Anonymous #280

Submitter information

Name

Anonymous #280

Where are you located?

New South Wales

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

What is your occupation?

School leader

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?

With reference to the HALT positions in NSW: There is already a HALT program in place which requires much hoop jumping through red tape. How will the current program differ from the proposed one? What is the requirements once a person has achieved HALT status? The aim of the National Teacher Workforce Action Plan is to keep experienced teachers in the classroom. How does mentoring responsibilities for a HALT teacher support this? And what is the difference, both in pay scales and responsibilities, between a HALT teacher and an Assistant Principal who must manage a team of teachers?

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 disagree

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

The funding that you are throwing into attracting people into the profession needs to go towards PAYING TERTIARY STUDENTS DURING THE PERIOD OF THEIR INTERNSHIP at the school during their studies.

Currently, uni students are given 4 - 6 weeks practicum (WSU, USyd), though others mandate a 10 week prac (Curtin Uni). Usually, for the students, this period is UNPAID and is a major financial burden. I know because I was studying my teaching degree and had 5 children of my own to support.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE stipulate that universities must mandate AT LEAST a 10 week practicum and use your funding to PAY future teachers during that time.

Also, please ensure that all teaching degrees have a 4 week practicum in the FIRST SEMESTER of the course. Some universities place their pracs at the tail end of the degree. It is better for everyone involved if uni students were able to have a 'taster' of what the teaching profession is about early in their uni degree and decide if it is the path they want to take. Teaching is not for everyone. Leaving the practicum until the third year of the degree is far too late if it's not for you. This way the student saves time and money, government will save money and the teaching profession is better off.

Strengthening Initial Teacher Education (ITE)

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

Neither agree nor disagree

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

see previous comments for point 10

no comment on the rest.

Maximising the time to teach

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

Somewhat disagree

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

I absolutely agree that teacher workload is a problem. However, the steps that are currently in place to reduce the workload is not reducing the workload, but rather, is creating other burdens. I can only speak of what is happening in NSW.

Curriculum - attempts to reduce the workload is by way of bureaucrats in DoE creating lessons for the new K-2 and 3-6 syllabus. So now we have a 'one size fits everybody across the state of NSW' approach to teaching. Where is the differentiation? Where is the catering for the school context? How is this approach helping to build teacher capacity and knowledge?

What the NTWAP doesn't address is the role of NESA and the red tape for teacher accreditation and re-accreditation. As a supervising teacher, why can't I simply click a button to say that my beginning teacher is proficient? Why does s/he have to spend hours and hours writing an accreditation report? Why do I then have to spend hours writing a report on her/him in order for that to be accepted? Why do I need to 'evaluate' my PD hours in order to be reaccredited? Who on earth looks at the evaluations anyway??? If the information doesn't get looked at or used, why do we need to do it?

External Validation must be removed. Schools write school plans and prepare an annual school report. Directors visit schools regularly (or they should!). Underperforming schools should be picked up through these processes. There should not be so many hours dedicated to writing a report that only a few people read. At my school we had 3 whole school staff meetings to discuss the requirements and collect evidence. 60 people x 3hrs = 180hrs. The executive team (10 people) then needed to go through all the evidence, refine and collate it as well as write and format the report. This was DAYS worth of work. All this time could be better spent on teaching and learning.

What is the point of EV? If schools 'fail', do they close them down???

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?

There needs to be better use of census data to project where the needs will be.

My primary school is the feeder school for a high school up the road. The high school has informed us that they are projecting a 50% increase in student population in the next few years. As a result, they have begun building programs in anticipation of those numbers.

My school has been told nothing. We are already at classroom capacity. About 80% of the high school's population comes from my school - how does it work that they grow but not us?

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?

With reference to the HALT positions in NSW: There is already a HALT program in place which requires much hoop jumping through red tape. How will the current program differ from the proposed one? What is the requirements once a person has achieved HALT status? The aim of the National Teacher Workforce Action Plan is to keep experienced teachers in the classroom. How does mentoring responsibilities for a HALT teacher support this? And what is the difference, both in pay scales and responsibilities, between a HALT teacher and an Assistant Principal who must manage a team of teachers?

The NTWAP also does not address the inequities in the current staffing model. For example, if a teacher wants to move to a different school, there are transfer processes in place. However, if an Assistant Principal wants to move schools, they must first RELINQUISH their substantive position and REAPPLY for ether a teaching or AP position elsewhere. The DoE is essentially LETTING GO of one of their most experienced groups of people! AP and DP transfer systems should be in place.