Anonymous #189

Submitter information

Name

Anonymous #189

Where are you located?

South Australia

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?

Primary,Special education

What is your occupation?

Teacher

Elevating the profession

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

Strongly disagree

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

A promotion campaign and associated recognitions/awards will do very little to sway public opinion. Treating teaching as a genuine PROFESSION is what is required. Professional (read: much higher) remuneration will elevate the profession and generate wider public aspirations to join the teaching workforce.

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?

A greater supply of graduate teachers is NOT required. A very significant amount of graduate teachers exit the profession within the first five years citing burnout and lack of value. Teacher RETENTION, at all levels of experience, is the vital missing link in fortifying our workforce. This can only be achieved through profession remuneration (read: much higher across the board), reduced workload, and higher levels of meaningful support from the Departments.

Strengthening Initial Teacher Education (ITE)

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

Strongly disagree

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

Some of the initiatives, such as greater recognition of prior learning will NOT increase the standard of graduates. Although the title of this priority area suggests "strengthening", there are no mechanisms for raising the standard in tangible ways. Entrance to ITE degrees should be much more rigorous so that only those with a fair chance of succeeding as outstanding educators are admitted. One example would be submissions of applications and/or portfolios prior to acceptance within an ITE degree. The LANTITE does nothing to assess APTITUDE.

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?

There are too few MEANINGFUL strategies being proposed to reduce workload. Further work must be undertaken to look at administrative duties that can and should be transferred to either site leadership or teacher's aids.

These challenges could be immediately solved by universal access to teacher's aids and smaller class sizes.

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?

Not effective at all

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

The measures in this priority area DO NOT address the core issues. Pay teachers a professional (read: much higher) salary and reduce workload. Tax incentives, exit surveys, ITE structures are all pointless if staff are not paid a fair wage with fair working conditions. Teachers are PROFESSIONALS, yet they continue to be treated as unskilled labor.

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 disagree

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

HALT accreditation should be more widely available and easier to achieve. This still would not affect retention and career progression in a meaningful way. What IS required is HIGHER remuneration for ALL staff. Teachers should not be required to undertake 10 years of service and jump through countless hoops to achieve a reasonable living wage. All staff require higher remuneration under each salary band to ensure that they are encouraged to remain within a highly challenging work environment.

We love what we do. We do good work. Recognise this appropriately with FAIR PAY and FAIR WORKING CONDITIONS.