Anonymous #437

Submitter information

Name

Anonymous #437

Where are you located?

Tasmania

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)

No

Elevating the profession

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

Somewhat agree

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

Teachers are always under pressure and in my 40 plus years as teacher and my husband ‘s 50 years we have seen competition with nominated awards by Community members, parents etc. causes increased pressure. In fact, I have seen teachers go on stress leave over such practices. The system of putting outstanding teachers in Administration and non teaching positions is not helping good teachers show leadership and modelling best practice in classroom situuation. Teachers in Tasmania no longer have access to administration Teacher Assistants and waste valuable time photocopying , backing display pictures, cleaning etc. This is not good use of teacher time . In advertising make the point that I know for sure, if parents and community do nit support the school , teachers etc . they end up with unhappy students. Collaborative teacher team work is always supportive and saves time and builds up skills and confidence. Govt. Interference is frequently the cause of angst. Top Education experts should be driving best practice. In Tasmania beginner teachers have to obtain 5 plus consecutive terms plus complete written assignments before they can be considered permanent teachers. This creates lots of insecurity . Teachers also rarely get a lunch break because they have to get up and down to do outside yard supervision. Surely, people could be employed to assist with this task. Teacher facilities are always very poor , especially in primary schools. In addition, I noticed in my last teaching years that UTas was lowering the entrance school and student teachers , did not have the superior literacy and numeracy skills required last century. There are a lot of outstanding retired teachers with high level skills and experience who would love payment to be in schools part time and working with small groups.

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 disagree

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

I have addressed this in previous section.

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?

Give incentives of scholarships, pay tertiary fees to get the highest standard of academic excellence. After I got my first degree Tas. Govt paid me a full first year out Teacher salary to complete my Education degree , and in turn I agreed to teach in the country for 2 years minimum. A wonderful arrangement.

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?

All teachers need to be allocated time each week for Teacher Assistance for routine clean up tasks such as cleaning art supplies, preparing and making resources and Administration work . These tasks can take up to one hour a day. In that way there is more time for lesson preparation, research and planning. Outside duty during lunch time is unnecessary. Teachers really need a full half hour break to have a toilet stop and a sit down lunch. Also beginner teachers in Tasmania can no longer guarantee permanent employment at the beginning of their careers because they are employed by each term and need to complete five consecutive terms, as well as, work on written general assignments . Not much incentive.

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?

Ideas appear to be on track. Of course, Govt. works on projections of birth rate. There is never enough money to include students with special needs. I found this area of teaching very stressful and time consuming . We need more experts in schools to assist with children with autism for example. I taught a student in a wheelchair and had to take the whole class to the toilet if she needed a toilet turn during class because she only had 15 mins a day assistance. I had to push the wheelchair as well if the class was moving from one room to another. The wheelchair was heavy and required full attention and my role was to give full duty of care to all my students . Very difficult and stressful situation. All students have the right to be in the smallest class size possible.

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?

Why are classroom teachers regarded as second rate .? Teachers who choose to take on senior roles, which from my experience consist of a lot of Administration tasks. Why not value and reward the excellent classroom teachers with more income. ? Outstanding teachers show leadership through their modelling of best practice. Collaborative teaching teams provide an excellent way to work and exchange ideas. Lead teachers usually end up taking on more tasks that don’t benefit their students. I never found that satisfactory. Classroom teachers never get their must do lists done. A classroom teacher should be given more status. Teachers in a school who are in Senior roles forget classroom demands. These jobs should be of 5 years and then these teachers should be back on class. Senior jobs never pay more than a few dollars anyway unless you are at the top.
In my long teaching experience I found senior staff off a class for a long period of time stopped teaching and dished out more and more work to class teachers who would have been better off spending their time won projects that would benefit their students in their care. A lot of the problems come from Govt. Interference. Jason seems to be the first Education Minister who is showing a keen interest in value adding and being respectful to the teaching profession. Obviously, he has a good team of Educator experts around him.
Impressive work has been done in early childhood years and I would now like to see attention given to Tertiary Education . The ideal would be to go back to fee fees to students who pass their subjects at University and trades . Competent Students I have spoken to are saying their parents can’t afford to keep them at home and they don’t want to be paying Uni fees for the rest of their lives. ? Jason please look at UTas which has the most beautiful site and offers students a supportive campus and sense of belonging to the stupid idea of moving students to buildings all over the city. Education is not the focus . They are in the business of real estate and discouraging students from aiming for a tertiary , community Education. So sad , for Tasmanian students who are already not completing Year12