In March 2007, the Western Australian College of Teaching (WACOT) put out a call to its members, asking for submissions for compilation into a report to the Minister for Education and Training’s Taskforce for Education Workforce Initiates to tackle long-term teacher supply and demand. The call was issued through the WACOT website, through e-cards to all members and in the WACOT publication In Class. Submissions closed on 18 May by which time over 500 had been received. The call asked for members’ views on four main focus areas: raising the status of teaching, the attraction of teachers, the retention of teachers, and the attrition of teachers.
No particular format was stipulated. Indeed teachers were encouraged to submit ‘facts, opinions or ideas’. Because of the ‘anecdotal’ nature of the information provided, a systematic but iterative approach was taken to analyse the submissions. No statistical analysis of it was possible – or desirable. Instead the report is designed to capture the mood and the voices of those committed teachers who took the time and trouble to respond to this call by WACOT.
Many respondents stated that solutions to teacher status, attraction, retention and attrition were ‘not rocket science’. Indeed, most respondents identified a few solutions. However, they are not the same solutions! Analysis of the responses identified 14 categories of problems and 38 categories of solutions.
Demographic data
Although respondents were not specifically asked to identify anything about themselves in their responses, some analysis was possible from within the submissions. This suggested that more females than males responded to the call (approximately 60:40 ratio), around 20% of respondents were from rural or remote areas, about 10% were in their first few years of teaching and a similar percentage were not currently active as teachers, nearly 90% were from government schools (compared to just under 70% who are employed in this sector), and slightly more secondary teachers than primary teachers responded.
External factors and pressures
Some teachers were worried by the negative publicity teachers have received in the media over the last several years. A larger number, however, saw value in WACOT and the Department of Education and Training taking an active role in promoting teachers and teaching in the media. This could be done through seeking to have positive stories reported about teachers and teachers, using paid (but realistic) advertising and by placing job advertisements in the Professional Section of the Employment advertisements.
Respondents raised a range of issues which they believed have contributed to a generally poor image of teachers and teaching. These included a lack of prestige and respect, a lack of professionalism (perceived or real by teachers themselves and others), poor and unfair treatments by the media, by governments (state and federal), by their unions, by WACOT, by parents and by students, occasional bullying by colleagues, discouragement to others to enter the profession, a perceived lowering of tertiary entry scores for education, and the increased feminisation of the work force.
First and foremost amongst the issues affecting the entire sector of school education was the question of pay. While the single most often repeated request was for ‘more pay’ (from about half of the respondents), they also raised concerns about salaries generally, entry level salaries, the problems and benefits of merit pay, the absence of differential payment for the work and skill level required, for higher qualifications, for working in difficult schools, for extra duties and for relief teachers. They made suggestions about improvements to salary packaging, retirement benefits and procedures and for the funding of new teachers. However, several also warned that pay is not the only reason for the current teacher shortage and made suggestions about other rewards and support.
Some respondents commented on matters to do with early career teaching including the difficulties of having a full workload and the need for mentors and mentoring.
Many respondents addressed issues to do with the job of teaching and commented on a perceived increase in workload, a growing sense of lack of control, the increasing expectations of them by all stakeholders, a lack of resources, an increase in paperwork, feelings of isolation and inequities and/or inadequacies in the allocation of DOTT.
A number commented on the issues of accountability with some feeling there is too much emphasis on it and/or the struggles being had with new accountability software, while others believed there was a need for more accountability. Associated with accountability is assessment, in all its many and varied forms, about which there were comments from many respondents – most of it negative.
Respondents wrote of their concerns about integrating students with disabilities and coping with difficult students – with their behaviour and lack of respect, abuse given to teachers and perceived low student accountability. They made suggestions about removing highly disruptive students from classrooms and schools, the use of teacher assistants, the employment of other staff to supervise students, and engaging with external support agencies. Difficult parents with unrealistic expectations or poor parenting skills or parents who use schools as child care also came in for some comments. However, some respondents wanted to see a greater sense of partnership with parents. Suggestions were also made for providing child care for teachers and a robust procedure for dealing with vexatious complaints from students or parents.
Despite all the negative publicity about Outcomes Based Education in the media for over a year now and the complaints of some teachers, issues regarding the curriculum were only raised by about 10% of respondents. The comments fell into basically four categories – managing change generally, problems with OBE (including those who wanted it abolished and a small number of who were clearly in favour of it and wished the debate and tinkering would subside so they could get on with it), implementation, and a need for a syllabus. In addition to these concerns some respondents were troubled by what they saw as an overcrowding of the curriculum.
Respondents made useful suggestions about improving professional learning opportunities for teachers and about improving the Western Australian College of Teaching with specific mention of issues to do with three-year trained teachers, relief teachers and the national registration of teachers.
The issue of teacher preparation came up a number of times amongst respondents with concerns about the quality of students entering training programs and course content, and suggestions for alternative configurations for teacher training and the provision of HECS relief, scholarships and subsidies.
There were a number of ideas offered about recruiting teachers and the re-entry of teachers to the profession – with an emphasis that this needs to be undertaken strategically.
System issues – primarily DET
Well over half of the comments were about teachers’ concerns with DET. The interface of teachers with the central and district offices of DET is of great concern to many teachers. There was far too much evidence from respondents for this to be an aberration, a position confirmed by the recent Gerard Daniels’ report, A Review of Teacher Recruitment Practices. It is a system problem that needs to be managed at system level by the revision of policies, procedures and training of people – not a personal issue with individual staff, either at office level or school level. It is, however, such a long standing problem that what is being sought is a cultural shift. The matters raised by respondents were about poor customer service, a seemingly uncaring and unresponsive bureaucracy and centralised decision making.
