Anonymous #022

Submitter information

Name

Anonymous #022

Where are you located?

Queensland

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?

Secondary,Special education

What is your occupation?

Teacher

Elevating the profession

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

Neither agree nor disagree

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

Until young newly graduated teachers are offered a permanent position when they graduate to give them job security and on job mentoring there will continue to be young teachers walking away.
When I started teaching I automatically gained a full time permanent position with Education Queensland and after two years full registration. This made me feel valued and supported as I knew it was going to be my life long career.
Spending money on trying to improve teacher images in the media is throwing away money as the money will go to consultants instead of changing laws to make it an offence for parents and other care givers to verbally and physically assault teachers.
Wasting tax payers money on advertising for behaviour change in the media won't work as everyone who was ever in a classroom is an expert.The [REDACTED] of this world would fall apart in a large group of 30 resistant sixteen year olds.
Rotating all administrators who have worked their way up through the ranks regularly back into the classroom
so they don't lose sight of the real practise of classroom teaching.

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.

Neither agree nor disagree

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

Until students graduating are given a permanent secure position in a school where they can be mentored, form relationships with other staff and newly graduated, they will walk away as it is difficult to build secure workplace relationships doing short contracts and supply teaching.
I left the state education system due to unreal work expectations, workplace bullying and assaults from students.
It was an unsafe place to work in.Went to a Catholic school and with the selective fee paying students , was able to perform as a teacher to the highest standards. Supported by Catholic administration and ethos workplace bullying was a non event.
I am a senior experienced teacher and have since retired however do continue to do short contracts and supply teaching.

Strengthening Initial Teacher Education (ITE)

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

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

Maximising the time to teach

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

Strongly agree

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

When I first started teaching in 1982 each department had a administrative officer whose job it was to photocopy, access documents and resources for teachers.We all worked collaboratively and all lesson plans, workbooks and text books were stored in the staff rooms for everyone to access.
Now teacher is expected to re invent the wheel each time a new topic is introduced.
In the nearly forty years I have been teaching every couple of years the employees in the education departments have to earn their bikkies and introduce a completely new system of teaching , marking and reporting ( usually some private system from the USA that has failed dismally over there) such as post modernist, outcome based systems.
Explicit teaching which was what we always did is the new new in teaching and it is great to be able to teach sensibly again.
I don't understand why systems keep changing as it is very stressful for teachers.Why for instance do teachers have to mark endless drafts of students work until they are marking their own writing?
External honest exams for each cohort and keeping students down or streaming them in like for like classes works best.
Inclusion does not work.
Ideology demands that all students are able to perform at the same level when faced with the rigid curriculum and teachers have to modify it daily lessons to included intellectually impaired students working many years behind the average and gifted and talented students.
Going into a classroom where autistic students are being overwhelmed and melting down while gifted and talented students are trying to learn in commonplace.
Inclusion is the elephant in the room and most teachers will not say this for fear of not being politically correct and also facing huge demands from parents.It is an impossible task.

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?

Living in the time of covid , recession and climate change teachers will form a major role in providing a stable environment and safe learning place for our next generations of students.
With the shortage of teachers more work is going to be placed on the remaining teachers.
All staff in education administration departments who have teaching qualifications have to do a compulsory return to classroom two years.
Returning an administration officer for each department to do the administrative work for teachers is a good idea.
Limiting the reporting to end of semester reports.
Opening up more inclusive learning schools to cater for students with disability and mental health issues to learn in a safe place in small classes with experienced special needs teachers.
Improving the salary rates of teachers.
Improving the work / life balance as most teachers teach sports and cultural activities weekends and after school.
Any critic of teachers should be invited to follow a teacher for a week.
Behaviour management to become a police action when teachers are assaulted.
No mobile phones in the schools like Northern Territory.
Surveillance cameras in all classrooms to verify students and teachers behaviours.
Surveillance cameras in playgrounds.
It sounds like massive control but behaviours have become out of control and teachers are leaving because of it.
A friend after being told by a student to [REDACTED] off when she asked him to stay on task , replied I won't [REDACTED] off and had to apologise to both the student and the parents. She walked out of the job.

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.

Neither agree nor disagree

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

The most career minded persons who climb the ladder usually do it at the expense of others. Paying people more and fast tracking the most ambitious does not always lead to good outcomes for students and other teachers. Usually teachers are tapped on the shoulder for leadership training by other sporting mates or members of the same social group.
It is definitely done on a who you know not what you know basis.

A fair system is to pay all teachers the same based on years of experience and include administrators in this pay rating as I have witnessed many rort the system.
Professional support for teachers should include team teaching, curriculum resources sharing and more collegiate support.
Teachers should not have to case manage and have individual learning plans for cohorts of students within a mainstream class , having to deal with all the stake holders in every case managed students independent learning program.
Something had to give and that is why we have walked away.