EXPERT COMMENT EXPERT COMMENT: MINISTERIAL ROUNDTABLE TO SET FOCUS ON TEACHER SHORTAGES In anticipation of the ministerial roundtable, leading Australian education researchers discuss critical points for consideration in addressing the teacher shortage crisis. Professor Alex Kostogriz (Monash University) - "The current model of teacher workforce development has produced a number of social and psychological side effects which have contributed significantly to teacher attrition and have made teaching an unattractive profession." "We need an alternative approach to workforce development that prioritises teacher capabilities, professional agency and wellbeing. This is possible if we shift attention away from a reductive ecomomic model and focus instead on the intrinsic values of professional education. In other words, we need to focus us on developing the capabilities that are valued by teachers." "The focus on teacher capabilities directs our attention to the full range of functions that teachers perform, at the same time, to the opportunities teachers have to achieve a socially just and inclusive education." "The professional education of teachers, in this sense, matters not so much in itself but rather in the deeper capacities that teachers can generate from it. The achievement of expanded capabilities and possibilities is directly linked to teachers’ wellbeing and, in turn, to their retention." For more information or an interview, please contact Prof Kostogriz at alexander.kostogriz@monash.edu or (03)9905 9197 Associate Professor Kerry Bissaker (Flinders University) - "The current Australia-wide teacher shortage is placing additional stress on leaders and teachers in schools, particularly those ‘hard to staff’ schools in regional and rural locations." Assoc Prof Bissaker has worked extensively with the Australian Government Quality Teacher Project in both South Australian and the Northern Territory. "The meeting of the Ministers for Education and Education sector leaders this Friday might start with reflecting on the vision of The Alice Springs/Mparntwe Education Declaration and the importance of understanding the complexities involves in supporting all students to become successful learners, while also supporting their wellbeing, mental health and resilience. "As a starting point, we need far greater investment in our current school leaders and educators whose wellbeing and expertise is fundamental to successful student outcomes and mentoring of new graduate teachers. "We need to explore what current leaders and educators believe makes a difference to their wellbeing and intentions to stay in the profession. While there is no doubt, we need to increase the number of educators coming into education systems we should also ensure attention is paid to how we an retain our current experienced leaders and educators." For more information or an interview, contact Assoc Prof Bissaker at kerry.bissaker@flinders.edu.au or on 0412 608 497 Professor Anna Sullivan (University of South Australia) - "Renewing the teacher workforce with new teachers is critical. Yet there are problems with the way in which our induction is structured for early career teachers." "In Australia there are expectations that induction will be provided by schools, usually over a school year. This assumes teachers have employment in one school for a year. Data before the pandemic indicated that 60% of new teachers are employed on contracts of less than 1 year (30%) or as casual teachers (30%) and it can take years to secure long-term employment. "Given their employment status these teachers are unlikely to receive a quality induction to the profession and this is a major problem. "All early career teachers face unrealistic expectations to perform like more experienced teachers from the first day of employment. No wonder that many new teachers experience stress and praxis shock, leading to teacher burnout. We need to do something about teacher induction and consider how we can better support precariously employed teachers." For more information or an interview, please contact Prof Sullivan at anna.sullivan@unisa.edu.au or on 0402 965 844 Professor David Lynch (Southern Cross University) - "The current teacher education regime needs to change, and this is disincentivised by a regulatory logic which focuses on compliance" " 1. The current teacher education regime needs to change, and this is disincentivised by a regulatory logic which focuses on compliance, thus discouraging innovation and change. Put simply, the socio-cultural landscape that is the 2020s coupled with exponential technological innovations and disruptions requires a teacher education curriculum that is built on ‘teaching how to teach’ (not what to think about teaching). Practice must be continually embedded, which in turn creates new and immediate capacities for schools and teachers by establishing a regime of ‘learning (to teach) assistants’ in schools, as in the Teaching School Concept." " 2. A rethink on teacher registration from a 4 years of education study and a time served basis to ‘graduation’ and ‘registration’ on demonstrating teaching competency. The teacher education curriculum needs to be organised around demonstrated competence and not assumed potential." " 3. All this means creating flexible options for the school and their teaching workforce. One could imagine teaching placements based on identified student learning needs, and teachers who retain closer links with the 'real world' outside the school through joint appointments." For more information or an interview, please contact Professor Lynch at David.lynch@scu.edu.au or on (07) 5589 3429 Dr Fiona Longmuir (Monash University) - "Our surveys of over 8000 teachers suggest that excessive workload is the most significant factor contributing to staff shortages across Australian schools." "Our research has shown that the working conditions in many schools are driving passionate and highly effective teachers to leave their careers at great cost to students, communities, and governments. "Given this, the current and future crisis in the Australian teaching workforce is unlikely to be solved unless the primary focus of any response is on retention strategies. A focus on attracting new entrants to the teaching profession will not be sufficient until it is a sustainable and attractive career. From the solutions