tag:theconversation.com,2011:/africa/topics/teacher-training-5004/articlesTeacher training – The Conversation2023-10-04T13:43:42Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2141722023-10-04T13:43:42Z2023-10-04T13:43:42ZTeachers can nurture students who care about the world: four approaches that would help them<p>Teachers wear many hats. They are expected to be subject matter experts, leaders, administrators, managers, lifelong learners – and not just in the classroom, but in their wider communities.</p>
<p>It is crucial to cultivate teachers who are socially aware and critical, especially in today’s unequal society. This helps them to successfully prepare their learners to confront, for instance, excessive consumption, waste, and a society that prioritises material items over the preservation of natural resources.</p>
<p>But how can this cultivation occur? As an academic <a href="https://theconversation.com/teachers-change-lives-but-what-makes-a-great-teacher-198313">working with trainee teachers</a> and researching <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/09732586231194438">social justice education</a>, I have found four essential approaches that help future teachers develop their students into responsible global citizens.</p>
<h2>Art and empathy</h2>
<p><strong>1. Identify the root cause of the problem instead of the one at face value.</strong></p>
<p>Social injustice results from unequal power relations. This may seem obvious, but sometimes people need guidance to keep this fact in mind. I often use <a href="http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2221-40702018000200006">defamiliarisation</a> to help trainee teachers grasp this reality. Defamiliarisation is the artistic technique of making things that are familiar seem unusual and foreign, to disrupt the mindset. </p>
<p>I have <a href="https://brill.com/display/book/9789004521742/BP000025.xml">also explored</a> how important this approach is in making students think more critically about global citizenship education. </p>
<p>For example, I often have my students look at current economic policies and international trade deals to see how these affect developing countries in Africa and often lead to economic and social imbalances. They are frequently urged to examine how uneven power relationships between western and African countries can worsen inequality and learn how they can work for fairness and equality in foreign relations. They do this by, for example, drawing how they <a href="https://journals.co.za/doi/epdf/10.20853/32-4-2922">view globalisation in Africa</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/teachers-change-lives-but-what-makes-a-great-teacher-198313">Teachers change lives -- but what makes a great teacher?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>2. Develop critical empathy.</strong></p>
<p>Empathy is not enough to get students to think in more socially conscious ways. That’s because, even when they start placing themselves in the shoes of others, it can still put them in a position of power over those whose lives they are trying to imagine.</p>
<p>Philosopher Nel Noddings coined the term “<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1477878510368617">critical empathy</a>”. This requires what is known as “empathic accuracy”, when teachers really understand how their students feel. It also needs what is called a “sympathetic response”: teachers not only understanding their learners’ thoughts but also feeling some of their sadness or happiness. It’s like going through their emotional journey with them, with the idea of assisting them in any possible way.</p>
<p>For example, I have used critical empathy to help my students connect to and understand each other’s struggles and experiences of the COVID pandemic. Rather than talking <em>for</em> each other, they talk <em>with</em> each other, and don’t try to wear someone else’s metaphorical shoes, but listen to and learn about people’s actual experiences.</p>
<p><strong>3. Develop the ability to trust and take risk.</strong></p>
<p>Realising that change is necessary implies that everyone is a part of both the problem and the solution. Sociologist Anthony Giddens’s work <a href="https://voidnetwork.gr/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/The-Consequences-of-Modernity-by-Anthony-Giddens.pdf">examines</a> the relationship between trust and risk. Giddens challenges us: would you be brave enough to step into the unknown with someone you trust? Our past either holds us back or makes us want to take risks, and this balance of trust and risk could alter the way students, teachers and communities function in school environments.</p>
<p>Since 2016, I have facilitated a critical service-learning project – a form of service learning with a <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ831374.pdf">social justice orientation</a> – where students work with local communities to solve fundamental problems such as inadequate education or food insecurity in poor areas in Cape Town, South Africa. There is an inherent risk for communities here: we’re asking them to work collaboratively with us, relying on their trust in such engagements – and this may not always produce the desired results for communities. </p>
<p>Although the projects are not always as successful as planned, reflective learning still proves helpful. Students learn to understand and gain real-world insights; communities feel more able to share concerns and work together to solve them.</p>
<p><strong>4. Reflect critically, even if thoughts are conflicted.</strong></p>
<p>I once used the film <a href="https://www.showmax.com/eng/movie/69pli6p9-krotoa">Krotoa</a> to ignite discussions on the effects of colonialism’s legacy in South Africa. Based on a true story, the South African film is about a young girl who was taken from her Khoi tribe to work for founding colonial administrator Jan van Riebeeck.</p>
