FAQ - Induction of Provisionally Registered Teachers
Below is a list of commonly asked questions. If you have a question that you would like added to this list please email inquiries@teacherscouncil.govt.nz
Commonly Asked Questions
When can I apply for full registration?
You must complete two years of supervised teaching following the completion date of your teaching qualification. A recommendation and endorsement for full registration may be signed and dated only in the eighth term (or eighth block of 10 weeks) of supervised teaching, and no earlier. You must participate in the supervised advice and guidance programme until the end of the eighth term/eighth block of 10 weeks.
What should I do if there is no mentor teacher available in my learning centre?
In rare situations this can happen in some very small schools, kura kaupapa Māori, early childhood centres or tertiary institutions. You will need to find a fully registered teacher who can supervise your advice and guidance programme in flexible ways. You could consider:
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A system where 2 or 3 colleagues work together under the supervision of a fully registered teacher from another learning centre who keeps in contact and visits you at your centre.
- Using as a mentor teacher a fully registered teacher in a nearby learning centre serving a different age group, e.g. primary school, secondary school, advisory service or teacher education institution. However, this will require that your mentor teacher has a contextual understanding of the setting, and that this is fully discussed and understood. The Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions/Registered Teacher Criteria are the same for all sectors, and can be interpreted and applied for working with a range of age groups and communities.
In either case, you should have an initial planning meeting followed by regular documented visits.
I am not happy with the amount of support I am getting from my mentor/learning centre/professional leader. What should I do?
Talk this over first with your mentor teacher who is responsible for your programme. It is important for both of you to clarify your perceptions, expectations and needs. If the difficulty is still not resolved, discuss the situation with your professional leader. Refer to ‘Towards Full Registration - A Support Kit' for further advice or options to explore. An adviser from School Support Services experienced with beginning teachers may be able to help. Following this, it will be helpful to consult your NZEI or PPTA field officer or counsellor to sort out what options are open to you. What this also highlights is the need to have a clear understanding before the programme begins about the expectations you both have.
What should I do if the mentor teacher does not keep to the programme we agreed to?
Refer to the contract negotiated at the beginning of the advice and guidance programme and to expectations about frequency of meetings. Restate what needs to happen to make the advice and guidance programme work for you. Problem-solve together ways in which your needs can be met. Your mentor teacher may need to review the resources available to them to fulfil the role. If these resources are inadequate, your mentor teacher will need to raise this with your principal/manager.
I am not getting any formal feedback on my teaching. What should I do?
Discuss this first with your mentor teacher. Formal feedback and reflection on your teaching is a really important part of your support programme. It is essential that your mentor teacher regularly sees you in action. If talking to your mentor teacher does not resolve the issue, approach the professional leader of your centre. As a last resort, you can contact your local NZEI or PPTA field officer.
I want to go to a professional development course/network but my learning centre won't provide any release time. What should I do?
The support grant funded by the Ministry of Education is available to all teacher-led early childhood education services to support provisionally registered teachers to become fully registered. An appropriate use of the funding is release time for the provisionally registered teacher to attend professional development opportunities. Discuss the use of the funding with the professional leader of your centre.
My mentor teacher has moved away from my learning centre and is hard to contact. Can I change to another mentor teacher?
Yes, you can. Although it is ideal for you to have the same mentor teacher throughout your advice and guidance programme, there is no requirement for this to be the case. However, the fully registered teacher who recommends you for full registration at the end of your programme must be certain that you meet the requirements to be a fully registered teacher. That means they must be familiar with your practice and have observed this and provided you with feedback in terms of the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions/Registered Teacher Criteria. If you are in a position where you need to find a new mentor teacher near the end of your advice and guidance programme, it may be better to delay your application for full registration by a couple of months so the new person can provide a fair appraisal of your practice.
It is important that you keep all your documentation relating to your advice and guidance programme. In this way, your new mentor teacher can see the work you have done so far and the areas of your practice you are focusing on. It may also be appropriate for your new mentor teacher to have contact with your previous one in order to share professional information and learn about you. This should only happen with your knowledge and permission.
If you need help to find a new mentor teacher, you can:
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Ask your colleagues or other teachers in your community
- Contact organisations who give support for teacher registration, such as Te Tari Puna Ora o Aotearoa/NZ Childcare Assocation, NZEI, PPTA or your teacher education provider
How much documentation do I need to keep?
You may be asked to send evidence of your two year induction and mentoring programme at the time you apply for full registration. When the documentation is requested, it is expected that a range of documentation will be sent to show that the support programme has been in place over at least two years. For this reason, it is a good idea to send documentation from the beginning, middle and end of each year of your programme - and ensure all documentation is labelled with the relevant date of completion.
The exact number of documents will depend on the structure of your programme and frequency of your meetings with your mentor teacher. For example, you may have 4 formal observations completed of your teaching over one year, or you may have 8 (or more!).
