Editorial: Reward for best in class

Teaching is just like any job, some strive to excel and others are happy just to get through it. Photo/Thinkstock

I once had a history teacher who would get so engrossed in a subject he would stray from the curriculum to canvass a more interesting topic.

He was animated in the classroom, encouraged debate, organised regular field trips to build on what had been discussed and used humour to lighten the mood.

From memory, everyone in the class passed the end-of-year exam.

Another teacher, a few classrooms away, would write his lesson on the blackboard at the start of each lesson. He would wheel around abruptly, point to what he had written so as to indicate it should be copied and then sit behind his desk in absolute silence for the lesson.

He found school just as torturous as his students.

Teaching is like any job. Some individuals strive for excellence while others are content to go through the motions.

This is why I support the Government's plan to create highly paid jobs for the best-performing teachers and principals.

About 6000 teachers will be appointed to expert and lead-teacher roles requiring them to share good ideas across clusters of schools under the plan.

The policy will cost an extra $359million over four years, with the full-year cost rising to more than $150million a year by the end of that period.

It has divided opinion.

Groups representing secondary and primary principals, school trustees, and secondary teachers say the new roles have great potential and would change the way schools work, from competing to sharing best practice.

Others are warning the plan will do little to raise student achievement because it does not address factors that affect students' results, such as societal issues and poverty.

Sure, more needs to be done to deal with the wider issues that affect a child's education but the scheme will reward teaching staff who go that little bit extra for their students.