The issue of gender equality has never been more prominent in today’s society, then now. Popular fiction like The Handmaid’s Tale, controversial laws such as America’s abortion bill, the #MeToo movement, the stereotypical way women are portrayed in the general media, the increased violence against women and the way women are spoken about by powerful, public male figures (i.e. Alan Jones’ recent tirade against respected Prime Minster Jacinta Ardern) are all contributing factors to gender equality. You may think this is an unusual way to start an article about Maternity Leave but these elements, like pieces of a puzzle, make up a bigger picture of the unconscious, or conscious, bias against women in our society. There’s a perception in society that after a woman becomes a mother, her ability to do her job lessens and her focus and drive will have shifted from career to parenthood. While this may be true for some it is a gross generalisation. If women are truly valued for their contribution to education, then every effort should be made to support them during their time away from work and this support should be laid out in clearly written policies and not left to interpretation or the discretion of the individual in charge. Quality Maternity Leave policies assist educators to return to work in well-planned, well-supported transitions to and from the workforce. Generous Leave Requires Generous Support StructuresThe central idea here is; if we know better, we can do better. Some education systems in Western Australia allocate very generous maternity leave entitlements with women supported to take up to five years leave. While the intentions may be good, let's examine the practicalities of being on leave for this period of time. Allowing women ample time off to raise their children without embedding support processes into these policies only serves to keep them out of the workforce for longer. This is further exacerbated when the female wants to return to work in a part-time capacity but is denied the option. The school has an obligation to keep the teacher informed about strategic directions, school improvement goals, and professional development during her period of leave. Failing to include women as part of the staff while on Maternity Leave, only makes them feel ill-informed and anxious about returning to work. This is why a quality Maternity Leave policy should outline support structures to be put in place during their period of leave. Maternity Leave entitlements deserve the attention of its very own policy and these policies should be easily accessible to employees with particular attention paid to the written language. Considerations should also be made for the use of omitted language which serves to be unhelpful and leaves certain conditions up to interpretation. Policies must be clear and explicit! Part-time Options Promote InclusivityWomen should be entitled to return to work in a part-time capacity if a part-time position is available that matches the individual’s qualifications and skill set. All teaching appointments need to be made on the merit of the individual’s expertise and at its core, maintain what is best for the students. With this in mind, a female teacher returning from Maternity Leave should be offered any part-time positions currently held by temporary staff *if* these teaching roles match her teaching expertise. Policies should explicitly stipulate this and all discussions about returning to work in a modified capacity must involve a system/office representative. This representative can act as a third party to help identify solutions that will ensure an equitable and reasonable return to work that is fair to the teacher, school and students. Who checks on the Principals to make sure they are operating with integrity and not making decisions based on their own biases? Again, I stress that decisions like this should not be left to the individual in charge. A policy that does not clearly and explicitly outline processes for a return to work endorses inequity across the system and leaves women with little rights when comes to discussing their options. Inadequate maternity leave policies make women feel incompetent, isolated and leaves them feeling excluded from the workplace. Important Side NoteI’d like to add here, based on personal experience, that school leaders should not deny a woman the option to return to part-work based on the fact that she is not a high-quality teacher. Why wasn’t the staff member provided with the support needed to improve her practice before going on maternity leave, and if it was severe and consistently poor performance, then why wasn’t this addressed through the school’s appraisal procedures while she was employed? If this staff member did not meet the AITSL Teachers Standards prior to going on maternity leave then this is negligence on the school’s account for not dealing with it earlier. Know better, Do betterWe know, thanks to AITSL’s* research and information from NESLi*, that there’s an imbalance of males in Educational Leadership. This unsettling information occurs for a variety of reasons and is very complex. What is evident is one major contributing factor; women on their way to leadership often drop out of the teaching game to have children (we are on a biological time clock after all!) and are frequently presented with minimal part-time options to return to work. This severely impacts their rise to leadership and keeps them out of the workforce for longer. The Education Department of WA makes accommodations female Deputy Principals on maternity leave to return to their leadership role part-time so, why can’t other systems do this too? So, how do we improve? Below is a list of recommendations that need to be explicitly included in policies. Women on maternity leave will; 1. be kept informed and included in all staff correspondence including staff memos, invitations to professional development days, changes to school strategic plans and improvement goals and staff meeting agendas and minutes. 