A service for institutions
a commissioned experiential reflection
The school commissions it. The conversation belongs to the teacher.
What passes to the institution is entirely the teacher's decision.
Accord is commissioned by a school or institution to support a teacher through a significant professional moment — an annual review, an exit conversation, a transition out of leadership, or any juncture where the institution wants to understand a teacher's experience with genuine depth.
What makes Accord different is its structure of control. The school funds and commissions the process. But the Accord document — produced from a careful, private conversation with the teacher — goes to the teacher first. The teacher reviews it, sits with it, and then decides what happens next. The institution receives either the document or a simple notice that the process was completed. Nothing passes to the school without the teacher's explicit authorisation.
It is not a survey. It is not a performance review by another name. It is a serious qualitative process that takes a teacher's experience as the object of genuine inquiry — and returns the power of disclosure to the person whose experience it is.
Accord begins with a guided one-on-one conversation between the teacher and Christopher Sluice — an experienced educator and pedagogical leader with over 28 years across Victorian schools, trained in Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.
The conversation is conducted via Zoom and typically runs for around ninety minutes. It is not an appraisal, and it is not conducted on behalf of the institution. The questions are open and patient. The teacher's experience — what the role has asked of them, what they have found there, what this chapter has meant — is the sole subject of inquiry.
The recording and transcript remain confidential to the practitioner and are never shared with the commissioning institution under any circumstances.
Following the conversation, Christopher prepares the Accord document — a structured experiential account drawn directly from the teacher's words and the analysis of their conversation. It contains:
A brief framing of the professional experience the teacher brought and the context in which the reflection took place.
Typically four to six themes that emerged from the analysis, each with a careful interpretive account of what that theme reveals about how the teacher made sense of their experience.
The teacher's own words — selected because they captured something essential — returned with the context to understand why they matter.
The document is written to the teacher, not about them. It is warm, direct, and grounded in what was actually said. It is theirs, regardless of what they choose to do with it.
Once the teacher has received and had time to read the Accord document, they have a review window to consider their options. They may also request a short debrief conversation with Christopher before deciding. When ready, the teacher chooses one of three pathways:
The complete Accord document is shared with the commissioning institution as prepared.
The teacher identifies sections or themes they are comfortable sharing. A redacted version is prepared and released to the institution.
The teacher elects not to share the document. The institution receives a brief notice confirming the process was completed — nothing more.
Whichever pathway is chosen, the teacher keeps the Accord document. It belongs to them.
The school contacts Sluice Consultancy to discuss the context and confirm the engagement.
Christopher conducts a private ninety-minute guided conversation with the teacher via Zoom.
The Accord document is prepared and delivered to the teacher within two to three weeks.
The teacher reads the document and, if they wish, has a debrief conversation before deciding.
The teacher chooses their pathway. The institution receives the document or a completion notice.
Recordings and transcripts are never shared with the commissioning institution under any circumstances.
The release pathway is chosen by the teacher alone. No pressure, no follow-up from the institution through this process.
The Accord document belongs to the teacher, regardless of the release pathway they choose.
To discuss commissioning Accord for your school, or to find out whether it's right for the situation you're navigating, get in touch.
christopher@sluiceconsultancy.comSluice Consultancy · sluiceconsultancy.com · Tel: +61 494 823 899