Anonymous #464

Submitter information

Name

Anonymous #464

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?

Teacher

Elevating the profession

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

Strongly agree

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

Any process that involves charging $600 for teachers to move forward doesn't really want people to do it. It is discrimanatory and elitist. There are many teachers doing great jobs in schools who can not afford this cost so will never undertake HALT or Lead accreditation.

Raising the profile through awards is wonderful for the few who will be put forward and nominated.

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?

"Jurisdictions will also work with relevant regulators to streamline overseas skills recognition and consider how to expedite permanent visas for teachers already in Australia." This is taken from the Draft National Teacher Workforce Action Plan. We have a LSO currently working in our school (primary) who is a trained secondary maths teacher. She must sit an English proficiency test in Queensland (We are metropolitan Sydney) at great cost. Why can nothing be done in Sydney?

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?

"Recognise previous study, work experience and skills that may be transferable to teaching."
Be wary of this. It could undermine and devalue initial teacher education training. Teaching is a craft and a science. The demands on teachers are huge. It does not mean that people who have studied in other fields will be any good at teaching. Teachers have to genuinely like children or teenagers, without that, all the knowledge in the world is useless.
If I, as a teacher with 38 years experience, can not get credit in any related course, such as psychology or speech therapy, why should the inverse be possible?

Look to the real reasons people are not picking teaching. Negative media. Paperwork. Restictive, narrow minded decisions by non teachers imposed on teachers. Address these issues

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?

"reducing administrative red tape, including performance management"

Every year this is touted as a plan and every year I complete a personal goal setting proforma that is prescribed to me and has no relevance to what I want to achieve. Then I have to evaluate it. Every event, including science lessons, in the school has to have a work, health and safety risk assessment. If I'm leading an event or excursion I have to write the risk assessment, otherwise I have to read and sign the risk assessments that some other poor sod wrote.
I DO NOT want to teach from a commercial product that is primarily in business to make a profit ( hello, Multilit). This will not give me more time to teach. It will kill teaching.

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?

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

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?

I have worked 38 years in the Catholic system in Sydney. Yet to apply for a position in a Department of Education school I had to spend 2 days uploading many documents. All these documents have been cited by the system I am in. What a waste of time! Why can the systems not collaborate? Flexibility seems to be a vague value imposed on teachers but not upheld a leadership/ organisational level.