In addition to system-level consult

In addition to system-level consultative mechanisms and policy-making bodies, it is also important that teacher engagement occurs at the school level. This can mean teachers taking responsibility for local change as members of “learning communities”.




Box 4.3. School-level teacher involvement in Sweden

The principle of consensus is a central feature of the Swedish decision-making process.

Dialogue and collaboration among various parties in the education sector is common, although it does not always result in consensus on changes in education policy. At the central government level, representatives of the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and the teachers’ unions often participate as experts in government committees or consultation groups on school policy. Stakeholders may also present their views through review bodies in connection with official inquiries and government proposals. Apart from such organized collaboration arrangements, various forms of talks and meetings offer opportunities for dialogue and consultations among parties.

At the local level and in individual schools, the Co-determination at Work Act guarantees that employers consult with employees before making major decisions about their workplace. Moreover, the employee representatives concluded an agreement in 1992 that sets the framework for collaboration in the workplace. Under this agreement, employers and teachers seek to reach solutions on matters concerning workplace conditions.





Securing a strategic relationship between government and teachers’ unions

Conflict between unions and reform has best been avoided not where unions are weak but where they are strong and co-operate with reform.

Unions are sometimes perceived as interfering with promising school reform programs by giving higher priority to the unions’ “bread and butter” issues than to what the evidence suggests students need to succeed. But the fact is that many of the countries with the strongest student performance also have strong teachers’ unions, and the better a country’s education system performs, the more likely that country is working constructively with its unions and treating its teachers as trusted professional partners.40

As illustrated in Box 4.4, issues of collective bargaining can be successfully separated from professional issues, where teachers and their organizations collaborate with ministry staff in self-governing bodies to oversee work on entry, discipline, and the professional development of teachers.

Last but not least, teachers’ unions have developed their research capacities significantly in recent years. Their research units have also developed international links, principally through the Research Network of Education International. Within countries, there is evidence of growing links between union researchers and their counterparts in ministries and those in independent research institutes and universities. These developments are important because they can facilitate a constructive dialogue based on research and

evidence.


Chapter 4

Te a ch e r E n g a g e m e n t i n E d u c a t i o n R e f o r m




Box 4.4. Successful collaboration in Ontario

Ontario’s education reforms were accepted by teachers because the government consulted them on its implementation and ensured that it was implemented by professionals, not bureaucrats.

In 2003, the Canadian province of Ontario initiated a comprehensive reform to raise graduation rates as well as literacy and numeracy standards. This featured (1) strategies directly focused on improving the act of teaching; (2) careful and detailed attention to implementation, along with opportunities for teachers to practice new ideas and learn from their colleagues; (3) a single, integrated strategy and one set of expectations for both teachers and students; and (4) support for the reforms from teachers. Of all of these points, the last one, gaining teacher support, has been widely regarded as the most important element.

Central to this was the signing of a four-year collective bargaining agreement with the four major teachers’ unions. In reaching the accord, the ministry was able to negotiate items that were consistent with both its educational strategy and the unions’ interests, thus providing a basis for pushing forward the education agenda while creating a sustained period of labor peace that allowed for continued focus on educational improvement.

The ministry devoted significant efforts to winning over teachers, schools, and unions to its vision of reform. It had a clear theory of where responsibilities lay. The role of the ministry was to set clear expectations and targets, provide funding, create a working collective-bargaining agreement that would support improved teaching and learning, provide external expertise, and provide support for struggling schools. The role of the district was to align its personnel and hiring policies with the overall strategy, and to support the schools as they went through continuous processes of learning. The role of the school was considered crucial, as the place where change needed to occur; and while the mission and pressure came from the top, the role of non-school contributors to the reform was to support the learning and change occurring in the schools.

At a political level, those leading the reforms made a point of involving teachers and their representatives. The deputy minister met quarterly with their main unions, with superintendents’ organizations, and with principal associations to review progress. The ministry also created the Ontario Education Partnership Table where a wider range of stakeholders could meet with ministry officials two to four times a year. This led to Working Tables, where smaller groups of stakeholders worked in more detail on particular issues. Important to these efforts was the signing of a four-year collective bargaining agreement with the four major teachers’ unions in 2005, covering 2004 to 2008. In this agreement, the ministry was able to negotiate changes consistent with both the educational strategy and the unions’ interests, including a reduction of class size and the creation of extra preparation time, which led to the creation of 5 000 and 2 000 new jobs, respectively. The agreement also provided money to hire a full- or part-time staff member in each school who was responsible for student success. A second four-year agreement was signed in 2008.

To follow through on the reforms, the ministry created a comprehensive implementation strategy. The ministry created a new 100-person secretariat responsible for building the capacity and expertise to implement the literacy and numeracy initiatives in elementary schools. This was separate from the ministry, and was thus able to start fresh without the usual bureaucratic obstacles. The reform also involved creating teams in each district and each school to lead the work on literacy and numeracy.

