Anonymous #182

Submitter information

Name

Anonymous #182

Where are you located?

Victoria

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's aide, learning support assistant

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?

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.

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.

Somewhat agree

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

My feedback is from observing teachers in class and during lunch and recess. I have two suggestions to make.
My school is in a low socio economic area with a lot of trauma and challenging family dynamics.
For some teachers and for some classes, up to half of the teaching time is spent managing disruptive behaviours; Many are very disengaged from learning and will come to class late, leave without permission, while others are using their phones in class. Dealing with these every day is Extremely Emotionally Tiring.
Teachers then have the task of contacting parents, writing wellbeing reports and referrals which can take a large part of their after school hours.
Teachers are exhausted and feel they have little support and few options - either put up with it or leave. They feel frustrated they are restricted from teaching to their full abilities.
Schools need more wellbeing supports for students, not more training for teachers to manage the challenging students. At my school we have had hours of pertinent trauma informed and positive behaviour training - all enhances teacher practice. But then teachers are expected to apply all this information in class on top of the curriculum.
My next point is about the expectations to organise and supervise activities for students outside class time. Some teachers love doing this; many teachers feel obliged or pressured to participate, and others are requested to do this and don’t feel able to say no.
For example, there is a teacher in my school who has a full teaching load, mostly VCAL and VCE, PLUS she runs the SRC, PLUS she organises the lunchtime activities and runs one herself, PLUS she is studying a TAFE course in her own time so she can run a VET course as requested by the school, PLUS she has been asked to do additional jobs to which she feels she can’t say no, PLUS she is a mother of 4 with family responsibilities.
It would relieve this pressure to have non teaching staff run these activities, such as social workers from welfare organisations. This allows the teachers the freedom to choose to be involved or not. We do have other organisations come to our school but they run activities during class time.

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?