How do you feel about the mounting expectations placed on you? Do your colleagues feel the same way about these additional responsibilities?
The Valuing the Teaching Profession inquiry panellists are seeking accounts from you and your colleagues that outline how changes to policies, procedures and practices have affected:
- the delivery of education
- decision making processes
- availability of support services in schools.
Can you pinpoint the effect of changes to:
- your role
- community expectations
- technologies
- regulation of the profession
- curriculum, assessment and reporting requirements.
Miranda Public School Federation Representative John Skene is in the process of polishing a collaborative submission for the inquiry, from Federation members at the school.
“It’s important to have a voice about changes to our work and not just let things play out,” he said.
John encourages members at other workplaces to make a contribution to a joint submission to the inquiry: “We have not had an opportunity in quite a while to make a submission about the value of our work so we should not waste it.
“A few of us brainstormed the things that stood out to us to highlight the increasing need for teachers to up-skill and build capacity,” he said. “I emailed our ideas to all members and invited them to put their thoughts and ideas into the mix.
“Even before the inquiry was mentioned, experienced teachers were commenting on the mammoth changes in their work over the years.”
Convert your feelings into action
Have a talk to your Federation Representative about detailing your experiences in your school’s submission to the inquiry, due by the end of this term.
The more testimony the inquiry panellists receive from schools, the better they will be placed to draw conclusions and make recommendations regarding the value of teachers’ work.
Federation Representatives have been given clear instructions about how to put a workplace submission together. Submissions are due by the end of term.
For more information and support, contact your Federation Organiser.
Kerri Carr is the deputy editor