Anonymous #129

Submitter information

Name

Anonymous #129

Where are you located?

Queensland

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?

Teacher Librarian

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?

Action 1 (targeted national campaign to raise status and value of the role of teachers) must recognise the professionalism and professional skills of teachers. These are unique to teachers based on their qualifications. To truly raise the value of the role, it must acknowledge that teaching is a unique skillset and not everyone can do it. Programs like "Turn to Teaching" and "Teach for Australia" undermine this status by suggesting that professionals/experts in other fields can become wonderful teachers with minimal teacher training and implies that content knowledge is the most important thing. Content knowledge of a subject is not as important compared to knowledge of children and how they learn; differentiation and pedagogical strategies and the ability to build professional relationships with students.

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?

Action 7: Professionals from other fields should not be rushed into teacher without proper training. How many "graduates" from the Teach for Australia program have actually stayed in the profession? People need to be properly prepared for teaching.


Overall, no matter how good the training is or how many teachers come into the profession, none of these actions address workload or retention. These actions won't matter unless workload/retention is addressed.

Strengthening Initial Teacher Education (ITE)

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

Somewhat disagree

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

Action 10: The review of teacher education programs should consider providing pre-service teachers with an allowance or payment to undertake pracs in schools. As it is very difficult for pre-service teachers to work during this time due to the demands of the prac, this can have a huge financial impact. To make the most of their prac, pre-service teachers also require mentor teachers who have the time to teach them (therefore, an increase in non-contact time should be considered for mentor teachers). Lastly, there needs to be a lot of input from currently practicing teachers into the education programs. My undergraduate degree left me woefully under-prepared for teaching in the real world. Mostly I was taught by academics or teachers who had been out of the classroom for decades. They did not understand what teaching was like at the time. Retiring/leaving teachers should be enticed to work in the teacher training programs for a limited time (5 years) after leaving the classroom.

Overall: these actions will not have an impact on supply unless retention and workload are also addressed.

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?

Action 14: other educational professionals should be included in this. For example, teacher librarians can support teacher professional development/training and workload by helping to resource units of work. A teacher librarian understands the school/context/students in their school and can more effectively resource/collaborate to develop units of work.

Education and students' needs have become more complex as have administrative requirements. These are necessary to ensure the best outcomes for our students and for accountability purposes. Many of these requirements cannot be reduced without impacting student outcomes. Primary teachers need less students and secondary teachers need more non-contact time. Action to address workload must focus on the bigger picture and not tinker with little time-wasters around the edges.

Action 16: the C2C developed by QLD should not be held as an example of best practice. I have used these and they were not helpful for my school/students/context. The work did not suit my students and often it took more time to find/adapt these resources for my classroom. Providing pre-made lessons undermines the professionalism and expertise of teachers and does not allow them to effectively cater for their students. In addition, this removes the ability for teachers to be creative, innovative and responsive to their students' needs. Teachers need time to work on their classroom resources and even more importantly to collaborate with other teachers. We need time. Teacher librarians can help with this as can other educational professionals (teacher aides etc) but ultimately, the classroom teacher must be given the time to lead this.

Action 18: We need more teacher aides, teacher librarians, etc.

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?