1988 School Magazine

Groups of our students have had after-school seminars conducted by B.C.A.E. students, many of whom have had considerable experience in tertiary institutions and in industry before taking up teacher education. Other students from this program are gaining experience by working with the Science teachers when they have the opportunity to com€-into the school. Staff at B.G.G.S. have also participated in the Excellence in Teaching Program which is an eighteen hour program designed to develop skills in classroom management, and enhance relationships between teachers and students. The program offered teachers the opportunity to ref lect on their own practice and to discuss with their colleagues many aspects of the teaching experience. Teachers from a wide range of subject areas attended two after-school sessions in the Effective Reading ln Content Areas (ERICA) program. This program is designed to develop teachers' skills and strategies in improving reading and understanding of students in all subiects. lt developed an awareness that reading and comprehension are not simple skills, but complex processes. ldentifying these processes and then developing strategies which will assist students to master them are the main focus of the course. The approach developed has been particularly useful in the Junior school. Most professional development programs this year were school-based, i.e. teachers attended in their own school with their colleagues. The many reports on teacher learning of the past few years recommend the school itself as the most productive site for seminars. ln fourth term a series of Management Seminars was held at which senior staff took the opportunity to share experiences with one another and to develop plans for future staff development and improved pastoral care proSrams. Such activities, together with the access staff have to parents through Parent./Teacher evenings and interviews, have engendered an educational environment where the skills of the staff can be appreciated and the curriculum can be developed to meet societal expectations. We must not become complacent that this situation exists in all schools and I believe that governments must take the responsibility to see that all schools have attractive learning environments and are staffed by competent and committed teachers who are secure in the knowledge that they can become an integral part of the school community that they serve. Through Budget cuts in this State the quality of education is being threatened and adequate resources are being denied to the students in a vast number of State schools. Such measures do not help to promote teaching as an attractive career for young people. Many initiatives have been taken at both state and national levels to increase the participation of young people in schooling with the result that more and more are staying on longer at school. This increased length of schooling, however, does not mean that we are producing more competent and better educated young people, for without the right kind of teachers within our schools, this might not be possible.

i!'r I "rcreasingly complex role which they are expecied tc r,laY in the communitY' l:j-i,3 i'eport states that emphasis must be placed on oi-rmoting the recognition of teaching as a profession alr,:i ihatsuch recognition must come from the calibre of tl-iose who teach as well as from the community's perception of the status of teaching and of teachers. ln 1972 the lnterim Committee of the Commonwealth Scirools Commission stated that "Every child has the rig,-t to assistance in developing a variety of socially dJsii-able attributes which might both afford personal satisfaction and contribute to an improved quality of community and cultural life. To be able to relate to otirers, to enioy the arts both as a participant and patron, to acquire physical grace and to exercise developed mental powers in all aspects of living might be valued as a means to a more generous and fulf illing life. The cash returns to these attributes and the access they give to po\i/er would then become incidental, rather than a deternrining reason to valuing them". (Schoofis im E-r.nstnalia, rV{aY'1973). Unfortunately I believe there has been a subtle change over the past few years where the values placed on eoucation are increasingly equated with material success. Emphasis is increasingly being placed on the economic outcomes of education, with the result that the young people who should be attracted to the teaching profession are being attracted to areas that are more lucrative. The result is a serious shortage of committed, warm and caring teachers who are at the same time well-qualified, adaptive and innovative. We are fortunate in this school to be able to choose the staff who will work with the girls. This year many initiatives have been taken to allow our teachers the opportunity to continue their professional development. Senior staff held discussions with Brisbane Crammar School, Kelvin Crove High School and the Brisbane College of Advanced Education with the prospect of developing a program of co-operative staff development, as funds for professional development from both the Commonwealth and State Covernments have been dramatically reduced. Moves to restructure education at State level will now place increasing responsibility for curriculum development at individual school level, and so co-operation between various educational institutions will become even more essential than in the past. The co-operative project aims to establish networks amongst teachers in the four institutions to enable common interests in curriculum development to be pursued. One such network now being established is in the area of Social Science education in the Junior Secondary school. lt is hoped that by exchanging ideas and resources, the schools will enhance their programs and College staff will gain expertise in school-based cu rricul um development. Another feature of the project is the co-operative sharing of valuable resources amongst schools. During this term, pre-service education students enrolled at the B.C.A.E. have engaged in a tutoring program in senior Sciences at B.C.C.S. 11