<p>Many students were left deeply unsettled. They felt pain, anger, helplessness and confusion. Experiencing these feelings in the classroom pushed them out of their comfort zones – precisely what was needed to encourage deep understanding. Critical reflection develops when students are forced outside their comfort zones. These intense emotions act as catalysts that prompt students to reflect on who they are, challenge their preconceived ideas and think carefully about the causes and effects of what they are learning. Students can gain a better, deeper understanding of the topic of colonisation, for instance, by grappling with these emotions and examining them.</p>
<p>Such encounters broaden students’ perspectives and encourage them to embrace the idea of <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274374017_The_African_Philosophy_of_Ubuntu_in_South_African_Education">ubuntu</a> (a concept that emphasises the importance of including everyone and building a strong community). This fosters their development as thoughtful global citizens ready to contribute significantly to conversations about global justice and equality.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214172/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Zayd Waghid received funding from 2021 - 2023 from the National Research Foundation for a project called "Examining Remote Teaching in South African education institutions in response to an education crisis". In 2019, he was awarded the CHE-Heltasa National Teaching Excellence Award (Commendation), is an NRF-rated researcher, Fulbright Scholar, and was the DSI-NRF SARChI Chair at the Center for International Teacher Education (August - December 2023).</span></em></p>It is crucial to cultivate teachers who are socially aware and critical, especially in today’s unequal societyZayd Waghid, Associate professor, Cape Peninsula University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2136642023-09-21T13:27:45Z2023-09-21T13:27:45ZHow well you do at school depends on how much your teachers know: insights from 14 French-speaking countries in Africa<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548527/original/file-20230915-27043-8dgaeh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Almost half of all sixth-grade students in Niger struggle to read a simple sentence.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Olympia De Maismont/AFP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Countries in sub-Saharan Africa have made remarkable progress towards reaching universal school enrolment in the past 25 years. Across the region, <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.PRM.TENR?locations=ZG">8 in 10 children</a> of primary school age are now enrolled in school, and in countries such as <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.PRM.TENR?locations=ZG-BJ">Benin</a> and <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.PRM.TENR?locations=ZG-MG">Madagascar</a> this figure stands at almost 10 in 10 children. </p>
<p>However, it is becoming increasingly clear that many children in the region are <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/wdr2018">learning very little in school</a>. This <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2017/09/26/world-bank-warns-of-learning-crisis-in-global-education">“learning crisis”</a> means that it will be difficult to reach the <a href="https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal4">United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal</a> of quality education for all by 2030.</p>
<p>Importantly, the learning crisis does not affect all countries equally. For example, a <a href="https://pasecconfemen.lmc-dev.fr/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/08/RapportPasec2019_Rev2022_WebOK.pdf">recent study</a> found that whereas almost half of all sixth-grade students (who are on average about 13 years old) in Niger have difficulties reading a simple sentence, only one in 10 sixth-grade students in neighbouring Burkina Faso has such problems. This raises the question of what explains these international learning gaps.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272775723000845">recent study</a>, my co-authors Natalie Irmert, Mohammad H. Sepahvand and I tried to answer this question. We hypothesised that differences in teacher quality between countries play a role. Using comparable data from 14 countries in French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa, we found that differences in teachers’ subject knowledge – that is, teachers’ mastery of the material they are expected to teach in a given subject – explain more than a third of the international variation in student learning. </p>
<p>This implies that the very low levels of learning in some countries’ schools are to a large extent due to a lack of knowledgeable teachers.</p>
<h2>The research</h2>
<p>Our study was made possible by the recent release of data from the <a href="https://pasec.confemen.org/en/">PASEC 2019 assessment</a>. The assessment measured sixth-grade students’ reading and maths skills in 14 French-speaking African countries in a comparable way. Importantly for our purposes, it also measured the knowledge of these students’ teachers in the same two subjects. The assessment revealed very large differences in the average reading and maths skills of students between countries. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/collaboration-is-helping-teachers-in-rural-cameroon-fill-knowledge-gaps-101920">Collaboration is helping teachers in rural Cameroon fill knowledge gaps</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In our study, we examined whether these international differences in student skills were driven by gaps in teachers’ subject knowledge. We hypothesised that this might be the case based on <a href="https://economics.ucr.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/4-15-22-Smith.pdf">previous research</a> from individual countries which shows that teacher quality is a key driver of learning.</p>
