Effective policy reform often comes from seemingly minor initiatives. Small changes can lead to significant improvements if they incentivise the right things. The current revisions to the s for the Teaching Profession are a perfect example of this.

The Teaching Council, the professional body overseeing the teaching profession, sets the Standards.  Teachers must meet all six to be able to practice in New Zealand. The Standards therefore, provide strong incentives for training providers to focus on course content that enables graduates to meet them.

The old Standards are vague. The Teaching Council presented vagueness as a virtue:

The old Standards also lack sufficient focus on effective teaching. Only two of the six directly address teaching practice. The other four are about professional development, professional relationships, providing inclusive environments in classrooms, and honouring the Treaty. 

The effect of the old Standards is evident in teacher education programmes run by universities. Those programmes fail to prepare teachers for the classroom. But because the Standards are vague, they leave enough wiggle room for almost all graduates to be deemed to meet them anyway.

The revised Standards are a significant improvement. The number of standards has increased from six to eight and are much clearer. Crucially, the balance has shifted towards a focus on effective teaching.

Teachers will now be expected to know the curriculum content and how to teach it. They will also have to demonstrate knowledge of how students learn. They will have  to develop effective lessons and use assessment to guide feedback to students. Specific and timely feedback is one of the most powerful tools at teachers' disposal.

When the new Standards are implemented, the universities will have to improve their teacher training programmes to make sure that graduates can meet them. Otherwise, private providers will take their business. My money is on the latter.

Either way, this relatively minor and inexpensive policy change could lead to a substantial improvement in the quality of teaching in New Zealand's schools.