Staffing issues raised included problems with DET employment processes generally, the appointment of temporary teachers, merit selection and promotion, being expected to teach outside one's subject area, the lack of recognition of service, the need for more long-service leave and the employment of more clerical, para-professional and professional support staff as well as a more responsive and flexible approach to staffing generally.
The still poor conditions of school buildings and a lack of teaching resources were also of concern to some.
Country teaching and associated problems was a major topic for many respondents. Better pay (in a variety of formats) and housing as well as a range of other incentives were suggested as ways of attracting and retaining teachers in rural and remote areas. However other respondents dealt with issues to do with the notification of appointment, the problems for new graduates in rural and remote areas, the need for rural and remote student practicum programs and traineeships and the vexed issue of returning to the city.
While there is confusion about the level at which responsibility lies for curriculum change, staffing issues and accountability, there are real issues at a school level which respondents have identified. These include the appointment of suitable people to leadership positions, how it is done and their subsequent training, the provision of school based support, the need for appropriate policies and procedures at school level and the never-ending problems of class sizes.
Some responses of note did not fit into any of the categories described above. Some respondents did not believe that there is a teacher shortage at all. Others were concerned that the shortage of teachers in maths and science not eclipse the challenges being faced by all teachers. Some respondents were concerned that teachers are thinking too narrowly, shaped by a system that no
longer meets the needs of students and society. Other respondents saw the potential to develop other models of schooling that would support the flexibility required of the teaching workforce.
The responses from this survey indicate that there are many problems and many solutions. Many respondents provided comprehensive information about registration processes, links to a variety of web sites and references to research related to attracting and retaining teachers. The commitment demonstrated by these teachers taking the time to complete a well referenced and documented submission is testimony to the care and concern they share for teachers and teaching, students and learning. Several respondents were keen to explain that they ‘actually love being a teacher’.
The nature of the responses demonstrates that the shortage of teachers in Western Australia is a complex inter-relationship of a changing demographic, a resource-led economic boom and the changing nature of teaching and learning. The myriad of solutions provided by respondents supports the complexity of the issues. However, this very complexity also provides hope. Teachers are used to making the complex less complicated; that is the nature of teaching for student learning. As one respondent explained, teachers should be leading the development of new strategies for attracting, employing and retaining teachers.
A shortage of teachers in Western Australia, and indeed throughout Australia, has been predicted by some people, especially the Deans of Education at the universities, for many years. Others, notably governments and government departments, have been keen to deny this. After a more than usually difficult start to the year in staffing schools, in February 2007, the Minister for Education and Training, Mark McGowan, MLC, announced the formation of a Taskforce to tackle long-term teacher supply and demand. It will report later this year on topics of teacher supply and demand, the standing of teachers, the nature of teaching, support structures for teachers and specialised and multi- disciplinary teaching.
In 2006 the Western Australian College of Teaching had canvassed its members on issues related to the attraction and retention of teachers. Following the establishment of the Taskforce early in 2007, the College determined that it should call for submissions from its membership about their perceptions on the shortage of teachers. To this end, in March 2007, the College put out a call to its members, asking for submissions for compilation into a report to the Taskforce. The call was issued through the WACOT website, through e-cards to all members and in the WACOT publication In Class. Submissions closed on 18 May by which time over 500 had been received.
The call said:
The Western Australian College of Teaching would like to hear your views on four main focus areas:
Raising the status of teaching;
Attraction of teachers;
Retention of teachers; and
Attrition of teachers.
No particular format was stipulated. Indeed, teachers were encouraged to submit ‘facts, opinions or ideas’. A consultant was contracted to compile the submissions.
Each submission was read and any demographic information (that is, gender, location, length of teaching of experience, sector and level) was recorded. The first 100 by alphabet order were examined for whether the comments were problems or solutions, and addressed the issues of status, attraction, retention or attrition. These were entered into a data base that enabled the range of issues to be identified for the purpose of classifying the remaining submissions. Many teachers began by saying something like ‘Well, it’s obvious, just do this, this and this!’ But in fact, the ‘this, this and this’ is not the same for everyone, and the initial
sort resulted in fourteen categories of problems and thirty-eight categories of solutions. That has been further refined as reflected in the analysis which follows.
A further 200 submissions were coded meticulously and added to the data base. The remaining submissions were read for any new ideas and these too were added to the database. The result was over fifty pages of thousands of comments from respondents on which the following analysis is based. A sample of the submissions that covered a range of different issues or that contained particularly novel insights and suggestions have been selected for posting to the Western Australian College of Teaching website, alongside this report.
While the initial classification focussed on considering status, attraction, retention and attrition separately, ultimately these distinctions did not prove viable. Many teachers themselves did not distinguish between these categories in their responses. Those who started their commentary in one category, once writing about it, often went on to make suggestions that really referred to another category. Some did make a distinction and a suggestion in regard to one category, while others offered the same response in relation to another category. It was decided not to retain this distinction because strategies for addressing one issue will inevitably impact on the others. Nor has the initial distinction between problems and solutions been maintained. The reality is that the question of teacher shortages is a complex, multi-faceted issue which will require complex, multi-faceted responses.
Because the questions were totally open ended, the comments were often difficult to classify – and many placed in one category could just as well have been placed in another. The consultants made a judgement about where they should go, the aim being to build a picture of the submissions as a whole – and to ensure that the teachers’ voices were heard. Only in the broadest terms is ‘the number’ of comments in any category relevant – and it is in these terms that the responses are reported.