<p>Our results showed student skills and teachers’ subject knowledge were indeed positively correlated: better teacher knowledge tended to go hand in hand with better student skills. </p>
<p>However, this did not necessarily mean that teachers’ subject knowledge caused learning. For example, countries with more knowledgeable teachers might also invest more into school buildings. In this case, the positive correlation between teacher knowledge and student skills could simply reflect the better learning conditions due to improved school buildings.</p>
<h2>Explaining the differences</h2>
<p>To be sure that our correlation reflected a causal effect of teacher knowledge, we used a statistical trick: we compared each country’s student skills and teacher knowledge in reading to its student skills and teacher knowledge in maths. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/girls-thrive-with-women-teachers-a-study-in-francophone-africa-95297">Girls thrive with women teachers: a study in Francophone Africa</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This meant that we could keep all factors that did not differ between the two subjects, such as the quality of school buildings, constant. If better teachers’ knowledge in reading relative to maths tended to go hand in hand with better student skills in reading relative to maths, we could be certain that the effect of teacher knowledge was causal.</p>
<p>The figure below shows that this was indeed the case: for example, Burundi’s teachers scored relatively low on the reading test relative to the maths test, and consequently its students did worse in the reading assessment than in the maths assessment. In contrast, Gabon’s teachers were relatively more knowledgeable in reading, and therefore its students also performed better in the reading test. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548809/original/file-20230918-27-uajxga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548809/original/file-20230918-27-uajxga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548809/original/file-20230918-27-uajxga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548809/original/file-20230918-27-uajxga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548809/original/file-20230918-27-uajxga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548809/original/file-20230918-27-uajxga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548809/original/file-20230918-27-uajxga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548809/original/file-20230918-27-uajxga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Teachers’ subject knowledge boosts student skills.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272775723000845">Authors supplied</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Overall, differences in teachers’ subject knowledge could explain a third of the differences in student learning between the 14 countries. Our data did not allow us to conclude which factors explain the remaining two thirds of these differences.</p>
<h2>Implications for policy</h2>
<p>Our results show that teacher quality, and especially teacher subject knowledge, is a crucial driver of cross-country differences in learning. This is an important insight for policymakers in sub-Saharan Africa who are trying to solve the “learning crisis”: it shows that there is a large payoff to recruiting more knowledgeable teachers.</p>
<p>Additionally, in-service training that improves the knowledge of already employed teachers could lead to large gains in student learning.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213664/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jan Bietenbeck receives funding from Jan Wallanders och Tom Hedelius stiftelse samt Tore Browaldhs stiftelse. </span></em></p>Overall, differences in teachers’ subject knowledge could explain a third of the differences in student learning between the 14 countries.Jan Bietenbeck, Associate Professor of Economics, Lund UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2108202023-08-03T12:04:05Z2023-08-03T12:04:05ZTeachers in England accept pay settlement, but the issues causing so many vacancies have not gone away<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540882/original/file-20230802-21-7wayc6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5112%2C3403&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/school-children-raising-their-hands-air-1878871078">Juice Verve/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Teachers in England <a href="https://www.itv.com/news/2023-07-31/teachers-in-england-end-strikes-in-vote-to-accept-government-pay-rise-offer">have voted</a> to end strike action and accept the government’s offer of a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/joint-statement-on-teachers-pay-13-july-2023">6.5% pay rise</a>, which is partly supported by new government funding. <a href="https://www.itv.com/news/2023-07-31/teachers-in-england-end-strikes-in-vote-to-accept-government-pay-rise-offer">More than 80%</a> <a href="https://schoolsweek.co.uk/ascl-halts-strike-ballot-as-members-accept-6-5-pay-deal/">of teachers</a> who voted in three unions and 77% in the other accepted the pay deal.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/joint-statement-on-teachers-pay-13-july-2023">joint statement</a> with the prime minister, teachers’ union leaders stated that the pay offer “recognises the vital role that teachers play in our country, and ensures that teaching will continue to be an attractive profession”. </p>
