Australian Parents Council

Submitter information

Name

Australian Parents Council

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)

No

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?

Parent and Family engagement needs to be included in this aspect of the plan. Parents have the potential to be their child’s teachers’ biggest advocates. Strengthening the value of this partnership locally and nationally creates impact and value for how teachers feel about their job and how the broader community feel about the teaching profession. To support this we advocate for the inclusion of a Family & Community Partnership Award. Additionally, peak parent bodies should be supported to run a campaign to educate and encourage parents on how they can nominate their classroom teacher or Principal for OAM's. The Action Plan fails to address the 2019 AITSL's findings that the general public highly trusts and respects teachers. Ways need to be found that increase teacher satisfaction. Evidence supports parent engagement being highly effective in increasing teacher satisfaction. The EPIC research from QIS supports this as well as provides evidence that small changes have a big impact.

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 agree

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.

Strongly agree

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

Embedding Family & Community Engagement into courses of study is highly supported by the Australian Parents Council. Whilst AITSL include family engagement in the standards and it remains a pillar of the Education declaration these policies do not do enough in equipping preservice teachers with skills they can utilise with the diverse partnership requirements of modern classrooms. We acknowledge that many established professional development opportunities and our own certificate course exist but until family engagement is embedded into initial teacher training and purposefully taught and valued, we fail to fully equip preservice teachers in recognising their capacity to foster
partnerships in learning. Partnerships that underpin the education of children.

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?

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.

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?