The respondents to this call from the College, while forming a ‘sample’ of teachers, do not constitute a random sample in a statistical sense. The data collected therefore can not be used statistically. Any analysis must be understood as referring to this particular group of self-selected teachers and is not necessarily generalisable to all other teachers. However, much of the data is borne out by other studies and that will no doubt be considered by the Taskforce.
By its nature, the information collected in response to the questions posed was always going to be primarily negative. However, it must be noted that there were very many more and varied solutions proffered to address the issues of teacher status, attraction, retention and attrition, than there were problems identified. Most teachers were at pains when they identified a problem, to say, ‘and this is my suggested solution’. There were many potentially useful suggestions teachers had to make about strategies to improve teaching in all its facets. As one teacher put it ‘If we don't start listening to our teachers, the profession will be in crisis!!!’ Regrettably there were many more who were convinced that the profession was already in crisis. Nevertheless, among all the negativity, there were others who had positive stories to tell, and those who said simply inspite of everything ‘I just love teaching’.
Respondents were not asked to identify anything about themselves and the following analysis is based on information gleaned incidentally from the submissions. Nevertheless, it was deemed useful to provide a glimpse of those who took the trouble to respond on this occasion.
Only a small number could not be identified by gender. Of the remainder some 40% were male and 60% were female – a somewhat higher proportion of males than found in the teacher workforce as a whole.
It was not possible to determine a location for nearly a third of the respondents. However, of the remainder, about 20% were teachers working in rural or remote locations.
While it was not possible to determine the length of experience of about 20% of the respondents, about 10% were in their first few years of teaching and over three-quarters had longer experience. Amongst these were a number who made a point of saying they had been teaching for tens of years and a small percentage of them identified themselves as principals or deputies. Of particular interest was the fact that over 10% of the respondents were not currently active as teachers, but nevertheless have retained their WACOT registration (otherwise they would not have known about the project) and cared enough to write a submission.
It was not possible to determine the sector in which about 15% of the respondents worked, and about 5% noted that they were overseas or interstate. However, the vast majority (nearly 90%) of teachers responding were from government schools. Less that 7% were from independent schools and half that number again were from Catholic schools. This is quite disproportionate to the number of teachers employed in these sectors – just under 70% in government schools, just over 20% in independent schools and over 10% in the Catholic education sector.
The most difficult category to determine was the level of teaching, with about half the respondents not being identifiable. Of the remaining teachers, slightly more respondents were from secondary schools than from primary schools and there was an interesting smattering of other people including some employed in the TAFE sector and one from a university. (Excluded were most of those working overseas or interstate and /or no longer active.)
The following analysis has been organised into those factors that are impacting on the status, attraction, retention and attrition of teachers. Throughout the report there are direct quotes from the teachers and it is the intention that the voices of teachers are strongly represented.
Media Portrayal of Teachers and Teaching
A small number of respondents raised concerns about the way in which teachers and teaching (not only, but including OBE) have been portrayed in the media in Western Australia, particularly by The West Australian. They believe the picture painted of them has not fairly presented their role in the community or the work they do. Most saw the target being government schools rather than schooling generally. The lack of any apparent response from DET or the government to defend public schools was seen as evidence of a lack of support for them and their profession. They see this media campaign as having had a detrimental effect on their standing in the community. One or two, however, suggested that it was only through The West Australian that ‘the debacle of OBE’ had been ‘revealed’.
- Teachers feel undervalued with continued damaging and demoralising media coverage coupled with constant political conflict between state and federal governments
- I have noticed a lack of support and/or respect from the public in general and the media in particular.
- The West Australian, single handedly has put back education 20 years and denigrated the profession to the point that prospective teachers are assumed to be criminals until they can prove they are not.
- What teachers need is support not unwarranted attacks like those in the West, the attack on OBE implies that we don’t know what we're doing and that what we have done is a waste of time and energy...it’s a kick when you're down and no one seems to be trying to refute what we are doing as teachers merely accepting it as gospel because the 'paper' printed it.
Positive publicity
An even greater number of respondents saw there being value in WACOT and DET taking an active role in promoting teachers and teaching in the media, even if this has to be through paid advertising. The images portrayed should be accurate about what teachers do, the significant contribution their work makes to the growth and development of children and therefore to our society, and the way in which their roles have changed over time. Country teaching was singled out as an area for promotion for its lifestyle opportunities.
An underlying current was that teachers themselves need to be better advocates and publicists for the profession (more below). Other groups were suggested as being able to provide more support and positive promotion, e.g. career advisors and universities.
WACOT was seen as an obvious body to be taking ‘the side’ of the teacher with the media, but teachers had seen little evidence of this.
Several respondents suggested that teaching positions should be advertised in the Professional Pages of The West, not in the General Employment section, as more befitting to a ‘profession’.
- Sell the teaching profession and promote public education. Teachers need to be advocates for their profession. Members of the public…seem to think that anyone can be a teacher.
- Positive marketing to promote the importance of teachers in shaping the lives of children and hence the future of our country. This should include real life examples not just glossy pictures and pre fabricated video footage.
-
Teachers in
general are passionate, hard working and committed professionals that, despite
recent increases in cynicism, fatigue and stress, BELIEVE in education and
BELIEVE in the children we teach.
It would be prudent for the WA government to spend money advertising the
passion, steadfastness and commitment of teachers.
- Arrange inservicing for Career Advisors to promote teaching as an attractive option for school leavers and university graduands.
- Universities and district offices need to do more to promote the merits of teaching in rural schools. It was only five years ago that I was at uni and very little was said to encourage students to get out of the city and into country schools.
- Raise our status by putting the Educational Appointments in the Professional Appointments section in the West Australian newspaper. The implication to me is that they don't think we are professionals!
