The Board is working on the development of policy documents following the implementation of its new legislation, the Teacher Registration (Northern Territory) Act 2004 (the Act). The Board is also developing these documents to be responsive to new and emerging national policy changes, as well as operational and stakeholder requirements.
The Board has released two policy documents for consultation. These documents are:
the Quality Teaching Philosophy; and
the Teacher Health and Wellbeing policy.
Quality Teaching Philosophy
The Quality Teaching Philosophy is a short, high-level statement outlining the Board’s general principles and position relating to quality teaching. It gives the Board's overarching position on what quality teaching is and why it is important to assist teachers and others in understanding why the Board implements quality teaching processes and the expectations the Board has of the profession in relation to quality teaching practice. This philosophy will guide all of the Board's existing and new quality teaching initiatives.
Click here to read the draft Quality Teaching Philosophy
Teacher Health and Wellbeing Policy
One of the amendments made to the Act in January 2020 was to clarify the obligations of applicants for registration, and registered teachers, to notify the Board of their personal details.
The definition of personal details was amended in the Act to specify that personal details now includes “details of any physical or mental impairment, disability, condition or disorder, including substance abuse or dependence, that the person has and that may affect the person’s eligibility for registration”.
The legislation does not otherwise provide for the Board’s consideration of these kinds of health conditions, including where a health condition is identified as a relevant factor through one of the Board’s disciplinary processes.
Therefore, the Board has developed this policy to:
- communicate the compliance requirements for teachers in notifying the Board of these kinds of health conditions as part of their personal details.
- set the Board’s position on the relationship between teacher health and wellbeing status and the eligibility criteria for registration and authorisation; and
- outline strategies that all members of the teaching profession can adopt to improve their health and wellbeing.
Click here to read the draft Teacher Health and Wellbeing Policy
Consultation
We need your help to finalise these policies and ensure they are relevant, helpful and useful for the Northern Territory teaching profession!
These governance documents have been developed through a desktop process so far. A desktop process involves research, legislative review and internal consultation within the office of the Board.
We really value the input of the teaching profession, including teachers, employers, advocacy groups, professional bodies and subject-matter experts, so the Board is now consulting with stakeholders on the documents.
We invite you to read the documents which can be accessed by clicking the links above.
We would really appreciate your feedback, which can be provided to us via our feedback survey, which is found here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/9GZMDSV