<p>However, in the face of the increased cost of living – as well as challenging working conditions for teachers – it is unclear whether this agreement will be enough to stem the <a href="https://theconversation.com/teacher-recruitment-target-missed-in-england-why-people-dont-want-to-enter-or-stay-in-the-profession-196175">recruitment crisis</a> in English schools. </p>
<h2>Crunching the numbers</h2>
<p>The prime minister and union leaders’ statement described the pay award as “properly funded”. The government has committed to funding the pay rise <a href="https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2023/07/13/teacher-strikes-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-2023-24-teacher-pay-award/">above 3.5%</a>, with the rest of the rise coming from schools’ existing budgets. </p>
<p>However, with inflation still running well above the 6.5% rate of the rise, some teachers may feel that the government could have gone further. “They could and should have offered more,” <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2023/jul/31/neu-teaching-union-accepts-pay-deal-england-school-strikes">Kevin Courtney</a>, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said. The union’s leaders suggested they would be campaigning for a further increase in pay in next year’s pay round.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1685985248385830914"}"></div></p>
<p>It is unclear whether the agreed pay rise will be sufficient to stem the tide of teachers quitting. Nearly 44,000 teachers throughout England <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england">left in 2022</a>. Amid the rising <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/articles/costofliving/latestinsights">cost of living</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/teachers-are-quitting-heres-what-could-be-done-to-get-them-to-stay-202654">research suggests</a> it would take more than a 10% pay rise to significantly affect whether teachers choose to leave the profession. </p>
<h2>Workload issues</h2>
<p>What’s more, while pay was the most significant factor in the dispute, working conditions also played a role in teachers’ decision to strike. Stress levels and a <a href="https://theconversation.com/teacher-recruitment-target-missed-in-england-why-people-dont-want-to-enter-or-stay-in-the-profession-196175">high workload</a> continue to dog the profession. Recently, a House of Commons committee report <a href="https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5803/cmselect/cmpubacc/998/summary.html">suggested that</a> the Department for Education (DfE) does not fully appreciate the pressures primary and secondary schools face as they attempt to help pupils catch up their learning after the pandemic. </p>
<p>The government <a href="https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2023/07/13/teacher-strikes-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-2023-24-teacher-pay-award/">has stated</a> that it is establishing a workload-reduction taskforce to help schools, and that its ambition is to reduce teacher workload by five hours a week. But only 18.4% of teachers responding to the NASUWT union’s survey felt the government’s proposals on workload were sufficient. </p>
<p>High workload and stress are significant reasons why people might choose to leave the teaching profession – or not join it in the first place. The <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england#dataBlock-1327e7fb-adfc-4cee-b7d0-fda00a4dbb6a-charts">number of teachers</a> leaving in 2022 was up 7,800 on 2021. And while the number of recruits increased too, the overall number of vacancies was still up year on year. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Stressed woman leaning on ring binders" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540880/original/file-20230802-25888-2pfbly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540880/original/file-20230802-25888-2pfbly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540880/original/file-20230802-25888-2pfbly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540880/original/file-20230802-25888-2pfbly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540880/original/file-20230802-25888-2pfbly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540880/original/file-20230802-25888-2pfbly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/540880/original/file-20230802-25888-2pfbly.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">High workload can be a source of stress for teachers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/burning-out-work-580489588">Cineberg/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Teacher training is another issue which may pose problems for recruitment. Institutions that offer initial teacher training must now go through an <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/initial-teacher-training-itt-market-review/initial-teacher-training-itt-market-review-overview">accreditation process</a>, which is carried out by the DfE. </p>
<p>In 2022, 179 course providers were successful in the accreditation process. This is a significant fall from the 240 providers who were offering initial teacher training previously. Institutions that did not receive accreditation, including Durham University, appealed the decision but were <a href="https://schoolsweek.co.uk/itt-review-dfe-rejects-all-accreditation-appeals/">not successful</a>. Some providers that had received <a href="https://schoolsweek.co.uk/snubbed-uni-slams-inconsistent-and-unfair-itt-review-after-good-ofsted/">good Ofsted reports</a> – such as the University of Greenwich – also did not gain accreditation.</p>