- This is a hard one I know - an Australian sitcom that portrays teachers in a positive light instead of making them look stupid like they do on many shows about teachers e.g. the Simpsons etc I also think the media and the teachers union (I am aware that they are doing it for the right reasons) sometimes brings the status down by continually going on about the disasters of Outcomes Based Education, teachers striking etc etc etc.
While the teachers who responded to this call are not necessarily representative of all teachers, a large number of them at present are feeling isolated and unsupported. WACOT is ideally placed to address this, even with its limited resources. Equally importantly, it must be seen to be supporting teachers, if it is to be respected and supported by them. It may be that WACOT, like the Curriculum Council and DET, does not believe that their comments will be listened to, reported accurately, or even at all in the media. However, regular media releases about the education issues of the day gives teachers a sense that the College is out there supporting them in the public arena. Most teachers are unaware that organisations such as the Curriculum Council and WACOT often issue press releases that frequently go unreported. Regular communications from the College such as In Class and the e-cards could draw attention to press releases that are then posted on the College’s website, to help teachers to know about them.
The Image of Teachers and Teaching
‘Teaching is not a lost art, but regard for it is a lost tradition’, Jacques Barzun (quoted in one submission)
Lack of prestige and respect
While it can be argued that the subject of prestige and respect is little different to media portrayals, or some other areas (and it was a difficult category to define and code) nevertheless this is at the very core of the issue of the status of the profession. A number of people wrote of their concern with ‘community perceptions’ or ‘community attitudes’ about teachers and teaching. This was often in the context of suggesting that ‘the community’ these days no longer regarded teachers as such important people (i.e. they do not have the status they once had), that the opinions of teachers are more often challenged by students and parents, that teachers are denigrated in the media and by politicians. As a result, they no longer feel valued. Some teachers contrasted this with their experience in earlier times or in other countries. Many respondents felt that other people didn’t understand the extent of their work, its complexity or their commitment to it.
- Teaching is no longer regarded as a ‘calling’ for which one works for the honour, if you like. Educated people see teaching these days as a daunting task because teachers do not have the authority or respect that they used to have.
- There needs to be work done to improve the public perception of teachers and the value of their work. They care for their students greatly and have great concern when children come to school without food and adequate sleep. They have to take into account many family situations and social attitudes.
- Staff don’t feel valued by their employer or the community at large.
Another angle on this was a feeling by many DET employees that they were not ‘valued’ by their employer as evidenced in the way they were treated ‘only as numbers’, where employment was difficult to attain and retain and where their concerns were not heeded. The working conditions in many DET schools were frequently cited as considerably less favourable than those of other workplaces – and of course the major issue was one of pay. (Each of these issues and others related to DET, are dealt with in more detail below.) However, the State School Teachers’ Union of Western Australian (SSTUWA) and WACOT came in for much criticism as well.
- It would appear that WACOT, the SSTUWA and the government have no desire to improve teaching as is clearly illustrated by the lack of action by the 3 parties mentioned. You’ve done nothing for experienced and over worked teachers. Is it any wonder that we are wanting to leave the profession.
There is a real desire for union and professional bodies to be strongly supportive of teachers and to be seen to be – whatever it takes for them to get that message out. Teachers seemed to be saying that if we are not even respected and valued by our employer and the bodies that represent us, how can we expect to be respected and valued by the public.
Some of the proposed solutions relate to more positive portrayals of teachers in the media and by politicians, as cited above. Other suggestions included improving pay and work conditions, better reward systems (rather than just one off individual awards for individual teachers), more individualised and respectful treatment of teachers by DET Human Resources and by administration in some schools, and better assistance to manage difficult students in schools (more details below).
Professionalism
Defining a ‘profession’ and ‘professionalism’ is always difficult, but there is sense amongst many teachers that teaching is not quite a profession yet – not like law, or medicine, for example. The suggestions for changing this, include better pay and conditions, reducing the increasing amount of ‘administrivia’ in teachers’ lives, and a number of comments about the ways in which teachers sometimes dress.
- There needs to be a way for teaching to be seen as a profession like Law, Medicine, Architecture, Accounting, Nursing.
- Working with employers (DET and independent) to enhance the role of the teacher as a professional person and to diminish the micromanagement of teachers through inappropriate testing and assessment regimes.
- All teachers in the current work force are there because they are passionate about what they are doing. We need to get into all schools and promote teaching as a worthwhile profession.
- Return the dress code. How can you respect a teacher in a tee shirt and shorts?
In general, the respondents did not feel that they have been treated well – by the media, by the governments, by their unions, by parents, by students. This undermines their confidence in themselves – and feeds into the sense that they may not yet be a profession and that they lack status in the community.
- Our students see first hand how we are treated and know full well what we are paid. When they see this change they may decide to take up teaching as a career. At the moment high school students are being presented with all the evidence they need as to why they should not become teachers every day they are at school.
- Treat teachers like the professionals they are and not like the disobedient children they sometimes teach!
Bullying by other teachers
A small number of teachers also referred to bullying by other teachers, behaviour that does little to enhance their own status or that of their colleagues.
- What I witnessed staff do to work colleagues is called bullying when students do to each other!
- I know of another ESL teacher who said to me ‘it is not the waiting by the phone, it is not the pay, it is the way I am treated in staff rooms’. She has gone into Adult ESL, where the pay is lower by $40 a day.
Discouraging others from entering the profession
No doubt as a reflection of the disillusion felt by many teachers in teaching as a career, a number reported that they or their colleagues are actively discouraging others, including the students they teach, from entering the profession.
- It is now not uncommon for teachers to actively discourage trainees from continuing with teaching as a career.
- Many run down the profession as they feel undervalued and this helps to lower the status of teachers.
