Anonymous #449

Submitter information

Name

Anonymous #449

Where are you located?

New South Wales

What type of area do you live in?

Regional or rural

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 agree

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

The proposed national campaign to raise the status and value the role of teachers is a welcome step to acknowledge the importance of this profession and of education to healthy communities.

But in keeping with other professions the fourth year of teacher training needs to be as paraprofessional attached to a school faculty on a reduced class load. A year being mentored as supporting their subject area with more experienced professionals would set them up for success.

This is the model used in most business and engineering professions where there is a year of industry experience ahead of completing their professional qualification. Having this model would given the teaching profession the level of professional preparation necessary to succeed as a full graduate in the classroom.

The current model of a term or blocks is too short for the school to benefit and effectively nurture the trainee teacher.
The trainee does not have sufficient time to get to know the school and students either.

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?

the burden of full HECS debt of $50+K at high interest rates, low entry salary $70+K, high rental and mortgage costs combined with the wildly excessive workload and lack of experience teachers left to support new teachers makes teaching very unattractive both financially and professionally.

There clearly needs to lift the whole payscale across the board for teaching by $10K or more at each level to start making it competitive with other professions.

This needs more initiatives than those proposed. For example the write off of HECS debt if teach in a regional/rural school for the first three years.
Moretorium on interest rates on HECS debt for first five years if staying in teaching.


5 & 6 have significant cross over in that those taking up bursaries will also take up many of the additional CSP in university education courses. These initiatives are likely needed for five or more years and be greatly scaled up to truly address the teacher supply shortage of several thousand in each state.

7. High Achieving Teacher programs is useless as the profession is underpaid and overburdened.

8. Linking supply and need suggests that regional education institutions be a focus along with bonuses for teachers working in rural areas and the write off of HECS debt if working in a rural school.

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?

11. TAS – VET initiatives may have more take up if those teachers are given formal extra time to maintain cross sector qualifications, such as 2 weeks professional training leave a year to maintain trade industry skills.
Also write off of HECS debt if completing the training and teaching for 3 years in any nsw school.

12. In NSW increase the number of Connected Communities Schools and promote education pathway and teaching pathways in those school communities.

Maximising the time to teach

The actions proposed will improve retention and free up teachers to focus on teaching and collaboration.

Strongly disagree

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

I have not heard or seen one proposal that will go anywhere towards giving teacher time back for teaching and learning.
This lack of time for teaching and learning is appalling.

Teachers are being made to be one on one coaches for students preparing endless data reports and welfare reports and discipline reports and parent reports, documenting every adjustment, and training on new policies, new welfare initiatives, new curriculum, new software platforms for reporting and delivering learning, chasing attendance and non submission of tasks.

There is no genuine regard for the teaching work of creating engaging teaching and learning in the daily life of a teacher. It is all about have you completed that online professional 'training' about some new policy and have you documented every step of how you implemented that new policy.

There is no time for faculty team meetings or collaborative time. It is all given over to the latest policy initiatives and documenting that.

Collaboration is not possible because schools are so understaffed that there is not enough casual teachers to allow teachers to do genuine professional development and collaboration. There is just not enough teachers to run a school effectively anymore to allow for team teaching. It is just survival day to day.

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?

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?

The HALT programs are of limited benefit because the real expertise is with the Head Teachers.
Initiatives to pay and support Head Teachers are vital if expertise is to be retained.

This area needs to the focus of retaining the expertise of Head Teachers. Head Teachers are the core resource of expertise in high schools and are the most time poor and overburdened staff.

HTs have multiple roles ranging from responsible for new curriculum, executive planning, key disciplinarians, key programmers, key mentors for teachers, managing casual staff, leading initiatives, oversighting all class reports etc
Their workload is endless and has very little acknowledgement.

I would say they do more work than a Deputy Principal and carry more responsibility and need to be paid at least $20K more than they are now.

HTs need to have assistant staff support. Full school resource funding in public schools could go towards having an assistant to support head teachers or shared across faculties.