<p>Teacher training has a significant task ahead: the DfE has <a href="https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/dfe-secondary-primary-itt-teacher-training-targets">raised its target</a> for initial teacher trainees for secondary schools in the 2023-24 academic year by 26% on the previous year. But the accreditation process for teacher education providers could jeopardise the supply of new teachers.</p>
<p>The end of strike action will come as a relief to many teachers, as well as to children, young people and their families. However, this pay settlement seems unlikely to address the fundamental issues behind the teacher shortage that continues to plague the profession.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210820/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Helena Gillespie receives funding from the European Union. Her previous research has been funded by HEFCE and Advance HE.</span></em></p>Teachers may feel that the government could have gone further.Helena Gillespie, Associate Pro Vice Chancellor for Student Inclusion and Professor of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, University of East AngliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2092232023-07-07T02:08:18Z2023-07-07T02:08:18ZTeaching degrees are set for a major overhaul, but this is not what the profession needs<p>Last August, the federal government set up an expert panel to look at teacher education in Australia.</p>
<p>In part, this was born out of <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-new-review-into-how-teachers-are-educated-should-acknowledge-they-learn-throughout-their-careers-not-just-at-the-start-202433">education ministers’ concerns</a> about the shortage of teachers around Australia and the need to “ensure graduating teachers are better prepared for the classroom”.</p>
<p>The panel, led by Sydney University vice-chancellor Mark Scott (who also <a href="https://theconversation.com/mark-scott-appointed-chair-of-the-conversation-media-group-199768">chairs The Conversation’s board</a>), released a discussion paper in March. The final report was released on Thursday night. </p>
<p>Education Minister Jason Clare supports teachers but says they need to be “better prepared” before they enter a classroom. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Teaching is a tough and complex job and this is all about making sure they are better prepared from day one.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Teachers certainly need more support to do their jobs. But this report recommends more oversight and regulation, which will not help the profession. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-new-review-into-how-teachers-are-educated-should-acknowledge-they-learn-throughout-their-careers-not-just-at-the-start-202433">A new review into how teachers are educated should acknowledge they learn throughout their careers (not just at the start)</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What’s in the report?</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/quality-initial-teacher-education-review/resources/strong-beginnings-report-teacher-education-expert-panel">Strong Beginnings</a> report makes 14 recommendations. These include establishing “core content” for teaching degrees, or “what every teacher should know”. Universities will have to include this content in their programs if they are to retain their accreditation. </p>
<p>It recommends a new “quality assurance board” to oversee the changes, and public reporting on who universities accept into their teaching programs, whether those students stick to their studies and whether they get a job afterwards. </p>
<p>The panel also proposes “modest financial incentives” to encourage universities to make “genuine and successful efforts” to improve their teacher education programs. </p>
<p>And it recommends more structure around practical experience, mentoring and support for those who decide to decide to swap careers to teaching. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1676861330819805184"}"></div></p>
<h2>We do need improvements</h2>
<p>The panel and I agree on one thing: improvements across the education sector are needed if we are to meet the goals of the 2019 <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/alice-springs-mparntwe-education-declaration">Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration</a>. Here, all Australian education ministers agreed on a vision “for a world class education system that encourages and supports every student to be the very best they can be”. </p>
<p>But this report falls short. It continues a decades-long focus on <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13540600802037777">external regulation and mandated content</a>, while disregarding the expertise of teacher educators. It also fails to address the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/teachers-the-fall-guys-for-a-failing-system-20220623-p5avxb.html">structural and systemic issues</a> - such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-new-report-proposes-full-public-funding-for-private-schools-but-theres-a-catch-203840">inequitable resourcing</a> of schools, <a href="https://theconversation.com/this-is-like-banging-our-heads-against-the-wall-why-a-move-to-outsource-lesson-planning-has-nsw-teachers-hopping-mad-188081">excessive administrative burden</a> on teachers, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/no-wonder-no-one-wants-to-be-a-teacher-world-first-study-looks-at-65-000-news-articles-about-australian-teachers-186210">devaluing</a> of the profession - which have led to teacher shortages and falling standards. </p>
<h2>Some recommendations have merit</h2>
<p>Some recommendations have merit: boosting practical experience through system-wide placement agreements, increasing investment in practical experience, and giving professional recognition to teachers supervising education students. These proposals acknowledge graduates are shaped by the whole education system, not just content absorbed while studying.</p>
