Media Release
To: Newsdesk
Date: Monday 23 April, 2007
Page 1
New standards target quality of teacher graduates
New Zealand Teachers Council has launched national standards aimed at ensuring a consistent quality of graduating
teachers.
The Graduating Teacher Standards are a first for New Zealand. They are in response to a call from the teaching
profession for more certainty in the quality of all graduates from all teacher education programmes.
Kathy Smith, the chair of the Council, said:
“The Graduating Teacher Standards have been developed to ensure that, for the first time, there is an agreed national
standard that graduating teachers have to meet, whether they will be teaching in a school or early childhood centre,
including all Māori medium settings.
“The standards set out what student teachers need to achieve to qualify as teachers and to apply for provisional
registration.”
The standards describe what a graduating teacher will know, understand and be able to do, and the dispositions they will
have that are likely to make them effective teachers.
Dr Peter Lind, the director of the Council, said:
“From January 2008, teacher education providers such as universities and tertiary institutions will have to show that
new teaching programmes align with the Graduating Teacher Standards if they are to gain approval to run the programmes.
“Principals, head teachers, supervisors and employers will have a clear set of standards on which to base their
expectations of new graduates, regardless of where they graduate from.
“In the light of the new standards, the Council will review its processes and guidelines for approving teacher education
programmes by December 2007. We will involve our stakeholders in this review, including the quality assurance agencies,
teachers’ unions and teacher education providers.”
The standards have been developed in cooperation with, and with the support of, a wide range of representatives from the
education community.
The Graduating Teacher Standards are available as posters and will be distributed to teacher education providers,
teacher unions, professional teacher associations, lobby groups, schools and early childhood centres by early in May.
They are also available at www.teacherscouncil.govt.nz/education/gts/
ENDS