Improvements needed for beginning teachers

Urgent action is needed to ensure new teachers stay with the profession in the long term, writes BOB LIPSCOMBE.

The Australian Education Union survey of 1200 teachers in their first three years released on February 2 is just the latest in the growing weight of evidence supporting the need for significant improvements for beginning teachers. It is becoming increasingly clear that without such improvements, the Department of Education and Training (DET) will continue to lose large numbers of talented teachers within their first few years of employment, with 45 per cent of respondents indicating that they don't expect to be teaching in 10 years time. While the media has recently been full of reports about the increasing demand for teacher education places in our universities, this trend will do little to address the looming teacher shortage if the system continues to haemorrhage with the resignations of so many new teachers. With up to 25 per cent of our teachers expected to retire within the next five years, urgent action is needed.

The survey results support the need for reduced workloads and greater professional support for beginning teachers. Asked to nominate their four key concerns, 64 per cent of those surveyed identified workload, 60 per cent identified behaviour management, 56 per cent identified pay and 55 per cent identified class sizes.

In recent years Federation has embarked upon an extensive annual program to support beginning teachers. This includes 10 trainee teacher scholarships, graduate seminars in all universities across the state, beginning teacher/new teacher conferences in city and country locations and New Educators trade union training courses). In addition, many beginning teachers have had opportunities to participate in the Federation's broader trade union training program.

Although the issues of inadequate support and unacceptably high resignation rates have been raised in many reports, including the State Government's Review of Teacher Training in NSW, Quality Matters -- Revitalising teaching: Critical Times, critical choices, the response has been inadequate. Even one of the more promising moves made by DET in the past three years to support beginning teachers, the introduction of the demonstrably effective Teacher Mentor Program, has been hampered by inadequate resourcing. With 58 full time equivalent teacher mentors appointed, only a small minority of the more than 2000 new permanent teachers and many more new casual and temporary teachers appointed each year has been able to benefit.

Outside DET, significant improvements are already starting to occur. The Parramatta Diocese Catholic Education Office now provides every teacher in their first year with 10 release days, and five days to teachers in their second year. On top of this, teacher mentors are provided with five days release for first year teachers and 2.5 days for second year teachers. There is evidence that this is starting to flow on to other dioceses. In Tasmania, teachers in their first year are provided with two hours release time per week.

The AEU survey is only the latest in an extensive body of research indicating the need for urgent action. It is time that both state and federal governments acknowledged the magnitude of the problem and allocated the necessary resources. To this end, Federation will be pursuing significantly improved support for beginning teachers in the public education system with both state and federal governments in 2006.

Bob Lipscombe in the Senior Vice President.

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February 2006 contents