Anonymous #126

Submitter information

Name

Anonymous #126

Where are you located?

Western Australia

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?

Giving out more awards doesn't elevate the profession; treating us as professionals, and creating an environment that would actually ATTRACT high-quality, intelligent graduates is needed.

Treating us as professionals means not treating us as baby-sitters. A serious cultural campaign is needed to recognised the value of education, and the value of educators. Is it any wonder that teachers feel unappreciated when during the pandemic we had the leaders of our country and states calling for teachers to remain at schools not because of the value of education, not because of the importance of consistent practice, but because of the economy. We were effectively told, "Teachers, stay at school during this unprecedented pandemic so that our kids can be somewhere other than home so that we can work".

Let me provide another example:
A friend of mine has a very similar degree to me. He hasn't finished his degree yet, and yet he has received a pay-rise of over $70,000 in one calendar year. Without finishing his degree he is earning more than I will ever be able to earn in my career. He also doesn't have to deal with marking, planning, or parents. He's a highly intelligent individual, who would probably make an excellent teacher; do you think he would ever even consider becoming a teacher? Not a chance. He sees my workload compared to his, and he sees my pay compared to his, and he would be a fool to want to become a teacher.
And he's right.

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?

The financial incentive to attract high-achievers to teaching is good, but without larger-scale changes to the profession iteself (in terms of workload, respect, and pay), I can't see teacher retention changing; teachers will still leave the profession within the first 5 years.

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?

The entrance requirements for entry into teaching degress should be MUCH higher.

"All teaching students will undergo initial assessment of their literacy and numeracy skills in their first year to ensure they can receive targeted support if they need it."
This is a good move. Students entering teaching should be highly compotent (or indeed very highly compotent) in both literacy and numeracy, regardless of what specialty they may be teaching. In fact, I think the entrance requirements for Primary Education should be higher than Secondary Education, as there is more developmental understanding needed during the formative years in Primary School.

Again though, if the profession itself remains unchanged, I doubt there will be any change in teacher retention.

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?

This is very simple to fix, but no one wants to do it:
Give teachers less classroom time for the same full-time load.
If what is currently 0.8FTE (four MESH classes in Secondary) was considered 1.0FTE, then teachers would have more time to be effective at teaching, rather than constantly time-poor and unable to improve their practice, even though they want to.

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?

"Develop and publish comprehensive data about why teachers leave the profession and what careers they move into and what would improve retention, as well as why other career leavers choose teaching."

Why do people act as if they don't know the answer to this already? It's the workload.
The workload, and the lack of compensation for the amount of work we do.

Let me give you an example:
I applied for a different (non-teaching) position in the state government. This position would have given me better pay, removed the workload during after-school hours, and provided me 14-weeks parental leave and reduced hours when I returned to work.
In my teaching position I have to (legally) fight for six-weeks parental leave, because they don't believe that a medical note is sufficient evidence.

Why would any stay in teaching when the workload is horrendous, we receive that same respect and position as baby-sitters, and the benefits are non-existent?

Fix these and you won't need to worry about teachers leaving as much.

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?

Again, we know why teachers are leaving, and it's nothing to do with professional development, recognition of other qualifications, or mentoring: it's all about workload.

We don't need to spend millions of dollars to work this out again.