Anonymous #219

Submitter information

Name

Anonymous #219

Where are you located?

New South Wales

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?

Secondary

What is your occupation?

retired teacher 50 years teaching

Elevating the profession

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

Strongly disagree

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

I'm fairly sure these suggestions did not come from the teaching profession. They are ad hoc window dressing,

The community knows and understands the role of teachers but is also aware that the profession is suffering under low wages, undoable workload, huge expectations. Extrinsic awards indicate a failure to recognise the professional nature of teachers' work which is altruistic, collaborative and imbued with a love of learning. However, one of the problems is politicians using education as a political football, as now, prior to an election in NSW, which solidifies negative messages in the form of teacher bashing, thus negating their professional expertise and high range skills .

All these suggestions attempt to integrate the competitive culture of business and the corporate world into the profession, which would reject them outright acknowledging that teaching is collaborative, in its planning, assessment, student wellbeing, and classroom teaching. I have seen at least two attempts to reward good teachers, the Advanced Skills teacher and the Lead teacher. Both have failed for reasons such as the failure to recognise all good teachers, the use of these teachers as "scapegoats" to take on the extra duties others can't due to time constraints, and the insultingly poor renumeration offered. The role of the HALT must be prescribed or clearly defined. A better reform would be to reform the whole salary scale in NSW which stops at about 8 years or so then increases with promotion. Many teachers would like to earn extra pay for duties such as mentoring others, whole school co-ordination of eg literacy, gifted and talented programs. As well Year Advisers are woefully paid for some of the responsibilities they take on. The "HALT" initiative is vague in the extreme and would be difficult to implement when there is a huge teacher shortage and no cover for classes.

However, inclusion of teachers in the Order of Australia award would recognise it as a profession equivalent to other professions and the military. In my experience, acknowledgement from peers within schools is a much greater reward, but a decent professional salary is the most needed.

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.

Strongly disagree

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

Many students use the low fee, lower ATAR uni entry scheme for teacher training as a stepping stone transferring to another degree, which they missed out on because of their low ATAR, using their gained credits to enrol in higher paying career courses such as communications, the law, psychology. The suggested incentives would actually make this more likely.

The existing high achievers program Teach For Australia, has had very disappointing results, and it looks as if only a handful of teachers have stayed on after 5 years despite the large numbers given training. So I don't think this program will deliver much either.

There are incentives to train, but there is a lack of incentive to stay in the profession apparently. Once again the two main factors operating are the low pay relative to other professions, and the very difficult working conditions teachers face, which are stifling for high achieving students, for both academic and creative reasons; also the over use of bureaucratic control, micro-management of staff, and the tall poppy syndrome existing in some schools, where very bright and creative staff become disillusioned by senior executive, who themselves are under enormous stress just being able to manage the school day under pandemic conditions. Disadvantaged schools are also often difficult because of lack of adequate funding, and resourcing for the extra staff needed to enable access to the curriculum for students with disabilities.

The only time in 54 years of teaching that I saw overseas teachers arrive in significant numbers was during the 1960's when at least i existed in schools and they came because the recent introduction of equal pay in Australia for teachers made it attractive. All the evidence points to this not happening now, because of the low pay here and the same teacher shortages overseas.

Strengthening Initial Teacher Education (ITE)

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

Strongly disagree

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

So many factors operate as disincentives eg using initial uni teacher training to transfer to other courses, time constraints in schools to adequately mentor and supervise students. Perhaps longer internships with the one school would prepare student teachers better. Perhaps the HALt might take on the responsibility of overseeing this, instead of adding the duty to already overburdened teachers and Head Teachers. But again, the assumption is that the training is deficient when in fact it's the low pay and the ever burgeoning workload that is the problem for new teachers.

Then the biggest factor is probably the psychological and behaviour management knowledge required just to even begin to feel confident in the classroom. There is no doubt that student behaviour is more complex, particularly as the segregation of schools into highly advantaged, disadvantaged, causes a concentration of students with learning difficulties and behaviour management issues in state schools, making teaching so much more difficult, complex and nerve wracking. Practical experience of appropriate measures, testing and trying different ones is needed before a new teacher discovers what works best for them. it basically takes at least three years for this training, but this is not acknowledged or taken into account within the system.