If you are asked to send evidence of your support programme, you will need to provide evidence to show that you met with your mentor teacher on a regular basis and received formative/summative feedback, that observations were conducted of your teaching throughout the support programme, you reflected on your teaching regularly, and participated in professional development activities.
In the material you provide we want to see a coherent two year programme of induction and mentoring and ‘hear' your ‘voice' and the ‘voice' of your mentor teacher throughout the programme. This means, for example, commentary about lessons, or reflections by each of you on activities or professional development you have completed.
My mentor teacher does not teach the subjects that I do. I'd like to get some input from a teacher who has experience in my subjects. What can I do?
Discuss this in the first instance with your mentor teacher and/or professional leader. You may be able to arrange with an experienced teacher in the same subject area at a nearby school, or with a regional School Support Services subject specialist adviser, to provide you with additional support in your subject area. This person could give you assistance related to your teaching subject while your coordinator supervises your general programme. Joining your subject association may also provide you with support materials and advice.
I work in a remote area and there is not much professional development available. What can I do?
It is important to note that professional development is not solely about attendance at courses. You can engage in professional development by reading online papers, readings and blogs. There are also very good courses held in school holiday time, including those run through the Teachers' Refresher Course Committee (TRCC) where you can get significant subsidies for travel and accommodation to enable a good range of teachers to attend.
You can utilize classroom release time and your beginning teacher release time to attend professional development. It is also essential that you embed the theory and ideas you learn about by reflecting on and discussing your professional development as you progress with your induction and mentoring programme.
I would like more theoretical discussion about my teaching and my learners but my mentor seems focused on mundane aspects. How can I get a higher level of discussion going?
You can engage in action research, join subject associations, access readings, and think about reflective questions generated by the Registered Teacher Criteria. Your relationship with your mentor teacher is only one part of the professional community you join as a practising teacher.
Do I have to be employed at the same school/learning centre for the whole time I complete my induction and mentoring programme?
No. However if you move to another school/learning centre you need to ensure that you take the records of your programme with you, and that your new employer is aware that you need to continue with your induction and mentoring programme. You also need to be employed in a teaching position of at least 0.5 FTTE within the general education system or a setting approved for gaining full registration by the Teachers Council, and be teaching in minimum blocks of 10 weeks. If you are employed for less than 10 weeks, in a casual relief position or a teaching position of less than 0.5, the time will not count towards full registration.
I have two part time teaching positions at different learning centres. Can I combine my hours to meet the minimum time of 0.5 FTTE?
Yes. You will need to ensure that your supervising teacher is familiar with your teaching in both centres. If your mentor teacher is based in one centre, you will need to arrange times for formal observations to be completed of your teaching, and follow up meetings to discuss your goals, follow up on goals previously set and receive feedback on your teaching. It is essential that your mentor teacher observes you teaching on a regular basis at both centres so that they have sufficient opportunities to determine that you are demonstrating the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions/Registered Teacher Criteria.
Should I be working towards meeting the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions, or the Registered Teacher Criteria?
If you began your induction and mentoring programme in 2010 or earlier, and you are continuing to be employed in a teaching position in an approved setting you can continue to work towards demonstrating the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions. At the time you apply for full registration you may notice that the recommendation requires your supervising teacher and professional leader to confirm that you meet the Registered Teacher Criteria. Those teachers who began their induction and mentoring programme in 2010 or earlier and who complete this programme utilising the Satisfactory Teachers Dimensions in 2011 or 2012 can be deemed to have met the Registered Teacher Criteria. You may find the matrices comparing the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions, Registered Teacher Criteria and Professional Standards and Draft Evidence Guide useful for comparing the Dimensions and Criteria. These resources are available on the webpage dedicated to the Registered Teacher Criteria workshop resources.
All teachers who are due to begin their induction and mentoring programme from January 2011 must be working towards meeting the Registered Teacher Criteria.
Further information about the Criteria can be found in the Registered Teacher Criteria section of the website.
I am not currently teaching and I need to have my application to renew my practising certificate endorsed by the professional leader of my last school/centre. I left my last teaching position in 2010 and therefore I was most recently appraised using the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions rather than the Registered Teacher Criteria, which I understand are the current standards for the teaching profession. How can my application be endorsed?
When an endorsement is being made the professional leader needs to consider a range of documentation in order to determine that the teacher meets all of the requirements to maintain full registration. If the appraisal documentation for the teacher is from prior to 2011 then it could be that the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions were used as the standards. In this case the professional leader can refer to the matrices for the various sectors here which map the Registered Teacher Criteria, the Satisfactory Teacher Dimensions and the Professional Standards.
These make it possible to look at evidence material for breadth and depth across all these standards.