Anonymous #302

Submitter information

Name

Anonymous #302

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.

Somewhat agree

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

I've been teaching for more than 15 years. In that time, I have not felt respected or valued by my employer in a Victorian Government secondary school. If we want society to value and respect teachers, it needs to start with educational leadership: Principals, Leading Teachers, Department of Education. I am not alone in feeling unsupported as a teacher in my school. The mantra is that everyone is replaceable, no one is special. Leadership needs to change. Principals are appointed and often stay there until they retire (in Victorian government schools). There's little accountability. They surround themselves with associate principals and leading teachers who they like, rather than who is capable, by following the "recruitment processes". The system breeds nepotism and favoritism, where certain teachers are in the inner circle, while everyone else is fending for themselves. The Victorian Department of Education seems to support Principals in questioning teachers' fitness to teach for unscrupulous reasons in attempts to get rid of staff they don't like, using thousands of tax-payer dollars in forcing teachers to undergo psychiatric fit-for-work assessments, that in at least a proportion of cases, are found to be unwarranted. They do this because they can. This is one example of Principals' abuse of power in the Victorian Government school system. Until there is greater accountability for Principals and their treatment of everyday teachers, teachers will continue to feel unvalued and unsupported. It's little wonder society doesn't value teachers either.

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?

Teachers are retiring and, many who stay in the profession, are wanting to retire and leave. We feel unrewarded and undervalued. Teachers who choose to teach full allotments, without positions of responsibility that take them out of the classroom, are the ones who should receive recognition. Teachers apply for positions of responsibility because this gives them time release from teaching in classrooms with kids: i.e. they spend less time teaching. The workhorses of the system are the teachers who choose not to apply for positions of responsibility because they choose to spend maximum time in classrooms teaching kids. These teachers should be rewarded. A pay incentive for teachers who DO NOT have positions of responsibility because they choose to spend maximum time IN the classroom teaching kids should be rewarded. Why offer pay incentives to teachers who choose to do PORs that take them out of classrooms? It doesn't make any sense.

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?

There is a massive discrepancy between Victorian Government schools with regards to assessment and reporting responsibilities. My school appears to report a lot more than neighbouring schools. This mean, teachers spend almost every staff meeting discussing assessment and reporting and little time on anything else. Similarly, free periods are spent assessing and reporting, with little time for planning and preparing quality programs. The Department needs to step in and standardise assessment and reporting expectations. It should scrutinise school's assessment and reporting processes to see how absurd some school's assessment and reporting burden has become in comparison to others. Parents don't need complex reports that are often not read anyway. Less assessment and reporting means more time for planning and preparation. There should be an equal balance.

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?

Reward your existing teachers, especially those who carry the heavy lifting of teaching within schools by teaching maximum teaching loads, without time release for positions of responsibility that take them out of classrooms and away from kids. Teachers who choose to spend their time IN classrooms with kids for the majority of their time in school should be valued and rewarded. Some teaching staff at my school put their hands up for multiple positions of responsibility which takes them out of teaching almost entirely. Why reward teachers who aren't even teaching in classrooms with kids?

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?

You don't need better career pathways to retain teachers who choose to spend time in classrooms teaching, as opposed to applying for higher duties that give them time allowance away from teaching. If you want to retain teachers, don't offer career pathways as incentive. Many teachers chose a career pathway to classroom teacher because this is exactly what they want to do: teach kids in classrooms. Why reward teachers who apply for positions of responsibility that give them time release from teaching? It makes more sense to reward the teachers who do not have higher duties because they choose to spend maximum time teaching in classrooms with kids. These are the teachers who are carrying the load of teaching who you wish to retain. Many of these teachers are feeling unvalued in schools and considering leaving the profession, despite loving what they do. Teachers who can't handle a maximum teaching load, or find they don't actually like teaching, put their hand up for higher duties because it gives them time release out of the classroom, which means less teaching time. Why reward these people? Reward teachers who choose to work in classrooms with kids on maximum allotments (either part-time or full-time) as we are the teachers who are hard to replace. A financial incentive would be a start.