Australian Education Union - Northern Territory

Submitter information

Name

Australian Education Union - Northern Territory

Where are you located?

Northern Territory

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?

Education Union

What is your occupation?

Teacher and Union President

Elevating the profession

The actions proposed recognise the value teachers bring to students, communities and the economy.

Neither agree nor disagree

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

Our full submission will be emailed to your secretariat. These answers are a small part of the overall document, but we will submit them online anyway. They are all framed in relation to the central contention of our submission: that the teacher shortage is just one symptom of a deeper root problem in NT public sector education - that our schools, our teachers and our students are currently funded for failure. Student outcomes are dropping and school attendance is crashing in the NT. It is no wonder then our teachers and principals are overworked, burnt out and leaving the profession. The National Teacher Workforce Action Plan (NTWAP) addresses this problem only symptomatically and in doing so draws focus and resources away from the fundamental solution: funding public schools for success.

Likely affect of actions (1-4) if schools remain chronically underfunded:
Window dressing whilst we continue to chronically underfund schools, the effect of which sends a much deeper signal to our teachers and the community that they are not valued.

Likely affect of actions (1-4) if schools are funded for success at 100% of SRS:
Funding our schools for success and giving them the resourcing to meet the basic learning needs of their students sends a signal to our teachers that their work is fundamentally valued. It will unleash significant capability in our school’s collective capacity to meet and exceed student learning needs producing many success stories to celebrate.

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?

Likely affect of actions if schools remain chronically underfunded:
The PC interim report states that the growth in the teacher workforce as measured by ITE completion has more or less kept pace with the growth in student enrolments. While we can continue to find expensive ways of attracting teachers to the profession, without fundamentally addressing the underfunded school environments they are going into, we will continue to lose them out the other side.


Likely affect of actions if schools are funded for success at 100% of SRS:
Funding school for success means creating nurturing and collaborative environments that will retain teachers in the profession. We welcome Action 5 (engaging para-professionals) and Action 8 (attracting and retaining teachers in high needs schools), especially in how it relates to engaging more First Nations educator in our schools, however we know from experience in our context the significant time and within-school resourcing this requires to deliver it.

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?

Likely affect of actions if schools remain chronically underfunded:
While these actions may provide some buffer for graduates entering high stress, chronically underfunding school environments, we will still see an untenable attrition of early career teachers out of the profession. Actions such as enhancing professional experiences are predicated on schools have the resourcing to provide this extra mentoring which is just not the case currently.

Likely affect of actions if schools are funded for success at 100% of SRS:
Exploring pathways for mid-career entrants and other employment-based processes (Action 10) could provide important new entry points for local teachers and particularly First Nations educators if there is adequate in-school resourcing to mentor them. Recognising prior learning of First Nations people (Action 11) would only enhance this.

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?

Likely affect of actions if schools remain chronically underfunded:
Actions 15, 16, 18 all require an adequately funded school system that provides the staffing, time, space and resourcing for teachers and will fail without it.

Likely affect of actions if schools are funded for success at 100% of SRS:
Forget wasting money on a $25m pilot and in fully funding schools you build up a rich and enabled environment where a wide portfolio of innovations that maximise teacher’s time preparing and delivering quality learning can be developed. Actions 15-18 are all predicated on this.

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?

Very effective

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

Likely affect of actions if schools remain chronically underfunded:
A clearer understanding that the fundamental problem lies in underfunded school environments that causing teachers to leave the profession.

Likely affect of actions if schools are funded for success at 100% of SRS:
We begin to utilise our significant investment in our students and teachers increasingly more effectively and precisely.

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?

Likely affect of actions if schools remain chronically underfunded:
These actions require time and space for PD and mentoring that is just not present in severely underfunded schools. Chronic underfunding and effective enrolment also forces principals to use contracts as the main form of employment causing significant job insecurity and ultimately attrition.

Likely affect of actions if schools are funded for success at 100% of SRS:
Funding schools for success creates environments where teachers are resourced to collaborate, mentor and develop their craft. We are particularly supportive of Action 28 (micro-credentialing) as it provides new opportunities for First Nations educators to engage in training.