The ELT this week approved the revision of 2021 (current year) professional development badge requirements for teaching staff –specifically, they have reduced the 2021 badge requirement for teaching staff from two badges to one badge.
This is in recognition of the incredibly hard mahi our teaching staff have being doing to support our learners through these very uncertain times, and the significant impact of not only the recent extended lockdown but also the various other challenges and disruptions that 2021 has brought. There is no doubt that it has been challenging to maintain focus on delivering high quality teaching and learning throughout this period, and our leadership would like to thank every one of our teaching staff for their commitment and dedication to this.
Please note the following important points:
For those teaching staff who have already completed their two-badge requirement for 2021
- Thank you for the time and effort you have put in to get these completed through such a challenging period. Your hard mahi has not been wasted – you have now met your requirement for 2021 and our Learning & Development team will ensure one of your completed badges is carried over to 2022 so you will be ahead of the game next year.
For those who have already completed one of their 2021 badges
- Thank you, you have now met your badge requirement for this year. If you’ve started working on your second badge and wish to complete this, it will be carried over and count towards your 2022 requirements.
For those still to complete their 2021 badge
- For your one-badge requirement, either a parity badge or a teacher capability development (TCD) badge will be accepted. It is recommended that you discuss with your manager which is most appropriate depending on need. The exception to this may be any staff involved in our Hāpai-O programme as this will require a focus on parity badges – again, your manager will be able to help determine where your focus should lie.
- The final cut-off date is 11 February 2022 for submission of evidence towards completion of your 2021 badge. Please note however that submissions made after 30 November may not be marked and feedback provided or the badge awarded until at least February 2022 – this is due to the large number of submissions made in the last few months and the closedown over the Christmas period. So, if you want to avoid the bottleneck, get your submission in early!
For proportional teaching staff (0.7 FTE and below) who already had a one-badge requirement
- You will still be required to complete your one badge. This is in line with our requirements of non-teaching staff where a one-badge requirement stands regardless of FTE, and it ensures that all our staff are undertaking some badged professional development this year – this remains important especially in regard to parity badges and continued progress towards building capability to support priority group success. However, it is recognised that this may be particularly challenging for staff around 0.4 FTE and lower, and as always our Learning & Development team are happy to be flexible and deal case-by-case with those staff around the threshold who may struggle to complete. Please discuss with your manager in the first instance if you have concerns around this.
For ALL teaching staff
- It is important to note that this decision applies to the current year only. For 2022, the “standard” two-badge requirement (one of which must be a parity badge) will again be in place and as usual, this requirement will be embedded in the ADEP Plan template for 2022 which will be made available on the Nest by the end of October.
Our Learning & Development team are in the process of updating our reporting to reflect the revised requirements, and will be in touch with Heads of School and APMs over the next month to provide clear and up-to-date information on the badge status of their teams.
It is hoped that this will go some way to alleviating at least some of the pressure on our teaching staff. Again – our leadership would like to thank you all for your continued efforts to provide outstanding learning experiences for our learners.
If you have any questions or concerns about what is required of you or your team, please don’t hesitate to contact our Learning and Development team at learnanddevelop@unitec.ac.nz or reach out to your Human Resources Business Partner.