Teachers are People Too - How can we improve the quality of educators in Australia?
Remember back to the time when you were a kid.... The end of the school holidays were nigh and you had to head back to school for another year of learning and schooling, another year older, but sometimes not another year wiser!
Well, I get to experience this feeling EVERY YEAR as a dedicated educator. And let me tell you the feeling does not get any better or easier with age. After 5 to 6 weeks of holidays and being able to wake up late and lie in every morning (yeah I wish with young kids), you then have to set the alarm and wake to that incessant beeping to arise at the same time to get ready for work.....
Oh where did those holidays go...
Now I am not complaining, I am quite lucky in the fact that I get around 12 weeks of holidays a year which I know is a privilege compared to some industries (and I have worked in a few outside of education). But one thing that really grinds my gears (and pisses me off no end) is that I am a lazy, bludging teacher who gets all of these holidays and only has to work from 9am to 3 pm everyday.
Well can I tell you that is just not true....
During the school term, teachers see kids and deliver lessons between the hours of 9am to 3pm. Then they either sit down at school or go home and work many additional hours to provide engaging lessons that shape the young minds of tomorrow. They often purchase additional supplies for their kids and many are like 2nd parents and care for their students just like they were their own kids. It takes a lot of time and effort, both physical and emotional, to be a dedicated and cring teacher.
We need Excellent Educators
Teachers and educators in general, in this great country we call Australia, are undervalued and underpaid as a profession. Teachers are expected to deal with 25-28 students and their myriad of issues on a daily basis, all the while providing them with a worthwhile education and then being bashed by the media and certain parents at every opportunity. Teachers seem to be an easy target for the mass media in Australia, and as soon as there is a fight in a school or a teacher makes a small slip up, the media is there to pounce and belittle that school or teacher.
Media, and the public in general, should be encouraging and fostering teachers and placing them on a pedestal. After all, they are moulding the minds of tomorrow and if we don't support them as a profession we will end up driving good teachers away and the end result will be a lower level of education for the future of this great country, and that is something no one wants.
Please comment and share your thoughts on the topic below.
Disclaimer: I am a passionate educator that believes that all kids can learn and achieve and we need to foster the best people to be the best educators for the future of our country!
Thanks for reading.
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Teachers are amazing. Some are beyond amazing, they go above and beyond their duties and you can tell they have a love for what they do and the students they teach. That being said, I have also had a couple of teachers that I could have done without. Including one that I had in year five that I still remember to this day the hurt she inflicted some 25 years later.
Good teachers can change a child forever and shape the person they become. It is a difficult job and one that I know takes up alot more time than the 9 to 3 some people think!
Hi mum. How are you?
I agree. My job is now to ensure that teachers are those that you remember, the ones that care for you and are your loving caring surrogate parents whilst you are at school. There are some that leave scars, but they are dwindling and not acceptable in any school I work in.
Thanks for commenting.
You are deadright on this one. Fully agree. Upvoted and resteemed.
Good teachers are invaluable. I personally think the bigger issue is with the structure of the education system itself. Aren't we are still cramming kids into classrooms exactly like we did 100 years ago? (Your picture even has the old school chalk-board) The smart kids get bored and the slow kids get left behind with a one-size-fits-all curriculum. We need to reform the school system and ensuring we have quality educators is just part of the solution IMHO.
Yes. It is part of the problem and the resource starved public education sector is trying hard to overcome the barriers such as these. There are many future thinking schools and classrooms but it becomes hard when a school is crammed with the maximum number of students based on 'class-sizes' and then throw in the complexities that young people face (trauma, disability, etc.) with no extra resources and the inevitable backward trend in education is the result. Thanks for the insightful comment.
I know I sound idealistic but I think there is a greater role for parents and the broader community to get directly involved and provide support. I also think technology can make things a lot easier and more interactive too. But I'm not going to try and tell you how to suck eggs. You know more about the challenges than me.
My young girls will be going to school soon and I am going to need some good advice. As a quality teacher yourself I'd be really interested to hear how you would improve the education system because I find the prospect of sticking them into a potentially dysfunctional public system quite daunting.
The public system, at least in this state, is only dysfunctional in pockets depending on the school you go to. A good school is one that has a staff of caring and loving teachers that foster learning and believe in kids. Once you have that the sky is the limit.
Parent and community support is waning due to the time constraints of working families and we see less parent volunteers every year which is disheartening. Technology is increasing in the classroom but is always 10 years behind industry as teachers take a while to become comfortable with using technology and losing their 'fountain of knowledge' status. Things will change dramatically over the next decade but my main concern is the quality of teachers coming through. Research shows that the teacher has the greatest effect size on learning than anything else.
My oldest is in the public system at a great school, not a cutting edge school, but a great one. I trust the public system. IMHO the difference between the public and private systems is you don't have as many 'problematic' children in the private system as those schools can be more selective. Hit me up anytime for advice!
Thanks for the thoughtful and informative answer. I really do appreciate it.
I know having quality teachers is very important to ensure a school is good, but I have no idea how to assess that from the outside and I have no idea how best to get involved as a parent. I will definitely hit you up on Discord for advice when the time comes. I've got another year or 2 to figure it out :)
hey @scooter,
One of my highschool teachers who I had (have) a lot of respect for used to say that the there are good teachers who are worth far more than they earn, and some not so good who earn more than they are worth. It sounds like you fit into the first group.
In my view a big part of the problem is that the good ones often get driven out by frustrations with the education system. The 'good' schools usually have one thing in common - they have supportive leaders. Corruption is a big problem in many areas of society, and from what I have heard, education is no different.
Something needs to be done about the quality of teaching and how teachers are treated. I trained to be a teacher of Physics but I was put off due to the condition in the education sector. Instead i decided to continue my education in Physics. Maybe I will teach in the future but it would be in a University environment.
My mom is a high school teacher and people respect her so much in our community. The education system needs to be updated though since everything is can be found Google. Kids nowadays are smarter than before. Look at all the tech startups kids, they didn't finish school but some of them excel.
I live in Africa. In my country teachers are not respected, Infact they are known as the less paid workers in the society despite their effort in imparting knowledge, moral, and quality of the leadership into the kids. Sometimes they go on strike because the government refuse to pay them their salaries. "it is so frustrating being a teacher " that is what a kid told are mother who is a teacher.
Good content and quite interesting and a good read. Thanks.