shared with us by our participants – we believe that the focus should be on: "We need public discourse that appreciates teachers and focuses on improving the workplace conditions that enable rather than constrain the excellent teachers working hard in Australian schools." For more information or an interview, please contact Dr Fiona Longmuir at fiona.longmuir@monash.edu or on 0417 547 316 Professor Mary Ryan (Australian Catholic University) – "It is imperative that we do not pit deserving cohorts against each other." "Increasing the intellectual challenge of teaching, and changing a teacher’s working conditions to allow this, is key to attracting high-quality candidates and keeping them in the profession. Teacher supply and quality will increase through these pull factors rather than push factors such as restricting entry into teaching courses that have rigorous requirements to assess classroom readiness. "University-school partnerships play a strong role in attracting and retaining diverse candidates into teaching. More flexible, accelerated and employment-based master's programs can attract career changers. Accelerated programs have a greater emphasis on workplace learning in schools but must maintain high support through ongoing university engagement and better induction programs. "Strong partnerships with universities can also see teacher education students working as paraprofessionals in schools from very early in their undergraduate degree. Freeing teachers from the excessive burden of non-core activities to do what they do best – teach – can be achieved through the delegation of non-core tasks to preservice teachers working as paid paraprofessionals. "The preservice teacher benefits from greater immersion in the school, strengthening their understanding of the relationship between theory and practice, developing an early exposure to the realities of a teacher’s life and, of course, a part-time salary." For more information or an interview, please contact Professor Ryan at mary.ryan@acu.edu.au or on 0402 408 883 Associate Professor Linda Hobbs (Deakin University) - "The discussion paper identifies the range of issues relating to teacher shortages, including the difficulty schools face in getting the teachers they need. The current crisis facing schools is a product of long-term teacher shortages." "A lack of systematic data, particularly in relation to teacher specialisations, has enabled governments to ignore the growing trend and acceptance of out-of-field teaching in Australian schools that is often used as a solution to the problem of teacher shortage. "Out-of-field teaching masks the problem of teacher shortages, and unequal distribution of teachers. Teacher registration policy settings (e.g. teacher registration) that do not recognise their specialisation provide little incentive nor mechanism for teachers to undertake additional study/qualifications and be recognised formally as in-field teachers. "Dealing with teacher shortages requires a coordinated (between all stakeholders) and sustained (this cannot be a short term effort) approach to not only attracting new or re-qualifying existing teachers, but also attending to research-informed policy changes, increased data collection and monitoring, and school leadership training and support." (Associate Professor Hobbs was lead author on a study on out-of-field teaching released in 2022. You can access the executive summary of the report here; or the full report here.) For more information or an interview, please contact Assoc Prof Hobbs at l.hobbs@deakin.edu.au or on 0407 881 765 Associate Professor Rebecca Collie (UNSW) - "Although the current teacher shortage is due to a confluence of many factors, one central element is teachers’ working conditions." "Research shows that poor working conditions are linked with teachers’ decisions to quit the profession. Poor working conditions commonly experienced by Australian teachers include high workload, disruptive student behaviour, and unrealistic or constantly changing expectations from professional bodies or parents. "In contrast, helpful working conditions play a key role in ensuring teachers to remain in the profession and include factors like opportunities for input in decision-making within a school, prioritisation of positive interpersonal relationships across a school, and provision of effective professional learning and mentoring for all teachers. "Given all this, efforts that both reduce poor working conditions and improve helpful working conditions in schools are essential. This is important for retaining current teachers, but also because any attempts to attract new teachers to the profession will be stymied by a “revolving door” of teacher turnover if current conditions are not improved." For more information or an interview, please contact Assoc Prof Collie at rebecca.collie@unsw.edu.au or on 0478 198 087 Dr Meghan Stacey (UNSW) - "To address teacher shortages, governments need to listen carefully to what teachers are asking for and support them to do their important and complex work." "Large scale surveys across multiple Australian states, alongside international reports from the OECD, have shown that Australian teachers are grappling with extremely high workloads, in particular when it comes to administration. "Teachers need more time to collaborate and plan lessons. Given this lack of time, as well as the relatively low remuneration they receive and frequently derisive public commentary on who teachers are and what they do, it's worth asking: why would anyone want to be a teacher in Australia today? "Teachers need time to do the intellectual and creative work they are trained to do: prepare differentiated, context-specific lessons that will effectively engage the students in their care." For more information or an interview, please contact Dr Stacey at m.stacey@unsw.edu.au or on 0407264166 MCERA, an independent, not-for-profit organisation, provides a conduit through which education research and researchers are made more accessible to the media to help improve public understanding of key education-related issues. We provide journalists with expert, independent and accessible insights from education researchers and practitioners. Any views expressed by the experts we consult are not necessarily those of MCERA or its staff. 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