Good idea to have prior skillls/training recognised, but this shouldn't detract from the need to have the best students training as teachers, and looking for the causes as to why they aren't. I know of specific examples where teachers have somehow scraped through their degrees, and as teachers have been unable to access the senior secondary curriculum due to a lack of understanding, knowledge, and inability to implement the criteria within the syllabi as a result. there is a failure to attract the best students because of the low pay and the difficult working conditions. The fear is the suggested actions will intensify the use of insufficiently qualified or trained teachers just to manage the teacher shortages, as it would cause enormous decline in quality standards.

Literacy tests can be prepared for. They are not a guarantee of quality teaching

Maximising the time to teach

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

Strongly disagree

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

A workload education fund would only last as long as the govt that delivers it. The whole system needs reforming to allow 2 hours quality professional development and collaboration per day, to enable teachers to have sufficient time. The Finland model follows this system. No need for pilots. It must be embedded in the school day. To offer assistance with roll marking is a pittance - and all schools use report templates now.

An example of teacher over load is a young teacher I know, very gifted, was rushed into Head Teacher position in third year of teaching at start of pandemic. Became disillusioned with teaching because of the workload but has clung on. He marked one thousand senior essays and Extension English major works ( plays, novellas, petty collections with up to 15 drafts) including HSC Extension 2 marking in a term - counted them afterwards because he said he had no down time. This is absolutely atrocious and he had to run the faculty as well. He asked for a day off to mark but was refused and had to use his own sick leave. A senior essay take at least 15 minutes to mark, and Extension 2 works take about an hour to mark. This kind of workload cannot be sustained. Teachers who have left teaching for the corporate world report higher rates of pay, no take home after-hours work, flexibility, being treated as if a professional, no emails out of hours.

Ironic that "maximising the the time to teach" includes implementation of national curriculum.

The use of teaching assistants and school support staff is surely just a stop gap measure which could have serious underlying problems regarding untrained workers taking on some of the professional duties of teachers.

It's not clear why those with authority try to wriggle around and introduce changes which may worsen conditions rather than follow teachers' appeals for more time and better wages

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?

Slightly effective

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

Good idea to create a body which looks at teacher demand, but it must also be flexible and able to pivot quickly to respond to unforeseen circumstances eg the pandemic. it has been nearly 2 decades of teacher shortages emerging and responding has been inadequate, and even aggravated the situation with feeble and contrary suggestions, most not even delivered. I can't really see any suggested responses here to the crisis. The Gallop Inquiry a few years ago did the most professional investigation of the teaching profession, including offering detailed solutions, but it has been totally ignored, so this inquiry doesn't even come close to being adequate.

A new accreditation system is a good idea as in NSW the system is unwieldy, teachers are very critical of its regulations, as well as its imposition on women who are constrained by their child rearing to return to teaching, falling to the bottom of the salary scale after 5 years' absence. This is discriminatory.

National registration is a good idea as long as teachers don't have to double up with state accreditation's well. this would be confusing and time consuming.

Unfortunately experience tells me that government promises of change in the profession are regarded with cynicism by teachers in general and this would apply to the use of incentives for teachers.

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.

Strongly disagree

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

Idealistic aim re "valuing teachers" in their career pathways. Huge casualisation of workforce is a big problem as is the competition for permanency. A 10% increase in permanency is a pittance. Casualisation would be a massive disincentive to take up teaching as a career and account for a large number of early career teachers leaving. It disrupts the stability of the profession and would add to the decline in academic standards of students.

Well- being of teachers is also a massive problem now, due to stress and micromanagement, as well as an inability to maintain the huge workload. Psychologists are well aware of the rise in numbers of teachers suffering from stress, anxiety and depression, a reason for many not taking up the profession or leaving it. Anxiety results from the profession unable to do their job to the best of their ability, the need to relax their professionalism in order to achieve the demands expected, the regular criticisms of the Minister of Education, and of politicians needing to raise the populist vote. Unfortunately the political culture now is unable to understand the complexities of teaching, and unable to respond to them.

There is a need to streamline promotion, include more steps on the salary scale, reform the placement of teachers - too many cases of "resume lying" - exaggerations, when a school wants to eject a member of staff by passing the problem onwards - too many stories of senior executive unable to manage staff adequately and too many stories of unsafe work places where staff face "toxic" interrelationships. There is a need to inject the profession with very highly qualified staff who could manage staff better.

Professional development needs reform - too much time spent on "tick the box" bureaucratic courses eg dealing with asthma - (which could be done through meetings rather than laborious computer work. More time needed for Professional development, networking and collegiality.