- Related consultation
- Submission received
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Submitter information
Name
Victorian Council of Deans of Education (VCDE)
Where are you located?
Victoria
What type of area do you live in?
Regional or rural
Are you an education professional?
(e.g. teacher, school leader, learning support assistant, teacher’s aide)
No
Elevating the profession
The actions proposed recognise the value teachers bring to students, communities and the economy.
Somewhat disagree
Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?
Although the members of the VCDE are highly supportive of elevating the profession, we believe that the actions are a bit superficial and are unlikely to have the desired outcomes. Our comments are aligned against the specific actions.
1. This action is highly applauded but considered difficult to achieve.It must include early childhood teachers too.
Members argued it has been tried many times.
2. The value of the role (of the teacher) is the most important aspect – currently it is too cumbersome and not sustainable. Marketing not the main strategy required to address workforce issues.
Awards are only relevant to a small number of people. Is this addressing the main issues and enough to take the profession forward? Further detail required i.e process and criteria for selection. Will this come from those in the profession? A further point is that awards focus on the individual. Teachers in schools are team players. They are involved in high level collegial collaboration. There should be some recognition of this. It is important to note that the teaching profession is very collegial and individual recognition while important should not be the only focus of supporting the profession.
3. Orders for Australia are difficult to achieve. Small impact. There are already award schemes for teachers in Victoria. These are good but need more publicity.
4. The action should also include a focus on Vocational Education to be consistent with Victoria’s Senior Secondary Pathways Reform. The action seems sensible but potentially problematic in how the HALT align (for example with Victoria’s Teaching Academy model) will there be a way that this can be reconciled / aligned that doesn’t become burdensome? Further consideration needed regarding the work to create/sustain this initiative.
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?
Our comments are provided against the specific actions.
5. Although this action is a good idea, the devil will be in the detail and support will be needed to recruit students into areas that are needed. Some members argue strongly argue that CSPs need to be allocated for Graduate PST Programs. A focus on undergraduate is not consistent with the effort to encourage career changers into the profession. However, undergraduate programs are needed for school leavers. Furthermore, how will issues of finding additional placements and sustaining these partnerships when this remains precarious. Policy needs to address every school’s obligation to take placements, and structure career pathways accordingly to make this desirable. The work of Mentor Teachers (and contribution to ITE) needs to be appropriate recognised as part of career progression.
6. This action is useful, but it does not address the issues of retention of teachers. A bonding scheme is also likely to be needed to keep these teachers in the profession for an agreed period of time.
How will this assist staffing at hard to staff schools / locations? The bigger issue is how do we ensure the job is one that support diverse career pathways? We do not want to keep people in the profession if they don’t want to be there, so need to think differently about teaching and the work of teachers.
7. Note that there are other employment-based pathways being funded by DET in Victoria. This action needs to be supported by CSPs for Graduate Entry. A range of options need to be looked at here and some consideration of resourcing this approach and how we support these new teachers once they are in the profession.
8. This work should be done in conjunction with the Regional Universities Network (RUN) in relation to regional and rural schools. Perhaps other networks of Universities too? Ie ATTeN etc. We need to encourage a range of ITE providers to consider modes of course delivery to support this.
Strengthening Initial Teacher Education (ITE)
The actions proposed will ensure initial teacher education supports teacher supply and quality.
Somewhat agree
Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?
9. This approach worked at other time but may be problematic given there is a teacher shortage globally and by recruiting form other countries while it may assist here, it may exacerbate the issue in another country. It is important to address the range of opportunities for training, using both in person and digital modes.
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?
Our comments are aligned to specific action items.
10. The 50% completion rate needs to be carefully scrutinised, as this figure is not consistent with most providers’ experience. VCDE are deeply concerned about how the relationship between performance and funding of ITE will be managed and how it will take account of the complexities of students taking longer to complete because they are employed under Permission to Teach pathways as part of the initiatives to support teacher supply.Each dot-point is very complex and requires careful scrutiny and unpacking to understand what may be occurring and what might be possible. Much of this relies of partnerships and being adequately resourced. It is the partnership element that needs strengthening – we need to pay Mentor Teachers and acknowledge their contribution appropriately.
11. It would be useful to have a consistent framework for evaluation of non-formal Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL). Institutions will have processes for formal RPL in place, but non formal RPL is more difficult, time consuming and expensive to evaluate.This seems like it would be helpful but will require significant work if we are looking for ‘consistency’ and what counts as RPL.
12. It is useful to review how New Zealand recruits Māori and Pasifika teachers.
https://www.teachnz.govt.nz/studying-to-be-a-teacher/scholarships/
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?
13. The LANTITE test is highly problematic on many levels. Some significant work needs to happen regarding how LANTITE is administered. It is particularly problematic for indigenous and EAL students. This action is likely to further narrow the teaching profession. One of the key issues is that ACER provides no specific feedback on where students who fail are having difficulty. If this action is included, then ACER need to review and completely overhaul how the test is completed, as we know that some students have difficulties with completing a test on a screen, in addition to having test anxiety. Victoria has a working group of deans or their nominees ready to work on this action with the new Victorian government.'
14. A key pressure point relates to the disconnect between student engagement and academic goals – this misalignment hits teachers at the coalface and impacts the joy possible in the job. This requires rethinking at the level of unit planning – these are the key working resources teachers engage with. It is important to ensure we continue to professionalise teaching and that this action does not lead to de-professionalisation of teaching. In some countries where this action has been taken up it has resulted in a scripted curriculum provided to teachers to teach – often in underserved populations and an increase in the monetisation of education materials. Teachers need to have agency in the curriculum and need to participate in curriculum materials. It has also resulted in third party providers coming in to do playground duty. Playground duty is an important part of being a teacher to better understand all aspects of a child’s development.
15. Broader conceptualisation of the work of teachers, and a differentiated approach to a teaching career is needed, rather than treating the symptoms.
17. There will be ebbs and flows in workload – taking on new topics or grades involves significant work – but this is not always considered.
18. There are significant issues with PTT pathways, so greater use of ITE students needs to be carefully considered and better regulated. In Finland, the role of Teaching Assistant is a TAFE qualification.
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?
19. The Victorian ITE providers have a data sharing agreement with DET which will assist with this action.
21. ITE is the most regulated part of the sector – issues of attraction, retention and quality need to be taken across the career, and the issues facing teachers and schools considered at policy and system levels. Some discussion also needs to occur here about the work and cost involved for ITE providers to undertake accreditation.
22. It is unclear how this will work while needing to also adhere with current requirements to commence teaching such as completing a TPA etc.
23. Good to have this data – but many issues are known.
24. But how are we doing it? Yes – considering teacher careers and pathways is key, but also the systems and resourcing needed to sustain the profession.
25. More than guidelines are needed.
26. This is absolutely vital. Resources (and indeed courses) need to be developed. However, this of course needs to be extended into schools – a whole of career and whole of education perspective taken. See major new project: https://about.unimelb.edu.au/news-resources/awards-and-achievements/announcements2/new-project-partnership-reimagines-education-for-all-australians