There is certainly a fair amount of confusion about benchmarking, much of it among people who are too lazy to find out what it is about. There is an unfair and inaccurate public perception of teachers. The public perception is that teachers have an easy number with attractive conditions and good pay.

We as teachers know this to be untrue, but how do we convince others? Benchmarking is the first opportunity we have had to nail this misconception for good. In fact, benchmarking is full of opportunities. For the first time, teachers and other public servants will be able to demand the rewards and opportunities which would be available to them in the private sector.

However, benchmarking is not about simply scouring the private sector to find an exactly similar job with which to seek parity of payment and conditions. It is far more complex than that.

There are different approaches to the process but one productive approach could be to deconstruct the job of teaching into its various aspects and then thread these to similar aspects of other jobs. Take, for instance, the case of a primary teacher and consider just a few of the starting points of the job which could be established for benchmarking.

These examples are by no means either exclusive or exhaustive but are intended to give a flavour of the opportunities. To enter the B Ed degree course the potential teacher needs more than 455 points from the Leaving Certificate. That will immediately open up for negotiation the other choices a student might have open at that points level and the potential career earnings of such other occupations.

If we wish to retain people of this intellectual quality in teaching we must ensure that their expectations are in line with other job opportunities for those with a similar points level. From the union point of view, that becomes a crucial benchmark.

The primary teacher will have followed an intensive three- or four-year course before graduating. Having gained employment this teacher faces a 24-year stretch before reaching the top of the teachers' scale. Now let us sieve through the private sector to find out how long similarly qualified graduates have to wait before reaching the maximum point of their scale. Another benchmark.

And the trawl through the private sector is not all one way. We will also be insisting that the wider contribution of teachers is included. Think about all those children playing under-age games at evenings and weekends. Include school choirs and concerts. Consider pupils on school tours. Are these things valuable to the holistic development of the child?

Yes, we will insist that the benchmarking body researches and finds out how many unpaid hours are given by private sector professionals. Let's benchmark that and put a value on it.

There are many more benchmarks we will be throwing on the table. In our view, benchmarking for teachers will have to focus on inputs much more than outputs.

WE will be insisting that the huge contribution of primary teachers to the design, implementation and management of educational change be examined. This is especially the case in curricular design, professional development and school management. Deals have been done by groups such as journalists for the introduction of information and communication technology, so it will not be surprising that teachers want a piece of that action too.

The opportunities go on and on and as we go more into the process it becomes more complex. Take the class teacher of 30 four-year-olds. Over a year the input required of that teacher is quite extraordinary. Consider the complexity of the teaching and learning process. Each child must be taken through the learning of all the early stages of mathematics such as sorting, mixing, matching, numbering, counting, etc., leading on to simple calculations.

Each child must go through the stages of pre-reading such things as shapes, letter and word recognition, phonetics, etc., leading to basic reading. Writing begins with how to hold the pen, doing various shapes from straight lines to curves to circles to letters, etc.

Doing this with 30 young people while introducing a system of discipline, developing the child's social skills and identifying the particular learning, social and emotional needs of each pupil is a most challenging undertaking.

How many judgments does this teacher make every hour? How many strategies are implemented each day? How many different situations require a calculated response from the teacher each week? What other occupations demand such a range of skills and judgment calls in one day? These are the measures we will want benchmarked against other professional groups, and their rewards will also guide us towards the goal of claiming greater monetary compensation - another attractive benchmark.

Consider the teaching principal who has responsibility for up to eight teachers and ancillary staff. This teacher will be the backstop for questions about the educational development of 200 pupils and will also have full-time class responsibility.

This principal's duties will include not only discipline, staff development, curricular initiatives but also the co-ordination of medical, psychological, remedial and special education services for all of these pupils. And when things go wrong, who will be accountable?

Now let's find some people in the private sector with similar levels of demand and answerability and start examining how far the pittance of a principal's allowance would travel there - and so chisel a benchmark. What do we pay the effective manager of the local education service?

The benchmarking process is a real opportunity. It is about making a pitch, outlining the arguments, stating the case and demanding the best. But because it is not fully understood there are no hard and fast precedents or approaches. The whole process is flexible and has the capacity for innovatory thinking and fresh avenues.

Personally, going into this process I believe I hold the strongest possible hand of cards and the single most unanswerable argument. I represent the most effective, committed and productive group of primary teachers in the world and they deserve to be paid the best in the world.

And if anyone thinks that trite, let them try to out-argue us.

Senator Joe O'Toole is general secretary of the Irish National Teachers Organisation and president of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions