Education (Teaching Council of Aotearoa) Amendment Bill

Now, when we were last debating this, Erica Stanford was speaking, and she has 5 minutes, 55 seconds remaining to speak. I take it, by the fact that she’s not here, that she’s not going to continue, so I call the last speaker, Jamie Strange.

Madam Deputy Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to take this call this afternoon. I’m certainly honoured to talk on the Education (Teaching Council of Aotearoa) Amendment Bill. I would like to acknowledge the work that the Hon Chris Hipkins has done on this bill. He has listened to teachers over a number of years, and now that he is the Minister of Education, he is bringing in bills that show he has been listening to the profession.

💬 Simeon Brown: For teachers, not children.

If you’re speaking about children, the member for Pakuranga, have you left school yet? My wife and I have four children—

💬 DEPUTY SPEAKER: Actually, I’d rather you just spoke about the bill.

I apologise. My wife and I have four children in the education sector—three in primary and one in early childhood education (ECE). I want the best for my children and all students in this vitally important area. The benefits of education are wide reaching. It creates opportunity for people to succeed.

The purpose of the Teaching Council is to ensure safe and high-quality leadership, teaching, and learning for children and young people in early childhood, primary, secondary, and senior secondary schools, in English medium and Māori medium settings. It stands to reason, therefore, that the governance of the council should be directly elected by, and representative of, the teaching profession, as well as having appointed lay representatives. The name should reflect the central role that teaching plays in quality education. This bill is about teachers having a voice in their council. We talk a lot in education about the student voice. We have student councils. In fact, I’ve just completed a 20,000-word thesis on innovative learning environments. [Interruption] Thank you. I finally got there. A key aspect of innovative learning environments is students actively participating in their education. This bill is about the teaching professionals, whom we value, having a voice.

We’ve heard a number of points in this debate so far. So, number one, we heard from the opposite side of the House that there’s been a lack of consultation on this bill. Well, I can assure those on the other side of the House that something happened back in September; it was called a general election. The teachers voted for change. I spent a lot of time in classrooms, and in every classroom I visited, the teachers were excited about the Labour Party policies, and they clearly voted for change.

Number two, we’ve heard about teacher morale being at an all-time low over the past nine years. I can attest to this. I was a school teacher at a local school, Berkley Normal Middle School in Hamilton, for six years. We were very fortunate to have our Hamilton East member come in and visit—and I appreciate the Hon David Bennett visiting. I even let him play soccer once, didn’t I, David—although I’m not sure he really helped the team. However, the Hon David Bennett—

💬 DEPUTY SPEAKER: I’m sorry to interrupt the member, but, really—I appreciate he’s a new member. First of all, we use full names in the House. Second of all, it is the first reading and I really would like you to address the bill.

Apologies, Madam Deputy Speaker. So we would have National Party MPs come in, and they would say, “We value teachers. We listen to teachers.” But they weren’t listening on national standards, they weren’t listening on class sizes, and they weren’t listening on removing representation from the Teachers Council. The teachers wanted representation on the Teachers Council, quite clearly, and, for a lot of teachers, this legislation was a final nail in the coffin of not being listened to. But I can assure the House and those watching at home that this Government will listen to teachers, and this is one way that we’re doing it, and I’m proud of that.

This bill is part of taking a step change to change the status of teaching. Our teachers do a wonderful job. They’re incredibly hard-working; many of them work well into the night. In fact, when I was a teacher, most of my colleagues would come in on a Sunday. They work in the school holidays. They’re incredibly hard-working, and we will value them by listening. Teachers are among the most trusted public servants, and this Government is passionate about rebuilding trust rather than having a low-trust model. I’m not sure why the National Party hate teachers so much, but that’s a question that will have to be asked. A number of professionals have the opportunity to have representation on their boards, including doctors, lawyers, and nurses. Real estate agents have representation on their board, but school teachers do not have representation on their board, and that’s what this bill seeks to address.

Now, I’ve got a lot of friends who are real estate agents. I value them really highly, but surely teachers should be at least equal with real estate agents—surely.

💬 Hon Member: How many? How many friends?

💬 Hon Iain Lees-Galloway: We’re not counting our friends at the moment.

Ha, ha! There was some talk by a previous speaker, the Hon Tim Macindoe, around his pumpkin being destroyed. Some of you might have missed that story, but he raised—

💬 DEPUTY SPEAKER: I don’t really want to hear it unless it’s in the bill.

Well, it’s not exactly in the bill, but I was just referring to what he mentioned. I’ll be very quick. I think the pumpkin is a good metaphor, because squashed pumpkins are what a lot of teachers have been feeling. But I’ll move on—I’ll move on.

Another aspect of this bill, a key aspect—

💬 Hon Member: No, I want to hear about Tim.

—ha!—is around democracy. Sure, the point was raised early in this debate that some members on the Education Council were formerly teachers, and that is accurate. However, what we’re talking about is—we’re talking about democracy. We’re talking about giving teachers the opportunity to democratically elect representatives from their field.

💬 Hon David Bennett: They’re compulsorily unionised.

I’m not sure if Mr Bennett knows about democracy, but I’m sure in his caucus he’ll find out soon enough.

There’s another key aspect I’d like to raise in my last three minutes, and that’s that this bill renames the Education Council the Teaching Council. People say, “Well, what’s in a name?”

💬 Hon Member: Speaking about a pumpkin.

Ha! What’s in a name? I should know. Jamie Ross Strange is a name that tends to stick in people’s minds, for better or for worse, and, actually, I share two-thirds of my name with the member for Botany. I’m sure he’ll be honoured around that. But the key aspect here is that the word “teaching” is going back into the teachers council, and that’s what this bill does: it puts the word “teaching” back in the title, and that’s a very important aspect of this bill.

What’s the purpose of the Education Council, which will be called the Teaching Council? It supports the processes to make sure teachers meet and maintain the necessary standards—

💬 Hon Member: Of pumpkins.

—needed to teach—and grow pumpkins. Look, who knows best what teachers need? Who knows best what happens at the chalkface? Who knows? Teachers know—absolutely. Who knows best how to make our education system work well for all New Zealand kids? Who knows best? Teachers know best, and that’s why I’m proud to say this Government will put teachers back on the Teaching Council.

We’re going to have diversity on the council. Some of the key areas where representatives will be chosen from include early childhood, the primary sector, and the secondary sector. We’ll have a teacher in the field of ongoing teacher education—professional development. We’ll have a principal from the primary sector, a principal from the secondary sector, and a leader in the ECE area. [Interruption] Ha! I would particularly like to talk about the ECE aspect, because early childhood has been under siege for nine years.

💬 Hon David Bennett: What about a principal from a charter school? Where’s the charter school principal?

We’ll talk about charter schools in a few months, Mr Bennett. I’m sure you’ll take a call on that one. I’ll be looking forward to hearing it. But early childhood—it’s important our kids get the best start in life, and we will have representation from the early childhood sector on the Teaching Council. I’m proud that that will be happening. We’ll have a representative from the primary sector—who have welcomed the removal of national standards unanimously, and we appreciate their support—the secondary sector, and the other sectors I mentioned.

In conclusion, this Government’s vision is for the teaching profession to be of high quality, of high status, and respected. The key point here is that this Government will listen to teachers, and we are listening to teachers. Teachers have said they’ve wanted this for a number of years, and the teachers finally have a Government who will listen to them. I commend this bill to the House.