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Performance pay for schools without teachers?

By Philip Roberts - posted Thursday, 19 April 2007


Furthermore for staff, the isolation and often a lack of experience teaching large senior or specialised classes in these remote areas disadvantages them when competing for a position in a larger, less remote location.

Ironically, teachers in supposedly disadvantaged metropolitan schools are seen as attractive acquisitions for a school because they are regarded as being resourceful and innovative in their work: whereas teachers in remote communities are often seen as being “out of the loop”.

There are also limitations to arguments that performance pay should be based on teachers meeting certain professional standards. While this is by far the most objective measure, no standard can be general enough to include all contexts while simultaneously being rigorous enough to base a remuneration package on. There is a big difference between a disadvantaged metropolitan school, an isolated rural school and a school in a well off suburb. All of these contexts require teachers to have different skills, and all have a different measure of success.

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As reported earlier in the year from research from the University of Sydney, it is not the money that attracts teachers. It is the altruistic motivation of loving the work they do. Performance pay does nothing to advance this, and may indeed undermine the collegial work environment which schools rely upon. What is for certain though is that it does nothing to advance the education of the students in our remote and isolated schools.

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About the Author

Philip Roberts is Assistant Professor (Curriculum Studies) at the University of Canberra. He has taught in NSW Public High Schools and worked in remote and isolated schools. He has conducted research into staffing these schools culminating in the report in 2004 Staffing an empty schoolhouse: attracting and retaining teachers in rural, remote and isolated communities (PDF 1.16MB).

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