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  • Copyright for New Zealand Teachers – The Creative Commons solution.

    Back in June I was made aware of an issue surrounding Copyright and teaching. Essentially, any resources created for teaching, by teachers, are actually the rightful property of the Board of Trustees of that school. For any teacher to share or use those resources outside of that school is breach of the copyright, and permission needs to be sought.

    You can read the whole article here:
    Copyright for New Zealand Teachers > Unleash Education

    The Creative Commons solution

    Now; being a creative with my own views on copyright, and my own works that hold copyrights, I am very interested in the whole process. To me, as I move through my teaching career, I often see ideas, or think of ideas, and then go about doing my best to make my own resources that are better; whether through advancing functionality or simply putting my own aesthetic improvements on existing ideas.

    I also would want to be able to share these, and use these in any future teacher positions I might hold at other schools.

    So I quickly went about searching for solutions. In the process, it also surprised me how many teachers have no idea that this was the law.

    The solution as it turns out is actually relatively simple, but requires the board to make a deliberate policy change or addition. Creative Commons have made a ‘in schools’ page which outlines the issues quite well, but on top of that, they have developed a policy template for schools to use. I recommend using the ‘annotated’ version first, to get your head around the language of copyright, which can be relatively technical if you’re not used to it.

    Our board is currently in the process of adopting this policy for our school. I hope that this makes the situation around copyright for teachers clear for you, and that you can encourage your school to check its policy around this.

     

     

    The Policy

    This is a copy of the policy template that Creative Commons has provided. It includes the annotations, which I have tried to make a little clearer using fuller sentences than those provided by Creative Commons.

    Preamble

    SCHOOL wishes to encourage the open and free exchange of information, knowledge and resources, and support the collaborative production of copyright works that are freely available to all. SCHOOL encourages both staff and students to support free and open access to copyright works.

    The preamble gives the general purpose for the policy.  It also states the school’s position that it will be using Creative Commons licences to share copyright works.

    Policy

    The Board of Trustees of SCHOOL:

    1. Recognises that the Board of Trustees holds first ownership of copyright of works produced by the Board’s employees in the course of their employment.

    This states that the default ownership settings for copyright works produced by teachers and employees of the school under section 21(2) of the Copyright Act 1994 (NZ) belongs to the school/Board of Trustees.

    2. Applies by default a Creative Commons Attribution Licence to all teaching materials and policies in which the Board of Trustees of the school owns copyright.

    This is the key part of the policy, as it is referred to throughout the rest of the document below.
    It limits the default application of Creative Commons licensing to teaching materials and policies. While these are broad categories, the clause is intended to refer to those teaching or policy resources that would be of use to other schools, and is not intended to apply to every copyright work produced in the school.
    Note also that ‘default’ means that the school can make exceptions to the policy at its discretion.

    3. May apply a Creative Commons Attribution licence to other copyright works, aside from those described in (2), with the express agreement of the Principal. 

    This gives the school flexibility, should it decide to openly release works other than those outlined in the second (2) clause.

    4. May make exceptions to 2) at the discretion of the Principal. Any such exceptions should be limited by a specific time period and should consider the application of other, more restrictive Creative Commons licences, as opposed to simply reserving all rights in a copyright work.

    This will give the school some more flexibility, should it decide to be more restrictive than as outlined in the second (2) clause.

    5. Will transfer to the original creator the copyright in created works licensed by the school under a Creative Commons Attribution or Creative Commons Share-Alike .licence

    The Board of Trustees recognises the benefits of using the most open Creative Commons licences, and provides an incentive to employees to embrace the use of such licences.

    6. Does not make any claim over the ownership of copyright works produced by students. The copyright to these works remains with the creator.

    This simply clarifies that the school has no rights over copyright works produced by students, since they are not employed by the school.

    7. Recognises that this policy only applies to copyright works, and not to any other forms of intellectual property.

    This simply clarifies that Creative Commons licensing only applies to copyright works.

    8. Recognises that the copyright in works produced by an employee other than in the course of their employment by the Board of Trustees of the school remains the property of that employee. Where this is unclear, the process for dispute resolution, outlined below, shall apply.

    This is key for me and other creative type people. It recognises that there may be some uncertainty as to what constitutes a work produced in the course of one’s employment. It is intended to assure teachers that the policy only applies to works that are owned by the school, and to point to the dispute resolution process, below.
    For example; a teacher who creates a drawing or artwork at school, but hasn’t been “employed” or asked to do this by the school, the teacher owns the copyright. This applies to creative works outside of school; such as works created at home as a hobby or secondary employment, such as musical pieces or photography works.
    This also applies to written articles, such as those found on this website; which while are inspired and influenced by my teaching position, are not part of my employment, and so I retain the copyright.

