and the principles of natural justice.
Minutes of all meetings must be kept, not just some. As meetings of Executive are held some time apart it is essential that a record is kept of what discussion informed the actual decisions made so that different recollections about the intent of a previous motion can be resolved. No such record is kept at the moment and it leads to disharmony.
Executive members live and teach all over the NT and important decisions are expected of them on a wide range of issues. No one member of Executive can be expected to be an expert on all things. However, there is no method provided for Executive members to exchange views or information other than at face to face meetings or in tele-conferences. Executive members are not provided with comprehensive background papers before meetings. They are not provided before the meeting with a number of alternative proposed or possible courses of action for consideration and discussion. The meetings are time limited and this sort of preparation is essential for good decision making. At the very least a secure method of communication between Executive members must be put in place urgently.
The grievance procedures within our union need to be reviewed and improved. At present a member who feels s/he has been mistreated or not adequately represented can only appeal to the people who were responsible for the initial decision. The procedure of appeal to the President is appropriate in a larger organisation where the President would not have been involved in the initial incident. In the NT we have just two FTOs and an organiser, which means the President's impartiality must be compromised.
A review of the duties of our employees
- be flexible and efficient
We currently have 5 full time paid positions in our Union. With a membership that has only recently gone over 2000 we need to be sure that we get the maximum benefit from the combination of duties involved. In the teacher awards there is a commitment to change in line with changing demands while maintaining some base conditions. I believe it is appropriate to review our paid employee roles with a view to maximising the benefits to members while preserving the essential base conditions. The changing technologies and availability of services means we should not be complacent about arrangements and structures that have remained unchanged for quite some time. It may be appropriate for example to create a research role that allows the AEU NT to gather and disseminate information about remote education and conditions. We have a responsibility and an opportunity to lead Australia in this.
Other Issues
Why elect a new secretary in the middle of an UCA ?
for further discussion visit my blog post Here.
Other Issues
Why elect a new secretary in the middle of an UCA ?
for further discussion visit my blog post Here.
