Merit Protection Accreditation Program

Written on July 30, 2008 – 10:00 pm | by coburgmaths

Today I attended the Merit Protection Accreditation Program run by The Merit Protection Boards. This program was held at The Darebin Arts Centre.

The overall aim of the day was to train Teachers to be Accredited ‘Merit and Equity’ members of selection panels for teacher employment interviews.

The day covered the following aspects of merit and equity training;

Legislative framework for decision making
- Public Administration Act 2004
- Victorian Equal Opportunity Act 1995 (VEO)
Merit in employment
Equal employment opportunity

Within these dot points a range of issues were discussed such as;

Objectives of the VEO 1995
- equality of opportunity
- elimination of sexual harassment
- elimination of discrimination in regards to the following ‘attributes’
  - age
  - impairment
  - sexual orientation
  - marital status
  - many others
- Direct and indirect discrimination

The day also covered practical aspects of selecting new staff members such as;

Defining key selection criteria and position descriptions
Job Requisition
Forming a selection panel
Developing a selection strategy
- conflict of interest
- short listing strategies
  - fair, consistent, ranking system
  - inclusive of all applicants
- prior knowledge of applicants
- information gathering and verification
  - work samples
  - written application
  - referee checks
- interview strategies
  - questioning
    - related to selection criteria
    - consistency
    - not discriminatory
Reporting on selection

The Merit Protection Boards roles were also discussed. In particular its role in resolving grievances, such as selection grievances. Issues covered included;

Grounds for lodging a grievance
Eligibility to lodge a grievance

Overall I found the day informative. The Group Exercises were the most productive. In groups we were given various tasks that addressed;

Recognising perceptions and bias
Analysing the interview process
Developing questions to ask in an interview that are relevant to selection criteria
Examining Teaching Service Orders (TSO’s)

The most useful resource I was given today was the ‘Good Practice Checklist’. This document provides a comprehensive checklist of all aspects of merit based selection including;