    Definitions

    Creative Commons: An international non-profit that provides free open licences that copyright holders can use to share their work.

    Teaching Materials: Copyright works produced by employees of the school for the purposes of teaching.

    Policies and Procedures: Copyright works that determine, and provide guidance around, a course of action adopted by the school.

    The definitions around what is and is not covered by the policy should be adjusted by the school, as required.

    Disputes

    Where the first ownership of copyright in a given work is disputed or unclear, the following process will apply:

    1. In the first instance the dispute should be documented and presented to the school Principal. 
    2. If the dispute is still not resolved then the documentation should be presented to the chairman of the Board of Trustees. 
    3. If the dispute is still not resolved following 1) and 2), mediation with an appropriate authority will be undertaken.

    This should be replaced with the school’s dispute resolution process, where appropriate.

  • Teacher Wellbeing – Mindful Walking

    This is a simple but powerful tool that helps draw your attention back to the present moment you’re experiencing right now.

    Cultivating contentment. A great combination of words. Very hard to do though. But being aware that there are things that are the way they are and are out of your control as a teacher, or as a human. Letting go of those alleviates stress, and allows for you to relax and enjoy who you are and what you do. Mindfulness is growing in popularity these days, especially as our lives become overrun with general busy-ness.

  • Teacher Wellbeing – The Importance of Sleep

    How much sleep do you get? Is it quality sleep? Sleep nourishes your body, and is pretty essential to integrate all the days’ stimuli. Here are a few tips that might help you get a restful night, full of some delicious quality sleep, tonight.

    This is something I don’t have a lot of problems with. If I’m honest, I think I am part log, because as soon as the light goes out, I tend to be asleep with in a matter of minutes, and rarely wake up until sunrise.

    I know that for a lot of teachers though, this is not the case. Thinking about class, assessments, issues, parents, deadlines; all gets in the way of allowing for sleep.

    I know one thing that some teachers to is to have a pad and paper next to their bed so that anything that bothers them in the night that they need to remember to do in the morning, they can quickly jot it down and forget about it.

    Maybe you have your own routine. Comment away!

  • Teacher Wellbeing  – Date Night!

    Date Night! It’s time to unwind with the significant people in your life. Do something fun, relax, park work at the door. Whatever you do – enjoy!

    They say that behind every great man is an even greater woman in support. It’s important to have a life outside of teaching. It’s important to make time for those who are outside of the profession, and make time for those who love and care about you.

  • First in class: No gold star for top Kiwi teachers?

    Our best and brightest young teachers are leaving the profession because of frustrations over too much paperwork, insufficient pay and a lack of career options in front of classrooms. A Canterbury University…

    Source: First in class: No gold star for top Kiwi teachers?

    This is an ongoing problem in our schools. Retaining teachers needs to be a priority, however, because expert teachers and experienced teachers cost more money for the government to employ than beginning teachers do, there will be no intensives to stay on in education more than one can put up with.

    Education certainly isn’t as it used to be, and I wouldn’t hesitate to say that even in the five years I have been teaching, there has been a heightened emphasis on assessment and data than ever before. And it’s not making teaching any better. It merely just takes up time and effort. Something that is becoming increasingly difficult to find these days.

    It has come to the point where I don’t think I would go out of my way to encourage anyone to become a teacher today. It’s a pretty sorry state when those in the business can’t recommend it to others who could, or even should, become teachers.

  • IES and the Poisoned Apple

    Over the next few weeks, primary teachers are meeting to discuss the proposed changes to the IES (Investing in Educational Success) announced last year.

    The changes are, to some, significant and, before I get too cynical, NZEI have done a good enough job even getting the Ministry of Education to make any amendments to their proposed $359,000,000.

    However, when this was first broached with the sector, a resounding 93% of NZEI members voted to have nothing to do with it. They saw the pitfalls of such a system, such as quality teachers no longer in their classrooms, teacher workload, and the fact when it comes to education one size does not fit all, and what works in one school won’t necessarily work in another, and voted appropriately. Still, NZEI remained in the negotiating tent; however smelly; to try and make the most of a sucky situation.

    Joint Initiative

    Now they have a working alternative, which has many changes which I won’t go into. You can read more here.

