Anonymous #276

Submitter information

Name

Anonymous #276

Where are you located?

Western 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?

Secondary

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?

The emphasis on STEM devalues the contributions of Arts teachers. Across the course of my career in both teaching and leadership roles I can confidently say that Arts teachers contribute far more of their personal time and are far more devalued than any other teacher in the profession.

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.

Somewhat agree

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

Increasing the number of people selecting teaching as a profession is without merit if those people do not complete their studies or quit in the early years of teaching. Having worked for more than 12 years in the private sector before commencing teaching I was shocked to discover that the workload was almost triple that of any of my previous professional roles. The workload faced by graduate teachers is also significantly higher than that of experienced teachers because of the lack of support materials; forcing graduates to produce these themselves. Banks of curriculum mapped, detailed lesson plans need to be created and provided so that graduates can focus on the delivery of lessons rather than spending hundreds of hours a year creating lesson plans.

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.

Neither agree nor disagree

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

Class sizes must be reduced. More education assistants allocated for students with learning disabilities. More support for teachers in the management of behavioral problems and communication with parents for those problems. In my experience, at least an hour every day is required for parent communication regarding student behaviour.

Teachers need to be released from more meetings and their time protected from endless “committees“ and “action groups”.

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?

Moderately effective

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

The number one reason that teachers leave the profession is because it can be performed in one of two ways;

1. Below Standard; Underperforming teachers who have a normal, human life.

2. At Standard; Teachers for whom the profession has become all-consuming, their performance as educators coming at the sacrifice of social, family life and rest and leisure time.

Since becoming a teacher I have lost all of my hobbies. I look on people with time to do gardening or play sport with a mix of confusion and envy. I dream only about work every night and my every waking moment is filled with a sense of endless anxiety at the mass of work remaining to be completed. It is not uncommon for me to work 80 hours a week at the expense of my own health.

This is unsustainable, but I see no other way to stay on top of the work that is expected of me.

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?

Most career pathway opportunities for teachers are stymied by the necessity that people in desirable leadership positions retire. This makes it very difficult for schools to cultivate and retain teachers with strong leadership potential unless they are aware of the upcoming retirement of a teacher in a relevant leadership position. Furthermore, it is highly noticeable that at every school I have worked with it is Phys Ed teachers, with their lower overall workload, who are able to volunteer for and occupy opportunities for leadership growth. I believe that this particular group is massively overrepresented in leadership positions in schools due to this one factor alone.