<p>Some recommendations are benign: improved mid-career pathways and flexible learning for post-graduate students from other fields makes sense, particularly given dire teacher shortages that are worsening attrition, not only among beginning teachers.</p>
<p>But the panel adopts the now all-too-familiar approach of increasing layers of regulation and telling teacher educators how to do their jobs.</p>
<h2>Mandated core content</h2>
<p>The first two recommendations mandate four areas of core content for universities to “add to” their initial teacher education programs:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>the brain and learning, or content that provides teachers with an understanding of why specific practices work</p></li>
<li><p>effective pedagogical (or teaching) practices</p></li>
<li><p>classroom management, or how to foster positive learning environments</p></li>
<li><p>responsive teaching, to ensure teachers teach in ways that are culturally and contextually appropriate.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>But this is a double up. This content is already required by the existing accreditation process. It’s also already examined by universities including through teaching performance assessments required of final year students. This was an outcome of <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/teaching-and-school-leadership/teacher-education-ministerial-advisory-group">a review of initial teacher education</a> in 2014.</p>
<p>How students learn, effective pedagogy, classroom management, and culturally and contextually responsive teaching are central to all teacher education programs in Australia.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1676770256679829505"}"></div></p>
<h2>A surprising level of detail</h2>
<p>What is most astonishing about the proposed core content is the level of detail provided by the panel, outlining what must be included in initial teacher education programs to meet new performance standards from the accreditation body, the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership. </p>
<p>Here we see a level of government input into teaching degrees which would never be tolerated for medical, nursing, law or engineering programs. The content proposed is not widely agreed in the sector, either. The emphasis on “brain science” <a href="https://www.etoncollege.com/blog/the-limits-of-the-science-of-learning/#:%7E:text=The%20greatest%20problem%20facing%20the,power%20or%20value%20of%20science">assumes a straightforward link</a> between laboratory-based scientific evidence and its practical application in the classroom.</p>
<p>The 115 submissions to the panel’s discussion paper have been made public for the first time on Friday morning. This has left little time to check the panel’s claim that “stakeholders broadly supported both the core content and formalising it [via accreditation]”. </p>
<p>However, the University of Sydney School of Education and Social Work <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/system/files/documents/submission-file/2023-07/TEEP_The%20University%20of%20Sydney%20School%20of%20Education%20and%20Social%20Work.pdf">submission</a> queries the reliability and trustworthiness of the evidence underpinning the proposed core content, expressing concern about “the way the evidence base itself was constructed”.</p>
<p>This specification of core content comes from the Australian Education Research Organisation (a government created, independent education evidence body). It has no particular expertise in research on teacher education. The approach taken is narrow and overlooks swathes of high quality research, as detailed in the University of Sydney submission.</p>
<p>What’s missed in education debates – which invariably pitch teaching practices against each other – is that what matters most is the underlying quality of the teaching. The report assumes new graduate teachers deliver poor teaching and their university education is to blame. This premise has been challenged by <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13384-023-00612-0">recent studies</a>, which show new teachers teach just as well as those with years of experience. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/our-study-found-new-teachers-perform-just-as-well-in-the-classroom-as-their-more-experienced-colleagues-200649">Our study found new teachers perform just as well in the classroom as their more experienced colleagues</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>We will need proper evaluation</h2>
<p>The new regulations recommended by the panel treat teacher educators as if they aren’t already motivated to improve the student experience and outcomes, understand and incorporate the latest educational research, or engage in good practice. The assumption seems to be that providers will not “improve” unless incentivised financially by the panel’s recommended “transition” and “excellence” funds. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1674571454023598080"}"></div></p>
<p>This is nonsense. Current systems of regulation and accountability mean providers are constantly required to demonstrate improvement. Teacher educators could in fact do more to refine their programs if not hamstrung by so much administration.</p>
<p>To be clear, I’m all for reform, having dedicated my academic career to improvements for teachers and students. But in the same way teachers need to be able to focus on teaching and learning (not paperwork), teacher educators need the time and space to do their jobs. And not be hampered by endless reviews and misguided regulation.</p>
<p>At a meeting on Thursday, state, territory and federal education ministers agreed in principle to all the report’s recommendations.</p>