2. have EVERY effort made to accommodate their return to part-time work especially if the maternity leave teacher has the necessary skills, qualifications, and expertise to hold a part-time teaching position in the place of a temporary staff member. For example, the school would not offer the returning Science Teacher a part-time role in Kindergarten as the skill-set and expertise do not match. However, a returning ECE trained Year 2 teacher may be offered that Kindergarten role. 3. Before taking Maternity Leave, the staff member must be provided with a fact sheet, which clearly outlines their rights and entitlements, in plain language, from the moment they give notice of their pregnancy. A checklist of items to action should accompany this fact sheet. This fact sheet should include courtesy information, such as recommending the employee transfer their teaching registration to ‘non-practising’ so that hours of instruction and professional development do not affect their registration at the time of renewal and clear and explicit information timelines pertaining to relevant paperwork; e.g. a staff member wishing to return to work at a different FTE needs to give at least 7 weeks written notice etc. 4. Transition systems and processes are clearly laid out for a staff member returning to work from maternity leave. This could include processes such as a meeting with the leadership team prior to starting work, a ‘re-induction’ if you will, which gives the school a chance to inform the employee about the current school improvement goals, curriculum plans and current teaching philosophy and preferred teaching practice, allocating the returning staff member a ‘Professional Friend’ who will assist and mentor them in their transition back to work and furthermore, scheduled fortnightly meetings with the leadership team for the first six weeks, as a point of face-to-face contact, to discuss how the transition back to work is progressing and how the school could further support their needs. This prevents any serious performance issues as support structures can be put in place immediately, ensuring the staff member is set up for complete success upon their return to work. The Bigger IssueThere’s a bigger picture here in supporting female teachers in their return to work and that involves a system-wide, strategic plan for Women in Education and Leadership. The maternity policy recommendations outlined above should sit within a broader, "Women and Leadership" strategy. There should be networks available within the system to support women in their return to work so that they CAN pursue a career in leadership upon their return and not be punished for taking time off to have a family. A ‘Women and Leadership' strategy should be embedded in the system's annual goals and be reported against at the end of each year, just like any other strategic direction. The ‘Women and Leadership Strategy’ should be run by a team of highly qualified experts in their field (please don’t move around people within system departments) and should be an integral part of the system’s leadership development team. The challenges faced by women in leadership should be a unit of learning embedded in every single leadership course on offer, not a token course focused narrowly on the women in the system. A Women in Leadership strategy should work with prominent national organisations such as NESLi and Women and Leadership Australia to support strategic directions in this area with up to date current research and practice. I have many more ideas but will stop here and ask, how many principals do you know that have taken maternity leave and successfully returned to their role? Remember, “You can’t be what you can’t see.” Small Change, Big ImpactWhile gender equality remains a multifaceted issue, it is the small changes to employment conditions such as Maternity Leave, that can help take the first steps towards closing the gap. Sometimes, best intentions can inadvertently exclude women from the workplace so it is important to consult widely with the women in your system about how to best to support them in their return to work. I am confident that most women would like to return to work sooner rather than later but options for part-time work must not be left to the discretion of the individual principal. This is an easily achievable goal if only we had clear and explicit policies that support women during their period of leave. Further Reading & References https://www.teachermagazine.com.au/articles/infographic-gender-of-school-leaders
http://www.educationmattersmag.com.au/2018-named-year-of-women-in-school-leadership-nesli/ *NESLi 2018 Year of Women in Educational Leadership School White Paper: http://files7.design-editor.com/91/9173073/UploadedFiles/9EAE99C0-A953-ECBB-1AC8-B5B6A83F16AE.pdf https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/how-to-prove-the-pay-gap-to-a-non-believer-20190303-p511f2.html
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