Review of Teachers' Council to begin

Education Minister Hekia Parata has today announced the chair and members of the committee that will review the role and functions of the New Zealand Teachers’ Council as part of the Government’s programme of work to lift student achievement.

“The goal is to ensure that the Teachers’ Council is a strong, professional body that will set and enforce high standards, promote effective teaching practice, develop the professional community of teachers, and lead public discussion on education issues,” Ms Parata says.

“The Teachers’ Council Review Committee will investigate the council’s current capability to focus on these roles, and on what structural and legislative arrangements might be needed to ensure effectiveness.”

Pauline Winter has been appointed chair of the committee and Dr Judith Aitken, John Morris, Robyn Baker and Jonathan Krebs members.

“The committee has skills and expertise right across education, business, the State Sector, and professional bodies. They’ll seek input from a wide range of stakeholders, and report to me at the end of October.

“This Government is determined to lift student achievement, and we know that quality teaching has the biggest in-school impact on achievement,” Ms Parata says.

“Strong professional leadership, distinct from government or industrial organisations, will achieve a great deal in lifting the status and profile of teaching as a career for the 21st century.”

Teacher’s Council Review Committee Members

Chair: Pauline Winter

• Chair of the National Advisory Council on the Employment of Women
• Director of Pasifika Advancement at AUT University in Auckland
• Deputy Chief Commissioner of the Transport Accident Investigation Commission
• Director INTERPACIFIC Ltd
• Former Chief Executive of Workbridge Inc
• Pacific Business Person of the Year 1997
• QSO 2008.

Dr Judith Aitken

• Member of the Wellington Regional Council
• Member of the Capital and Coast District Health Board
• Former Chief Executive of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs
• Former Chief Review Officer of the Education Review Office
• QSO 1997
• New Zealander of the Year (National Business Review) 1999

Robyn Baker

• Director of the New Zealand Council for Educational Research
• Leader of the Teaching and Learning Research Initiative
• Board member of the Australian Council for Educational Research
• Chair of the Education Committee for the Royal Society of New Zealand

John Morris

• Headmaster of Auckland Grammar School
• Founding chairman of the Association of Cambridge Schools in New Zealand
• Former chair of the Education Forum
• Woolf Fisher Fellowship for Outstanding Educational Leadership 1999

Jonathan Krebs

• Practising Crown Prosecutor
• President of NZ Law Society Hawke’s Bay
• Member of Hawke’s Bay Standards Committee, Legal Aid Tribunal, and Chief High Court Judge’s criminal rules sub-committee
• Convenor of NZ Law Society Criminal Laws Committee

Please note the terms of reference are available on enquiry.