Anonymous #063

Submitter information

Name

Anonymous #063

Where are you located?

Australian Capital Territory

What type of area do you live in?

Metropolitan

Are you an education professional?
(e.g. teacher, school leader, learning support assistant, teacher’s aide)

Yes

Which sector do you work in?

Primary

What is your occupation?

School leader

Elevating the profession

The actions proposed recognise the value teachers bring to students, communities and the economy.

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

Improving teacher supply

The actions proposed will be effective in increasing the number of students entering ITE, number of students completing ITE and the number of teachers staying in and/or returning to the profession.

Somewhat agree

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

The best and brightest need to be attracted. Offering debt free teaching degrees is the only way. The mentoring program is a good idea but it needs to be incentivised for the mentor too. The workload associated with mentoring is huge. And no financial gain makes it a task that teachers can easily begin to resent.

Strengthening Initial Teacher Education (ITE)

The actions proposed will ensure initial teacher education supports teacher supply and quality.

Neither agree nor disagree

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

Teachers need to complete more in-school practicums. They currently are in schools for very short periods and they are not at all prepared for the realities of broader school life. Being in schools and being paid through government schemes in their final years is the only way to do this. Anything less than a block of 8 weeks is a waste of time. New educators need to be supported to plan, deliver and assess sequences of learning. They need to see units of work be developed, implemented, assessed and reported upon. This doesn't have in a 3 week stint in a school. The university students need to be able to access some kind of support payment for this period. I recall doing this 20 years ago as my internship, it was really hard to not have financial support for that long of a period. Financial incentives would lessen the load. Mentor teachers need to be paid better to have uni students with them. Often the strongest teachers opt not to have prac students because the workload of top tier teachers is already high and the hassles of having a uni student (especially one that isn't very capable) can be horrendous.

Checking of basic literacy and numeracy skills should occur at the beginning of the teaching course, not the end. I know a few teachers who have failed and this has significantly hindered the timeline of them completing their course. If they knew at the beginning of their teaching course they would at least have time to improve their skills.

Maximising the time to teach

The actions proposed will improve retention and free up teachers to focus on teaching and collaboration.

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

The only way to realistically reduce teacher workload without having a domino effect on available teachers is to hire more teaching assistants. Having an assistant shared across 3-4 classes would significantly reduce menial tasks like photocopying, hanging student work, setting up resources, supervising eating time. On top of that the extra person would support the range of children across cohorts that have significant learning and behavioural challenges that continue to be not funded for any targeted support.

The SAS system doesn't reduce workload. It just improves the one stop shop of some administrative tasks.

The time in lieu system in WA seems like a reasonable 21st Century plan that should be in place already. How many late evenings and weekend work do we expect teachers to do?

The digital communication is a key area that needs attention. Emails, electronic portfolios and family communication along with webpages, Google Classroom and within school communication tools such as Whatsapp make it very difficult for people to switch off.

Better understanding future teacher workforce needs

How effective are the proposed actions in better understanding future teacher workforce needs, including the number of teachers required?

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

Better career pathways to support and retain teachers in the profession

The proposed actions will improve career pathways, including through streamlining the process for Highly Accomplished and Lead Teacher (HALT) accreditation, and providing better professional support for teachers to retain them in the profession.

Somewhat disagree

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?