Anonymous #226

Submitter information

Name

Anonymous #226

Where are you located?

New South Wales

What type of area do you live in?

Regional or rural

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?

Teacher

Elevating the profession

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

Somewhat agree

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

Anything you can do to help people speak positively about teachers would be good I suppose.

I think one way this can be done is by not making all of society's problems the work of schools. At some point parents and families need to do some of the work of parenting. Every health and social issue seems to fall.on schools to attempt to fix. We spend ridiculous amounts of time socialising children before we can even attempt to help.them learn.

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.

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

Strengthening Initial Teacher Education (ITE)

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

Somewhat agree

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

It is important that the focus on supply does not errode quality. Around 15 years ago I had a 3rd year uni student on prac in my class and she did not have the basic literacy skills to correct Kindergarten writing or even read them a picture book without needing help with some words... yet the university would not allow me to fail her.

I began my teacher training in 1991. On my first day, the head of the faculty called me into ger office questioning about whether I truly wanted to study teaching because my TER was high (it was only 85.1). It is hard to even respect your own profession when attitudes like this are even within universities.

Maximising the time to teach

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

Somewhat agree

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

Maximising time to teach needs to include adequate time for preparation and collaboration. It also needs to include break times for teachers. It is incredibly exhausting, not to mention physically uncomfortable, to begin teaching at 9am, teach for the morning session, do recess duty and come straight back into class until 1pm. Does any other profession not allow people to have a "comfort" break? Why as a professional adult with a masters degree do I still have to ask for permission to go to the toilet? How can we feel like professionals when we are infantalised like this?

There is also way too much that has become our responsibility. Surely basic health practices such as blowing noses, cleaning teeth, should be the responsibility of parents. We now have to spend enormous amounts of time teaching children about basic skills and manners that once they would have had before beginning school.

Workload is also off the scale. The documenting of every little thing is huge. Sometimes it benefits the students, like programming. Other times it is purely box ticking. For example, I have recently had a child in my class who [REDACTED] That's okay, we can make all of that work. BUT first I have to phone the parent to make meeting, then meet to discuss what adjustments are required. Then I have to document that meeting and save to a school system, send an email copy to the principal, email staff to notify, write up plans for safe movement around the school and toileting, reallocate staff to do this, reorganise the sport program so she can participate and record that, reorganise the excursion to ensure her participation and write risk assessments... hours and hours of work for one really very small issue. And this is one event for one student.

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?

Teachers are leaving because they are burnt out. They are tired. They are discouraged. They are tired of not having time for their own families. They are sick of being criticised for everything.

I have loved teaching, and I still do. But it has stolen so much from my family. I miss my own children's parent teacher nights for the children I teach. I miss my own children's assemblies and school events.

[REDACTED]

I was unable to attend a school event this weekend because I has a commitment with my own family. That should be fine, but now I lie awake waiting for the criticism for the community questioning my commitment to the school.

Three little girls in my class had a minor conflict last week (not physical). I couldn't work out what happened because all three told different versions. I did my best, but know it is only a matter of time before parents will criticise my handing of the situation and accuse me of doing nothing. So I've documented it all and emailed to my executive in case of parent complaint.

And sorry, but teacher "awards" nominated by parents are nothing but ridiculous. The flashy, often do nothing but able to blow their own trumpet teachers will be lauded, and the hard working, experienced teachers taken for granted nad ignored as they are now, especially if they are female and of a certain age.

Nothing here addresses the real reason people don't want to be or stay in teaching.

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 agree

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

There are some good ideas here. Streamlining HALT would be awesome. At the moment, it is far too burdensome to take on.