ERIC Number: EJ1277235
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020-Sep
Pages: 18
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1835-517X
EISSN: N/A
Reappraising the AITSL Professional Engagement Domain: Clarifying Social Capacity Building for School Leaders to Enhance Overall Teacher Job Satisfaction and Career Longevity
Lowe, Geoffrey M.; Prout, Peter F.; Gray, Christina C.; Jefferson, Sarah
Australian Journal of Teacher Education, v45 n9 Article 4 p62-78 Sep 2020
The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (AITSL, 2018) stipulate what teachers should know and do through each career stage. School leaders are complicit in promoting the Standards are met by all staff, including Professional Engagement (Standards Six and Seven). While the Standards emphasise content and pedagogical capacity building, we contend that teaching is a social enterprise. Although social capacity building is implied in the Professional Engagement domain through terms such as 'collegiality, collaboration and dialogue', we question the degree to which it is understood by school leaders. We ask this in light of influential studies by Waldinger (2010) and Vaillant (1977) which highlight the importance of workplace social connection in terms of job satisfaction and career longevity. Using an Appreciative Inquiry lens, we interviewed a number of positive school leaders about social capacity building among their staff against the Professional Engagement domain. While interviews affirmed many inspiring examples of its application, we also uncovered a degree of uncertainty, lack of clarity and practical difficulties experienced by these exemplary leaders. As per our research approach, we do not suggest that there is any fundamental problem with the Professional Engagement domain per se. However, findings indicate value for AITSL in reappraising this domain in relation to its wording, implications and application. A more explicit emphasis on the social context may in turn help address some of the issues confronting Australia's aging teaching workforce.
Descriptors: Capacity Building, Collegiality, Inquiry, Job Satisfaction, Standards, Foreign Countries, Teacher Collaboration, Professionalism, Knowledge Base for Teaching, Teaching (Occupation), Stress Variables, Teacher Retirement, Instructional Leadership, Teacher Attitudes, Principals, Administrator Attitudes, Faculty Development, Ethics, Educational Improvement, Educational Legislation, Parent Teacher Cooperation, Networks, Elementary Secondary Education, Teacher Administrator Relationship
Edith Cowan University. Bradford Street, Mount Lawley, West Australia 6050, Australia. Web site: http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A