The Western Australian (WA) scheme started in 2010 with 34 IPSs and now there are 445 (Hiatt p6). The inquiring Committee found that the IPS initiative "....had reinforced inequalities between public schools by giving some the chance to recruit the best teachers and not others." (Hiatt, 6) The Committee also reported that the monitoring system for IPSs lacked rigour with too much reliance on self assessment. (Hiatt p6)
As a retired school principal and regional superintendent of schools I have watched the trend to IPSs with interest and some concerns. These are:
- Whether principals will be sufficiently prepared for new responsibilities like one line budgeting and recruiting teachers? To be fair I note that the Education Department of WA has established in-service training opportunities for principals one of which is at an overseas prestigious university.
- Will the IPS principals have the training to run their schools on a development plan embedded with criteria of school effectiveness that enable them to know, based on hard evidence from measuring these effectiveness criteria, how their school is travelling?
- Will the IPS schools be required to follow a recognised curriculum like the Australian National Curriculum rather than have schools having too much freedom to do their own curriculum thing?
- Will the additional administrative responsibilities weigh the principals down and detract from what for me is their prime role of educational leadership?
- Will remote schools and non independent public schools in general be able to receive appropriate teachers? The central Education Department staffing system would need to ensure this.
Staffing the school:
Staffing what are known as disadvantaged schools and remote schools has always been an issue even under a fully centralised Education Department staffing system. The remote schools usually with an indigenous population of students tended to receive graduate teachers who rarely stayed beyond two years. These graduate teachers took at least six months in the initial year to come to terms with the cultural nuances of the remote communities so the schools probably got 18 months of good service then the teachers left. Such a turnover was not helping these schools. I wanted my Education Department to encourage young married couple teachers to take up the positions and remain for a lengthy period, giving them incentives like low interest home loans to purchase their home in Perth or wherever on the coast and if they had teen age children provide then with a free boarding place in a top coastal senior high school with free air fares in and out of the remote community.
Staffing large disadvantaged schools also had problems as one didn't find teachers clammering to teach in these schools. Effective principals of these schools could ensure best practice from their teachers by assisting them to feel good about the profession and creating a culture where the teachers sought to improve so that best practice was the status quo.
The actual process of recruiting staff is complex. Fortunately applicants would come to the school already accredited by a recognised Association that does this work in WA. Theoretically this should mean for example, that the principal does not have to carry out the difficult task of ensuring the bona fides of an applicant's qualifications to teach. I have come across independent schools where this process was not done with rigour and due care.
Interviewing applicants requires a lot of training and at best is a rough guide as to the quality of the applicant. Referee statements are very important and judging the bona fides of the referees is vital. Some referees do not fully understand the responsibilities of writing a reference and may shy away from refusing to do so when they should have done so. I have experienced a case of a reputedly high level teacher training institution letting a trainee through to teach, leaving a principal and yours truly having to deal with an incompetent teacher. I learnt from a contact from that training institution that they knew the young person would struggle with teaching. I am confident such cases are rare as I have assessed many wonderful young graduate teachers striving for permanent status with their employer.
Principals ensuring that their school is effective:
Every principal worth their salt would want their school to be effective broadly on two counts, the first being that as many students as possible achieve as many of the prescribed curriculum outcomes as possible and secondly that the students operate in an environment in which they feel safe, respected and even loved. I understand that Western Australian IPS schools are under a charter to accept regular external reviews however each principal would want the reviewers to come to an effective school as described. The Education Department external reviewers would need to be highly skilled as it is not an easy task to rigorously review a school. The reviewers must be able to see through the school's self review process to ensure that it is valid and reliable.
Choosing the learning program:
I hope that IPS schools do not have too much freedom in choosing a curriculum. Teachers do not have time to be curriculum builders. Their main role is to be curriculum implementers. All hail the advent of the Australian National Curriculum (ANC) . I love it. My understanding is that the States and Territories of Australia are embracing the ANC with some amendments as is their constitutional right as the authorities who provide compulsory education.
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The IPS trend is a big deal and one hopes that it will not become another casualty to poorly conceived change process in education. We have been subjected to this in WA in the past with the major most recent example being the failed outcomes-based approach.
Good luck all principals out there whether yours is an IPS school or otherwise.
Enough already!
GD
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