- How sad is it when one hears constantly from teacher colleagues that they would actively discourage their own children from entering the profession. This shouldn't be the case and we must search deeply to answer why so many teachers feel this way.
- As a teenage student I had always enjoyed helping others, being in leadership roles, being a spokesperson and advocate for various groups. I was very interested in teaching and when it came to career counselling and talking with adults to pave a pathway almost unanimously was I given the idea ‘You would be fabulous teacher, but you're too good for that - do something more worthwhile, with more financial and intellectual reward’. Teachers were the worst promoters of the profession! How can we attract people to a profession that the professionals themselves criticise?
University entrance scores
A number of people commented about the perception that universities have lowered the entry level for students to enter education courses. They are concerned that this contributes to the lower status for teachers and the quality of the graduates. This places an inordinate amount of reliance on the reliability of TER scores as a predictor of teacher quality and is an odd reflection of the capacity of university education to make a difference to their students, but it is a concern that is often reflected in the media and is probably shared by a number of people in the community.
- Over the past couple of years the entrance score has been universally lowered at universities. People in general now consider that only dim people apply for teaching and who wants to be considered dim?
- Due to the low TER score required to be admitted into teaching, students see it as a last option if they fail to get into one of their other options. By admitting you are doing teaching, the assumption is you must have done poorly in the TEE.
Feminisation of the work force
The trend for teaching to be increasingly dominated by women is something that has been noted in most national and state enquiries into teaching and teacher education in the last ten years. A strategy that could be tried by one of the universities is to seek a specific cohort of men (maybe every five years) as some schools are now trialling specific ‘boys only’ classes. This strategy has been used at other times when a special group of teachers was needed or students presented, e.g. early childhood teachers Indigenous students, returning war veterans.
- Children need men in their education lives. Men in the main do not do things like women. They have different habits, thoughts and interests in general. Thank god it is the case. Attract men back to teaching. If the word ‘men’ seems too strong and ‘males’ fits better in your head then perhaps you’re part of the problem regarding men in education. Women who are trained to work with boys are not men. Boys seem to work this out fairly quickly.
- The proportion of women to men is also an important factor. Schools are becoming increasingly ‘feminised’ and the men who do work in primary schools, in particular, are finding that they are expected to perform in areas which have feminine values (attractive classrooms, prettily presented programmes and portfolios), neat work. It is not that those things are wrong but there needs to be a balance. (My evidence is that I have had conversations with male teachers recently who feel frustrated by demands from female principals). The smaller proportion of males in primary schools is also a problem when dealing with boys with challenging behaviour. Many of these boys lack male role models, so male teachers are very important.
- Men can earn more and have a better status by working in almost any other area if they have a degree or do an apprenticeship. Why would they teach?
While many submissions simply said ‘More pay!’ or words to that effect, there were also many that were more finely nuanced. It should also be noted about ten respondents were opposed or had concerns about paying teachers more. Some of their reservations are worth considering.
Salaries generally
Nearly half of all the teachers who responded complained about ’low pay’ or suggested that higher pay would improve the status, attraction, retention and attrition of teachers.
Teachers stated that more pay was needed.
· Teachers are paid less than many other professionals with similar lengths of training such as accountants, lawyers and doctors. Not all other professional people are paid more highly, and nurses and police are often paid poorly as well.
· Currently many people without university training can, in some areas of the state, attract very much higher salaries than teachers (though this will not necessarily last beyond the economic boom).
· Teachers in most other states are paid more.
· Teachers in other countries (England and Hong Kong were cited) are paid more.
· Some 30+ years ago teacher salaries were linked to that of back bench politicians which are currently receiving in excess of $100,000 (this was quoted many times).
· Teachers’ workloads have increased in recent years with the introduction of more comprehensive assessment and reporting requirements.
· The breadth of teachers’ work has increased with many children requiring greater attention in the classroom and the inclusion of students with special needs into the mainstream.
· Increases in teachers’ salaries have not kept up with the cost of living, particularly in mining towns where living wages and costs have increased significantly.
- Salary is well behind other industries.
- Constantly reminded that we could be making more money in any other job.
- The pay has not kept pace with inflation.
- The income of teachers is sufficiently poor that even the children in our classes recognise the financial limitations of a career in teaching.
- I don't know how much longer I can afford to be a teacher
- Offer a pay package in line with the importance of turning out our next generation
- The main issue with the retention and attracting of teachers to the profession is salary. Teachers are the worst paid profession in the community - and Western Australian teachers are the worst paid in the nation
- Increase salaries to reflect a professional income. We will need to look at what is offered in private industry to stay competitive. Current salary and award conditions fall short on what is considered a ‘profession’. Ensure that increases in salaries are also reflected in admin positions to ensure their ‘attractiveness’ as a career.
- Teaching as a profession is still perceived by many as a ‘last resort' option. Commencing salaries are reasonably comparable with the starting salaries of other professionals but after several years, the other professionals accelerate away leaving teachers far behind.
- Five years of relief teaching has not seen my wage increase. I am one of the main relief teachers at the school and there is no financial reward for, or recognition of, ability or flexibility required to do the job.
- Pay teachers more, if you want good people you have to pay them. Any good and successful business knows this.
- Pay rises don’t need to be a few percent spread out over a number of years but an immediate and significant pay rise across the board of 30 – 40% is needed.
- There needs to be a massive one off catch up payment to teachers. There should be an independent Salary review Board who make annual adjustments to teachers incomes NOT the three year arguments between government and the Union.
- To retain quality teachers we MUST have a return to the value of the salary of those years. This would be the present parliamentarian's wage of $105 000.
Entry level salary
There was considerable concern that the starting level salary for teachers was a deterrent to those who might consider entering the profession.
