Anonymous #265

Submitter information

Name

Anonymous #265

Where are you located?

Queensland

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 disagree

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

Unsurprisingly, research shows patchy results for incentivising polices like Labor has proposed. For instance, the UK has spent over £1 billion on bursaries to attract people into the teaching profession, but it was reported that “no one knows if they work”. A government study in 2018 revealed that “graduates given bursaries of up to £26,000 to train as teachers were less likely to get jobs in schools than those without bursaries”. Even now in the UK, bursaries aren’t keeping pace with the creep of low pay, long hours, and COVID-19, which have combined to drive out large numbers of teachers from the profession.

Here in Australia, we’ve all met that person who says, “teachers get too many holidays”. By bringing in cash incentives — which over four years could amount to $48,000 — this negative perception will increase. Only this time, they’ll be able to say, “teachers get too many cash bonuses to just get on and do the job”. Could we blame them?

Considering some schools have such bad infrastructure that “students avoid eating or drinking throughout the day so they don’t have to use their school’s ‘absolutely disgraceful’ toilets”, it would be fair to resent taxpayer money being funnelled away from actual schools and into the bank accounts of student teachers. According to Yvonne Hilsz, vice-president of the Federation of Parents and Citizens Associations of New South Wales, “some school toilets don’t have working soap dispensers, the doors don’t lock, they’re dark and they stink from decades [sic] worth of urine soaking into tiling grout”.

For more: https://melanieralph.com/2022/05/26/money-cant-buy-status-why-labors-pitch-to-improve-teaching-is-tragically-misguided/

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.

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

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.

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

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?