Increased work value and workload major themes

Increased work value and workload have been major themes of evidence from Federation witnesses in the salaries case before the Industrial Relations Commission. KERRI CARR reports.

On October 28 four Federation witnesses were questioned before three members of the full bench.

In regards to assessment, Collarenebri Central School principal Dorothee Lean told the Commission: "From the process of getting to know your class at the beginning of the year, looking at past assessment records to trying to devise a program to meet those particular students' needs, to devising an assessment structure which you are going to use, it is now more detailed than I was used to when I started teaching."

She also said: "In 1990... content was prescribed so you didn't have that amount of judgement about what you were going to teach...you have to factor in a lot more in your programming now." Ms Lean's affidavits spoke to issues including the intensification of work practices due to technology and syllabus changes, reporting, programming, testing and committees.

Deniliquin and Finley TAFE head of campus John Humphrey said there was now a reliance on teachers to do more individually, since the level of support and the level of the provision of learning materials, teachers' learning guides, student guides, et cetera from TAFE divisions had changed during the 1990s.

"As a teacher in the '80s, basically I had everything made available to me and I was able to concentrate on the teaching and learning process and the interaction with the students moreso because there was less time spent on the development of teaching and learning materials...the resources that are available, you know, certainly do not go as far as they used to," Mr Humphrey said.

"Now, not only do teachers often need to build learning resources for every topic, they also have to engage in interpretation of competency standards and customer needs, curriculum development, implementation, customisation for specific clients and now, validation of assessment," he said in his affidavit.

Mr Humphrey's affidavit and reply affidavit addressed quality certification, Australian Quality Training Framework, workplace delivery and assessment, technical and vocational education and training, traineeships, recording and verification of student data.

Coffs Harbour TAFE part time teacher Alan Swift told the Commission: "The amount of material that is required to be covered in a course has increased."

In his affidavit Mr Swift said: "The implementation of competency based training culminating in training packages, has meant more work by teachers is required when conducting assessments and reporting."

Mr Swift's affidavit also addressed curriculum issues, changes to the student teacher relationship, increased accountabilities and technological changes.

Federation contends there has been a huge change in the teaching of all HSC subjects, including VET subjects.

When Northern Beaches Secondary College Administration Centre head teacher Adrienne Cobby was asked whether she saw the responsibilities attached to a VET teacher making competency assessment as greater than that associated with a teacher in a non-VET area, she said: "I see them as a very different type of responsibility mainly because you are going for not just the normal accreditation which we are looking at school, but you are also doing the dual accreditation" [for the Australian Recognition Framework, now known as the Australian Quality Training Framework]. "There is a big responsibility on the teacher if you deem the student competent, then they must meet industry standard."

Ms Cobby's affidavit said reporting of students' progression in VET was entirely different to that of other subjects because the students are required to develop and demonstrate competencies which meet industry standards.

She spoke about additional responsibility, work value and workload that has come with the introduction of VET courses.

In her reply affidavit Ms Cobby said that while there had been some support for the delivery of HSC VET courses it was not enough.

"In my experience no extra capital funds were given to the Northern Beaches Secondary College when new VET courses were introduced," her reply affidavit said. "There were insufficient funds in the global budget to do this without sacrificing other school funded programs, so teachers like me must beg, fundraise, spend time applying for government grants etc, to gradually build up the resources that are required. This additional teacher effort added value for students' learning opportunities and outcomes. The DET funding was not used to pay teachers to compensate them for extra time they spend in the delivery of VET HSC courses."

On the question of occupational health and safety Ms Cobby said: "There is a greater level of industry-based equipment which can cause much more serious damage than much of the equipment we have had previously."

Ms Cobby's affidavit said: "Industry information changes rapidly and needs to be up-to-date. I have had to work with VET teachers to assist them develop new knowledge of their industry area...The ICF [industry curriculum framework] which form the basis for the syllabus are revised a minimum of every three years which means this process is constantly repeated. Each revision means updating information, learning new material and revising programs which is very time consuming."

She said that for each new unit she spends four or five hours writing the program and another 20 or so hours researching the content.

Ms Cobby's affidavits also covered issues including use of information technology, integration of students with special needs, testing, accountability, reporting, compliance, new curriculum demands, extended schools days, extra curricula activities and the teacher shortage.

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Last Modified: 15 Nov 2005