1. Why we need quality teachers

There is so much talk in the media, in political circles and in society, in general, about the standard of education in the world today. Whether it be about the perceived drop in standards of students, the actual results of world-wide studies or which political party supposedly cares more about education and how to “fix” it; we are inundated with experts telling us what we’re doing wrong in education and how things need to change. Just about everyone has been to school so just about everyone is an expert on education and can confidently point out our faults and failings.

The trouble, as I see, is that education is so diverse and complex that there is probably some truth in all the criticisms and some validity in all of the different suggestions to improve them. It is easy enough to pick a problem and find an adequate solution depending on your particular viewpoint or area of interest and, in many respects, that is what I will be doing through these blogs. In my defence, my attitude regarding education is, primarily, a positive one. I’ve seen the statistics. I recognise the problems and acknowledge the difficulties in implementing viable solutions. I have, however, also seen the great learning and development of our students, the tremendous effort and skill applied by our teachers and the great vision and purpose of our school leaders. I choose to view education in a positive way where I professionally reflect and acknowledge where we are now and use rigorous and well-researched methods to look forward and to move forward for the good of our students.   

There are so many aspects which affect student learning and growth which is, essentially, what education is about. We need good curriculum. We need good school leadership. We need good resources and good processes. Ultimately, for me, we need good teachers! Actually, we need great teachers - quality teachers. To recognise and develop quality teachers is the key to quality student learning. How we do this is the essential question in education today.

Once again, we have many solutions being proposed by those who recognise the importance of the teacher in the learning process. Some of these include: having the brightest people applying to become teachers, improving our university education courses, introducing performance pay and an increasing emphasis on professional standards. All of these have supporters and some have great validity.

So, what works best? I believe we must have a culture of improvement, a culture of high expectations, a culture of excellence in our schools and a culture of recognition and growth in our teaching profession. I’m not sure we have that in all our schools, as yet. Changing and improving the culture in our schools, in our systems and in our profession is difficult but that is what we need to continue doing for the good of the students we teach. There are many ways we can work towards achieving this culture and, I believe, it is primarily through a focus on the development and support of high quality teachers in a caring and collaborative learning environment. I hope we have the professional attitude, the appropriate processes and personal will to do it!

Peter Hehir