- We will never attract intelligent, well-qualified young graduates to the profession when the starting salary for other careers is so disproportionately high. In subjects like Physics, for example, those who achieve good degrees would be foolish (financially speaking) to train to teach, and they realise this.
- The commencing salary for a four year trained teacher is NOT attractive unless the person has no better option.
- Pay teachers more and you will attract more males (so they can earn enough to support a family) to the profession.
- Increase the commencement pay for first year teachers to $60 000/year with increases for the years thereafter. Teaching is a tertiary trained profession it’s time it was paid as one and respected as one.
- The wages... starting on $43 000, or $198 per day casual is not acceptable. For example, I earn at the moment $65 000 in a job that took me 1 hour to qualify for, not a four year degree. I know I don't get the holidays but hey, I can't buy a house with holidays.
Pay for the work and skill level required
Much of the sense of injustice that the teachers seemed to feel about salaries was linked to the time they spent on their work and to the complexity of what they feel is required of them.
- I added up the hours I work, plus all of the extra hours I put in, and it comes out at $12.50/hour.
- The salary of a teacher who is asked to ‘individually diagnose' learning problems, and program and teach accordingly, is disproportionate to other professions doing the same thing.
- The current salaries do not reflect the amount of work, dedication and commitment that is needed to be a high school teacher.
- Teachers are amongst the lowest paid people with a high level of responsibility.
Merit pay
A few teachers wrote supportively of the Federal Minister’s performance pay proposal. However, most were not in favour. Those who spoke of merit pay saw some other ways this could be addressed. However, Senior Teacher 2 and Level 3 positions came in for a number of negative comments often along the lines of it ‘just not being worth it’. There were numerous concerns about Level 3 positions.
· The amount of paper work required for achieve this status.
· The reliance on paper work at the expense of actual teaching.
· The fact that it’s not linked to regular performance reviews.
· The emphasis on special projects which leads to teachers undertaking ‘projects’ at the expense of their real job of teaching.
· The amount of time required to prepare the submission.
- Make the recognition tangible, and bonus based to improve morale.
- All teacher to have performance pay, accept Minister Bishops proposal, hand over all schools to Federal Government, one unified system, Individual schools to select and fire teachers.
- Merit pay whilst superficially looking attractive in providing incentive, will tend to concentrate upon rewarding the more observable changes that teachers make. Results in public exams, performance on the sports field or visible artistic performances are easily viewed and can alter perceptions of educational gains. Moving a group of low ability students up the skills range in a socially deprived area doesn’t grab media attention in the same way as a high performing Year 12 students at a “leafy green” private school. Most authentic learning takes place in quiet well run environments where student feel valued and the skills acquired prepare them for life after school days. All teachers make contributions to learning at different rates at different times depending on the types of students they are given to teach. Who is going to decide what these contributions are? The principal? The school council or board? The mind boggles when the ways of measuring are considered and compared. The flavour of the month also becomes a method of assessment if not carefully controlled. Teachers protecting their intellectual property for fear of financial loss would be catastrophic for student learning.
- In private industry I have noted how employers treat staff they value with incentives and rewards. I have noted retail staff receiving gift vouchers and other goods as recognition of a job well done during a particularly difficult period or Christmas bonuses during the season rush. These actions speak volumes of how these employers value the contributions made by their staff and wish to retain their services.
Payment for higher qualifications
Another sore point was that many teachers could not understand why they were not paid for additional study, especially when it is now so costly.
- I am a primary school teacher and I, and a number of my colleagues are considering further study (eg. Masters/doctorates) but the cost of study with no extra remuneration unless you are planning to go into administration, is a serious disincentive. You would only consider it if you were planning to move out of the classroom (and many of us are.)
- Teachers with higher degrees, i.e. honours, masters, or doctorates, are not given any financial or acknowledged incentives for the extra years of study they have put in.
Payment for working in difficult schools
Some felt that teachers working in difficult situations should also receive more pay.
- Give more difficult schools a higher pay scale to acknowledge the pressure staff will be under.
- Additional (significant) incentives to teaching staff in difficult to staff schools.
- Special recognition for service in difficult schools.
Payment for extra duties
Another solution mooted was additional payments for teachers who undertook extra duties.
- The problem with teaching is that I am always in it, night time, weekends, daytime, before school, after school. Now that I have resigned and have a ‘normal job’ the more I work the more I get paid. With teaching the more you work the less you get paid per hour.
- Holiday Pay Sacrifice - opportunities for teachers to work during holidays for bonus pay - holiday employment could be working with new graduates or undergraduates, apprentice style assistance in universities, etc. Greater Fringe Benefit Tax discounts - including items like mortgages, etc.
- Teachers who take on extra duties in schools such as graduate mentoring, homework classes, PD delivery, organisation of sports carnivals, etc receive extra payment for the extra time put into these activities.
Payment for relief teachers
While some teachers wrote to say they were moving to relief teaching to reduce their stress and workload there were, nevertheless, people teaching relief who still feel they are being exploited.
- Relief teachers, too, should be paid more, as they do not get paid for holidays - they get more per day than I do, but earn much less over the course of a year.
Salary packaging
Some of the salary deficiencies in the community services sector are offset by generous salary packaging options. A few teachers thought that this sort of arrangement would make teaching more attractive.
- Promote teacher conditions as a “package” the way they do in other jobs. When quoting the package include the super and the holidays as part of this. It would certainly make it sound much more attractive to people. Source a much better deal on things that teachers can salary sacrifice. Many professions can sacrifice home loan repayments as one example. Make it easier to meet the requirements for cars to be salary sacrificed and medical benefits. Other professions get these deals – why can’t we? Develop a medical package for teachers. Our workforce is only getting older! No – a flu jab does not cut it!
