Australian Council for Education Research/Gold Coast Bulletin
The Press Council has considered a complaint from the Australian Council for Education Research (ACER) about an article in the Gold Coast Bulletin on 28 July 2016, headed “Teachers found lacking”.
The brief article (four paragraphs in length) reported that a review conducted by academic consultants on behalf of ACER urged that teachers’ training be subject to a regime similar to that applying to doctors, pilots and lawyers, under which new entrants proceeded in stages under a formal system of supervision and control. The authors of the review argued this would help develop teachers’ personal and motivational skills, build confidence and inspire students’ learning in the classroom.
The accuracy, fairness and balance of the text in the article were not called into question by the complainant. The only issue under consideration by the Council was whether the publication took reasonable steps to ensure the headline met these Standards. The Council considered that the headline implied the review was critical of teachers generally, however it was critical not of teachers generally but of their accreditation process and training. The Council considered that the publication could have sought better detail about the review and expressed the headline in a manner that better reflected its findings. The Council concluded that the publication failed to take reasonable steps to ensure the headline was accurate and not misleading, in breach of General Principle 1. Accordingly, this aspect of the complaint was upheld.
The Council noted that the publication did offer to publish a letter from ACER explaining why the headline did not satisfactorily summarise the review, but ACER chose not avail itself of this opportunity. The Council considered that in doing so, the publication took reasonable steps to offer an adequate remedy in this instance. Accordingly, the Council did not uphold the complaint in relation to General Principle 2.