Goodwill would dry up

On the phone again...Brian Buckley said there is an enormous amount of work involved in interviews.

The goodwill of parents highly committed to their local school would run out quickly if all teaching positions went to interview, Lockhart Central School principal Brian Buckley said.

Interview panels generally consist of a parent representative, the Fed Rep and the principal (or nominee).

Mr Buckley said the panel members would have to read lots of CVs.

�I had two panels in a three week time period in November.

�It hit home to me the amount of work involved in the merit selection process.�

�The convenor of a panel has to read all the CVs and interview a minimum of two referees, compile a short list and then organise the interviews.

�This is on top of what people ordinarily do.

�If you did that for each of the positions the workload would not allow you to do the other things that you are expected to do.�

Mr Buckley asked whether those principals advocating merit selection for all positions had thought about the work involved.

He said the teacher attrition rate would be 40 per cent in the next five years because of retirements and people moving away from teaching, so this would mean lots of interviews if the current transfer system was abolished.

�Who would want to be a Fed Rep [with all those interview panels]?

He also questioned the value of interviews. He said performance in the classroom and performing well at interview were �two different things�.

Mr Buckley outlined the benefits of a staffing system based on transfers for schools and teachers.

�For places that aren�t in the most favoured areas, there is a certain attraction for people to work in those schools for the transfer points offered,� he said.

�Teachers know they will be able to use these to go somewhere they regard as more favourable [but in the meantime] there is a small �g� guarantee that those [hard to staff] schools are going to be staffed.�

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Last Modified: 18 Feb 2008