- Salary package mortgages.
- DET is a "not for profit organisation", so why not allow salary sacrificing of MORTGAGE REPAYMENTS - this would be attractive.
Retirement
There were those too, who thought that improving superannuation would make a difference to teachers.
- Add 5% to superannuation, paid by the department and incrementally link this to length of service. E.g. 1% extra for first 5 years and 1% additional for every 5 years there after. This would provide a powerful incentive for teachers to stay and ensure that the most skilled teachers remained.
- Explore “golden handcuff” - consider projections of people in retirement “bubble” offer financial incentive (possibly paid into super scheme) and consider flexible approaches such as job share arrangements, reduced teaching load and part time employment.
New teacher funding
Some counties and some industries apparently have incentives for joining the profession/industry/organisation.
- Graduate allowances ($7 000).
- In UK, “golden hellos” worth equivalent of $12 000.
Pay is not the only reason for the current teacher shortage
These teachers had a warning…
- Issues such as pay and the graduation scaling of pay are real but have always been with us over the past decade, so this is not a major cause. The buoyant WA economy accounts for some of the problem and this will pass in the long term. Attempts elsewhere in the world to ‘bribe' people by offering higher salary have not worked, so the solution lies elsewhere.
- Salaries may attract staff in the longer term but workload, satisfaction and the ability to maintain family and personal relationships while doing the job need immediate attention. A salary of
$200 000 wouldn't replace time lost to families, the cost of family breakdown, the societal aspect of absent parents, and the illnesses developed through sustained, high stress work practices.
- I think "raising the status" is the wrong question – if we are teaching for the "status" we are in the wrong profession. Merit based reward is the worst possible extension of this. When I was in the mainstream workforce, the best employees were those that cared little for pay but were so engrossed in their work they lived for it. In teaching, I see these people in higher proportions than any other employment I have been involved in. Pay does not attract these people and it is these people we need to encourage, nurture and value- not those that travel from school to school for the highest wage (and the weakest students to improve). Only by finding people willing to engross themselves in the culture of a school do we enhance a school and imbue the values that ‘all encompassing’ education seeks to achieve. If we consider results as the only outcome of teaching we have failed our students and our society. If we raise pay (and thus status) we risk reducing teaching to work rather than vocation and well rounded education.
Other rewards and support
And these teachers had many other suggestions about the way in which teachers might be made to feel valued and rewarded.
- By raising the salaries of teachers it could be expected that teachers return to school for the last two days of each holiday break to do whole school planning. If they were being paid like a professional then they could be expected to behave like one.
- In the Pilbara Mining companies are very good to schools. They fund many projects. At present our most desperate need is staffing. Maybe their money would be best spent, at present, in the form of financial bonuses and housing (extreme shortage) the aim being to attract and retain experienced teachers (from wherever, i.e. English speaking places).
- Teachers need extra support, this includes being in supportive teaching environments. Management, in schools and the department, needs to visually support teachers in and out of school.
- In our small Independent School we are seeing the need for teacher support in many ways, including time, energy, emotional health, professional learning.
- Teacher employers should consider all avenues to retain senior teachers in the classroom including providing more promotional opportunities for good teachers. Teacher employers must consider providing further incentives to retain Senior teachers in hard-to-staff learning areas, locations and schools.
- There is nothing more rewarding than seeing a child progress, but some incentives to recognise this would help. I have seen teachers who can promote themselves through submissions and interviews gain recognition and financial reward, when at the school level, the reality is, it doesn’t happen.
- Need rewards and bonuses for long work hours, not on performance measured by students but measured by the board and principals and senior staff of the school like a normal business structure.
- Make teaching a happier, more fulfilling career for current teachers and that will transfer into more teacher applicants in years to come.
- When I resigned I had no contact from the Ministry of Education after being employed by them for 16 years. I didn't so much as get a standard letter saying thank-you or even acknowledging my departure.
- Reward teachers who want to 'climb the ladder' and lead others. This includes opportunities for Senior Teacher and Level 3 Status as we have now. However, I would like to see an easier process for the position of Level 3 status. some sort of reward for the Level 3 teacher after X amount of years, to achieve a similar amount of pay as a deputy teacher who has no teaching load. There needs to be recognition of the exemplary teacher whose desire is to remain in the classroom so that they can solve school problems with hands-on experience.
- The Education Department needs to be imbued with, and motivated by, the ideal of pastoral care.
- Performance Management Systems need to be established but not in the vein articulated by our Julie Bishop, which sadly miss the point, yes we do need performance based review, but it needs to be less linked with pay and more linked with professional growth
- Recognition for long standing service, 5 years, 10 years, 15 , 20 years - pins, financial bonuses
- Give annual travel benefits.
- Find ways to recognise and celebrate the uniqueness of teaching as a career. The dedicated professionals I have been privileged to work with over the years bring to their job far more than an understanding of teaching and learning. They are able to engage, inspire and motivate their students, providing nurturing often outside of the terms and conditions of their employment. Ensure that teachers and admin who have ‘carried the brunt of current shortages’ are acknowledged and rewarded.
- Increase perks - and I don’t mean holiday time. RDOs - great! but how about finding something that individual teachers would find rewarding. Some form of points, recognition by Admin/District Office that Mary, who has been in the classroom for 15 years has done a very good job, well done! Often teachers have the support of their friends but they are all alone and their job and efforts in the class are unrecognised by anyone other than the parents of the 'good kids'.
- In the 5th year of teaching (5th, 10th, 15th ...) teachers are to have that year at 0.3 time (fully paid) or less (part-time paid) to do another unit at Uni, part-time work, shadowing out of that school or with another teacher or another occupation, computer training, art courses, personal development courses, ... whatever - but part-paid by the Education Department. Make the work place more attractive by supporting and respecting teachers, schools and education.
Workload
While this was not discussed by many respondents those who did raise it were concerned that early career teachers find it very difficult to manage a full-time teaching load and that they, their students and the school generally would benefit from them having a lighter load. There was concern from new teachers themselves and others that many inexperienced teachers are lost from the profession because of their inability to cope in their first year, but that this problem was never revealed publicly. They are not only young teachers. Mature age entrants equally suffer from this, but those who do are most often people with a great sense of commitment and eager to do the job well – in fact, the very people one would want to retain as teachers.
- There needs to be reform in the first five years of a teacher’s career. At the moment new teachers are dropped in at the deep end. There needs to be a system wide approach which allows new teachers to ease their way into the career.
- A new teacher to receive a reduced working load during the first 2 years of teaching along with a reflection on teaching and learning requirement that is followed through at a school level. This will help to ensure that good levels of communication, accountability and growth can and will occur.
- New Graduates should begin on a 0.8 load as standard for the first 2 years.
- Although I was given extra one period a week DOTT time in the first few weeks it did not seem enough. A planning day, preferably two, would be valuable about 3 or 4 weeks into term. More support for administrative duties in the first few weeks.
Mentors and mentoring
Several young teachers spoke warmly of the current system of having a Collegiate Support Person though some were reluctant to approach anyone in their school either because they thought they were already stretched too far, or because they could not identify anyone who they thought would/could assist them and would rather find someone in another school. However, several teachers writing in support of mentoring did not appear to be aware of WACOT’s role in this area, recommending almost identical processes.
- The current ‘training’ processes are inadequate and need to provide a greater link to onsite training with the ‘guild’ of mentors having a strong influence on the current undergraduates, this guild is about to walk off to retirement! They form an invaluable body of knowledge and skills which define the craft of teaching.
- Graduates and teachers within their first five years of teaching need to have a mentor who they can communicate with about their problems. This person needs to be somebody outside the teacher's immediate day to day work environment. A teacher in a neighbouring town or school but not somebody on staff. In small schools this can cause extra stress when the politics of the schools and personal relationships become intertwined. Maybe even a hotline people can call that is not run by the education department or unions. Support needs to be free of these constraints and totally confidential (unless the teacher wished to make their problem transparent to others). Special short courses for teachers willing to take on this mentoring would need to be provided and maybe some remuneration.
- Last year I was a mentor for a graduate teacher. She was an absolute delight and we worked together collaboratively each week to plan our teaching and assessment ideas. She knew she could ask any question, no matter how embarrassing or silly it seemed to her. At the end of the year she had grown so much in confidence and skill. So many of our graduate teachers are posted to schools where there are very few experienced teachers to be mentors. So many seem to resign because the job has become too big - and too difficult.
- Have a mentoring system where new graduates sent to hard to staff schools are placed with an experienced teacher for the first 6-12 months of their first year. This way they can see first hand what is expected and can build up their confidence. Throwing new teachers into hard to staff schools is a recipe for disaster as they lack confidence and skills necessary to cope.
- Have a school officer allocated to every school. They would meet at least twice a year with new teachers at a time that is approved and arranged by the school. Access to this WACOT officer by phone or email would be available and this would alleviate ‘having no-one to ask’.
- Induction programmes and mentoring requires commitment by senior staff and administration not always possible under current conditions.
It is hard not to be convinced that the job of teaching has become more difficult for teachers in recent years. Many seem to feel they are being assailed on all sides – by students, school administration, curriculum changes, DET, the media and governments. They are feeling change fatigue – and many just want that to stop. But like all other issues explored in this report, below the surface are many fine-grained aspects that need to be heard and understood before solutions are proposed.
Workload
Many respondents raised the issue of increased workloads – some 10% of all respondents. Whatever the reasons, a number of teachers reported working 55-60 hour weeks, exhaustion by the time of school holidays, and increased stress. While these sorts of reports are not new, it was difficult to not be convinced from the responses that many teachers are feeling overloaded and have decided that they cannot continue. Certainly a number of them reported having transferred to relief teaching, taken early retirement or quit teaching altogether due to the increased workloads – especially when they did not feel that there was adequate financial recompense, or support. There are other suggestions teachers made for lightening their load. Some felt that the addition of various sorts of staff to schools (more on this topic later) would help to reduce this burden as would changes to the organisation of the curriculum, including the abolition of OBE and/or standardised testing. A frequent refrain was ‘let us just get on and teach’.
- Normal full time teaching loads in secondary schools should be reduced from 5 to 4 classes. Given the growth in demands on teachers over the decades, 5 classes is excessive and 4 should become the norm.
- Even the job out a bit by using holiday times for things like reports and programs. Give teachers one week’s holiday less each term and post reports home at the end of that week, rather than trying to test, mark and do reports before the end of term. High school students know they have finished and are disruptive. If they could be taught up until the end, and assessed with reports going out later, then behavioural problems would be reduced.
- To ‘Let teachers teach and administrators leaders lead’ there needs to be a review of the processes and demands placed on teachers. Workload duplication and work flow management - there are instances where schools and department needs create duplication of workload. A strength of SIS is the quality of information it provides about the school with the system able to 'plumb' appropriate data. Schools online similarly has a wealth of information gathered in a similar way coupled with the historic trends of WALNA /MSE 9 at a school level. If Schools online can generate a school report, why then do schools create their own. Surely systems management could create a process that generates the core data with schools commenting on and tying pieces together and again saving time. Apply this to attendance targets, performance targets and the time saved would be