Results (Vietnamese) 1:

Ngoài hệ thống cấp cơ chế tư vấn và các cơ quan chính sách, nó cũng là quan trọng rằng giáo viên tham gia xảy ra ở mức độ trường học. Điều này có nghĩa là giáo viên chịu trách nhiệm cho sự thay đổi địa phương là thành viên của "học tập cộng đồng".Hộp 4.3. Sự tham gia của cấp độ trường giáo viên tại Thuỵ ĐiểnCác nguyên tắc của sự đồng thuận là một đặc điểm trung tâm của quá trình ra quyết định Thụy Điển.Đối thoại và hợp tác giữa các bên khác nhau trong lĩnh vực giáo dục là phổ biến, mặc dù nó không luôn luôn kết quả trong sự đồng thuận về những thay đổi trong chính sách giáo dục. Ở cấp trung ương, đại diện của các Hiệp hội chính quyền địa phương Thụy Điển và công đoàn giáo viên thường xuyên tham gia như là các chuyên gia trong Ủy ban chính phủ hoặc tư vấn nhóm trên trường chính sách. Các bên liên quan cũng có thể trình bày quan điểm của họ thông qua đánh giá các cơ quan liên quan đến yêu cầu chính thức và chính phủ đề xuất. Ngoài nghiên cứu khoa học tổ chức sắp xếp, các hình thức khác nhau của cuộc đàm phán và các cuộc họp cung cấp cơ hội cho các cuộc đối thoại và tham vấn giữa các bên.Ở cấp độ địa phương và trong trường học riêng lẻ, việc xác định đồng tại đạo luật làm việc đảm bảo rằng sử dụng lao động tham khảo với nhân viên trước khi đưa ra quyết định lớn về nơi làm việc. Hơn nữa, nhân viên đại diện ký kết một thỏa thuận năm 1992 bộ nền tảng để hợp tác trong nơi làm việc. Theo thỏa thuận này, sử dụng lao động và giáo viên tìm kiếm để đạt được các giải pháp về các vấn đề liên quan đến nơi làm việc điều kiện.Securing a strategic relationship between government and teachers’ unionsConflict between unions and reform has best been avoided not where unions are weak but where they are strong and co-operate with reform.Unions are sometimes perceived as interfering with promising school reform programs by giving higher priority to the unions’ “bread and butter” issues than to what the evidence suggests students need to succeed. But the fact is that many of the countries with the strongest student performance also have strong teachers’ unions, and the better a country’s education system performs, the more likely that country is working constructively with its unions and treating its teachers as trusted professional partners.40As illustrated in Box 4.4, issues of collective bargaining can be successfully separated from professional issues, where teachers and their organizations collaborate with ministry staff in self-governing bodies to oversee work on entry, discipline, and the professional development of teachers.Last but not least, teachers’ unions have developed their research capacities significantly in recent years. Their research units have also developed international links, principally through the Research Network of Education International. Within countries, there is evidence of growing links between union researchers and their counterparts in ministries and those in independent research institutes and universities. These developments are important because they can facilitate a constructive dialogue based on research andevidence. Chapter 4Te a ch e r E n g a g e m e n t i n E d u c a t i o n R e f o r mBox 4.4. Successful collaboration in OntarioOntario’s education reforms were accepted by teachers because the government consulted them on its implementation and ensured that it was implemented by professionals, not bureaucrats.In 2003, the Canadian province of Ontario initiated a comprehensive reform to raise graduation rates as well as literacy and numeracy standards. This featured (1) strategies directly focused on improving the act of teaching; (2) careful and detailed attention to implementation, along with opportunities for teachers to practice new ideas and learn from their colleagues; (3) a single, integrated strategy and one set of expectations for both teachers and students; and (4) support for the reforms from teachers. Of all of these points, the last one, gaining teacher support, has been widely regarded as the most important element.Central to this was the signing of a four-year collective bargaining agreement with the four major teachers’ unions. In reaching the accord, the ministry was able to negotiate items that were consistent with both its educational strategy and the unions’ interests, thus providing a basis for pushing forward the education agenda while creating a sustained period of labor peace that allowed for continued focus on educational improvement.The ministry devoted significant efforts to winning over teachers, schools, and unions to its vision of reform. It had a clear theory of where responsibilities lay. The role of the ministry was to set clear expectations and targets, provide funding, create a working collective-bargaining agreement that would support improved teaching and learning, provide external expertise, and provide support for struggling schools. The role of the district was to align its personnel and hiring policies with the overall strategy, and to support the schools as they went through continuous processes of learning. The role of the school was considered crucial, as the place where change needed to occur; and while the mission and pressure came from the top, the role of non-school contributors to the reform was to support the learning and change occurring in the schools.At a political level, those leading the reforms made a point of involving teachers and their representatives. The deputy minister met quarterly with their main unions, with superintendents’ organizations, and with principal associations to review progress. The ministry also created the Ontario Education Partnership Table where a wider range of stakeholders could meet with ministry officials two to four times a year. This led to Working Tables, where smaller groups of stakeholders worked in more detail on particular issues. Important to these efforts was the signing of a four-year collective bargaining agreement with the four major teachers’ unions in 2005, covering 2004 to 2008. In this agreement, the ministry was able to negotiate changes consistent with both the educational strategy and the unions’ interests, including a reduction of class size and the creation of extra preparation time, which led to the creation of 5 000 and 2 000 new jobs, respectively. The agreement also provided money to hire a full- or part-time staff member in each school who was responsible for student success. A second four-year agreement was signed in 2008.To follow through on the reforms, the ministry created a comprehensive implementation strategy. The ministry created a new 100-person secretariat responsible for building the capacity and expertise to implement the literacy and numeracy initiatives in elementary schools. This was separate from the ministry, and was thus able to start fresh without the usual bureaucratic obstacles. The reform also involved creating teams in each district and each school to lead the work on literacy and numeracy.