Anonymous #296

Submitter information

Name

Anonymous #296

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

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?

Certifying more teachers with a title or giving an individual teacher an award does nothing for the vast majority of teachers.

An advertising campaign does nothing for teachers at all.

Certifying someone does nothing to change the day to day situation for that individual and of course does not even attempt to address the situation for all those who are not certified.

The reason there are issues with recruitment and retention has nothing to do with advertising and all around the fact that people do not feel valued. Giving me a certificate does not change that.

Ensuring that ALL public schools are funded at 100% of the SRS would be one thing that would make a huge difference. Currently many teachers spend their own money providing resources for students. It is hard to understand how a decision can be made that a school needs X amount of funding and then say, we will provide 90.4% of that. That certainly does not show that the profession is valued and also makes the job harder.

Paying teachers fairly would go a huge way to addressing the issues as well. We all know that no-one goes into the job for the money. But when you are working ridiculous hours and facing huge pressures, or facing verbal abuse at work, many look at the money on offer in education, then the money on offer elsewhere and think is this worth it. Why accept these hours and conditions when I can earn more in less stressful jobs.

Giving us duties that can be completed in 38 hours is the other major issue that needs fixing. I know of not a single teacher who does not do huge amounts of unpaid overtime at nights and weekends. The job is just not possible without it. And whilst the extra holidays go some way to compensating those hours, it does not address the burn out that many feel when we are getting to week 8 or 9 of each term. Most start work well before the official start time, many work throughout their breaks and there are plenty who are there well after finishing time. And yet everyone still needs to take work home to complete, The expectations on what we can do are impossible and leaves some without the energy to do the most important part of our job - in the classroom.

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.

Neither agree nor disagree

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

It is good that we are trying to attract more to the profession, but that becomes irrelevant if we cannot get people to stay in the profession for more than a couple of years.

Bursaries are ok for the handful that get them, but again this is only targeted at a minority and does nothing to retain the vast majority

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?

The move to attract more First Nations teachers is a positive.

I would like to see more detail on the process for recognising skills in other professions before saying whether I agree of disagree as whilst this can be a real positive, we have to be really careful that we are equipping people with the skills to be in the classroom, not just subject knowledge.

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?

At the moment, there are no firm proposals so I will wait to see what comes out of this.

The reduction in face-to-face teaching in Victoria next year will actually make no practical difference to our day to day.

A system that says we have 2 meetings each week after school and an additional hour after school to do 'other duties' (i.e. not planning, collaboration, marking etc.) is a crazy system. Do we always need 2 meetings? No, but it is there so we do.

Smaller class sizes (so therefore more funding) is the single biggest thing that would maximise our time to teach. 5 classes of say 18 instead of 5 classes of 25 is a huge difference. Class sizes of 15/16 would be even better. We could provide so much more support for students and then every week our marking is reduced, and the amount of reports, IEPs, phone calls to parents etc. is all reduced.

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?

I think those steps can only help. But whether they will make a significant difference, I am not sure. Certainly consistent expectations around the country are worth looking at.

VIT requirements are a huge burden on first year teachers in Victoria. I'm not sure of the expectations in other states. Having to produce a hugely detailed document on what you are doing, whilst trying to get to grips with the job and keep your head above water is unnecessary.

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.

Somewhat agree

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

Again these are all at a very early stage so we need to see more detail around what comes out of these.

In general, I am pleased something is being done and the situation is being looked at.