    However, it doesn’t address the fact that quality teachers and principals will essentially become part time at multiple schools, rather than full time in the classes and schools that benefit from their time and effort. The whole initiative makes busy teachers busier, and the so-called benefits it will bring to student success is hardly mentioned in any of the agreement negotiations, and instead all possible roles are discussed at length. It all seems to just focus around teacher busy-ness, and misses the point completely. This could just be because the agreement is between teachers and the government, but regardless; it somewhat surprises me that student success isn’t more of a factor.
    Let us not forget that this is hailed as raising student achievement, where there is little or no supportive evidence that this will work at all.

    Essentially all that has happened is turd polishing.

    The Poisoned Apple

    Let’s look at it like this.

    The government has offered the teaching community a nice, juicy, red apple. It shimmers and shines in the light and looks delicious to a hungry princess. The soft light glints off it’s polished skin, the deep red matches the crimson lipstick of her luscious lips.

    However, this current government’s education office is run by a witch with a mirror on the wall, and she has poisoned the apple with a curse, as she has done for the other apples she has tempted us with.

    Teachers realised this very early on, and did not want a bar of it. They could see the money spent to buy the apple could be much better spent on other things; like an orange tree.

    But the witch isn’t offering the orange tree. She’s offering the apple.

    Now, NZEI advisor comes to the rescue, or so we think, and the advisor to the king talks with the witch. They discuss at length the properties of the apple, and how it could be made better, so that the princess might eat it. They decide that turning it into a toffee apple might be more appealing. They cover it with the caramel coloured glaze that drips down and turns the apple into a gooey, sticky, goodness.

    While the toffee apple is much more appealing, and is somewhat irresistible in comparison with the delicious apple that was offered before. But deep down the princess knows that the apple is still poisoned and will be the end of her. Still, upon receiving advice from the advisor, she takes a bite. We all know what happens next.

    The only problem is the solution requires a huntsman with a large axe. Which we don’t have.

    Instantly Sceptical

    Essentially, with this government’s attitude and treatment towards teachers, they haven’t done themselves any favours. Add to this the class size fiasco, and you have a workforce which simply does not trust or have faith in anything you try to accomplish. The way they steamrolled out the National Standards turns out to be indicative of how they have continued to operate; make it policy, and then consult with those involved. We saw this again in the Novopay disaster.

    It is no wonder then that teachers were instantly sceptical of IES and picked it apart. It’s also no wonder that the Ministry seem to be rolling on regardless of the situation. I also suspect that it won’t matter what new policy the government bring out in education; teachers are simply going to oppose it purely because of this government’s track record.

    Essentially the vote this week isn’t voting on whether we want the joint initiative agreement made by NZEI and the Ministry of Education or not; it’s voting on whether we want what the Ministry proposed in IES, or the joint initiative (which essentially is a no-brainer for any teacher). In the past it’s quite clearly been said, when given the choice of Ministry backed options, or NZEI backed options, go with NZEI because at least they are looking out for and supporting teachers. They have the teacher’s interests at heart.

    But democratically, a vote like this is completely flawed. We’re choosing between a poisoned apple, and a poisoned toffee apple. At the end of the day, it looks the same, it smells delicious, it’s big, red, and juicy, but you wouldn’t want to take a bite.

  • Teacher Wellbeing – Stop

    Stop. How often do we actually just STOP? Clear our minds? Be totally present in the here and now? It can be difficult – all the thoughts swirling around. A million things to worry about and fill the space in our minds. But mindfulness practice is so important to your wellbeing. And yes, sometimes it’s tough, but that’s why it takes practice. Find a quiet corner today, sit still, and find the space in between your thoughts. When you find that inner tranquility – that inner serenity – it’s a beautiful and empowering thing.

  • Teacher Wellbeing – Re-Hydration Challenge

    Sometimes it can be a wee bit of a struggle to drink enough water each day – especially if you’re busy. But water is a fundamental key to improving your health and wellbeing – and is vital to making sure all your internal systems work as they should. Take our Re-Hydration Challenge this week, and flush your system with some nourishing water.

  • Teacher Wellbeing – Staffroom Spruceup

  • Teacher Wellbeing – Count Chemicals; Not Calories

    This has quickly become topical in today’s media, and in our own social conscience. Gluten-free never used to be a thing, and now it’s almost abnormal to not give a rats about what gluten or calories you have in your food. I must admit, as one who has jumped on the sugar-free bandwagon, I do look at labels more regularly, but certainly don’t go into this much depth.

    I think there is one thing that works no matter the food.

    Everything in moderation.