<p>If this is the chosen path to improvement, then proper evaluation of these latest reform efforts is crucial. We can’t afford to arrive a few years down the track without being able to point to what did or didn’t work and why. Producing robust evidence on the impact of these reforms is essential in maintaining a focus on what really matters – better support for teachers and positive outcomes for all Australian students.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209223/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jenny Gore receives funding from the Australian Research Council, Paul Ramsay Foundation and Australian Government Department of Education. </span></em></p>A new review adopts a now all-too-familiar approach of increasing layers of regulation and telling teacher educators how to do their jobs.Jenny Gore, Laureate Professor of Education, Director Teachers and Teaching Research Centre, University of NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2071262023-06-21T12:17:43Z2023-06-21T12:17:43ZSign language is now official in South Africa - how this will help education in Deaf schools<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533170/original/file-20230621-15-eg40ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Universities have a role to play in equipping future teachers of the Deaf by teaching sign language.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wits University</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>South African Sign Language is now <a href="https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/speeches/remarks-president-cyril-ramaphosa-signing-ceremony-south-african-sign-language-bill%2C-union-buildings%2C-tshwane">the country’s 12th official language</a>. Parliament approved a <a href="https://www.gov.za/documents/constitution/chapter-1-founding-provisions#5">constitutional</a> amendment in a bid to “promote the rights of persons who are deaf (sic) and hard of hearing”.</em> </p>
<p><em>Claudine Storbeck, founder and director of the Wits Centre for Deaf Studies at South Africa’s University of the Witwatersrand, explains what the move could – and should – mean for Deaf education in the country.</em></p>
<h2>What is the educational environment today for Deaf learners in South Africa?</h2>
<p>There are 43 schools for the Deaf <a href="https://uni24.co.za/list-deaf-schools-south-africa/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw7aqkBhDPARIsAKGa0oJnBcAkxxbXrVTXuKy-BKZJZK_zJ2hFSec6XTO-G8ehQMkWtlkpycAaAu8zEALw_wcB">across the country</a>. Of these, 38 use South African Sign Language (SASL) as the language of teaching and learning. The aim is to ensure that the complete academic curriculum is taught. However, the anecdotal feedback we get from teachers of the Deaf suggests that they are unable to fully complete the curriculum each year and this gap keeps growing. </p>
<p>There isn’t any data on hearing versus Deaf education nor on the number of qualified teachers of the Deaf. We at the Wits Centre for Deaf Studies plan to start such a database soon. We do know that the large majority of teachers in schools for the Deaf are hearing. They are not required to have any form of specialised training or qualification in Deaf education or in SASL before they are appointed. Their signing skills are not evaluated before they are appointed. </p>
<p>In fact, these teachers are not formally required to do SASL courses – only encouraged. In this situation the teachers pick up some SASL from learners as they go along. It’s totally unacceptable that pupils have to become teachers to try to facilitate communication, before they can truly be learners. Teachers’ signing skills are never re-assessed; there are no quality assurance mechanisms in Deaf education in South Africa and ultimately it is the Deaf learners who pay the price.</p>
<p>This situation makes it clear why Deaf learners’ education is sub-par and their literacy levels are low. As with the question of qualified teachers for the Deaf, there is a dearth of data on Deaf school leavers’ literacy levels: the most <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv2rh298v?turn_away=true">recently available figures</a>, quoted in a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/239789213_Inclusive_education_for_Deaf_students_Literacy_practices_and_South_African_Sign_Language">2012 research article</a>, suggest that </p>
<blockquote>
<p>In South Africa as few as one in three Deaf adults who use South African Sign Language (SASL) is functionally literate and the average Deaf school leaver has a written language comprehension ability equal to that of a hearing child of eight.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Will the recognition of SASL as an official language help Deaf education?</h2>
<p>The poor quality of Deaf education has a <a href="https://limpingchicken.com/2020/03/09/liam-odell-how-to-stop-the-domino-effect/">domino effect</a> on post-school opportunities and employment. Previously, training entities – as well as employers – could decline access to SASL interpreting. They could say it wasn’t <a href="http://www.included.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/2546_IESA_EU-Factsheet-08_Reasonable-Accomodation-WEB-1.pdf">reasonably practical</a> or it caused <a href="https://www.dpsa.gov.za/dpsa2g/documents/ee/2015/289_1_2_3_20_08_2015_Policy.pdf">an undue burden</a>.</p>
<p>Now that SASL is an official language it must, by law, be properly integrated into the education and post school system.</p>
<p>The constitutional amendment can empower the national department of basic education to make it mandatory for teachers at schools for the Deaf to have specialist qualifications. The department must also strengthen SASL curriculum training and support. This can be done with the help of curriculum and subject specialists at the department as well as <a href="https://www.wits.ac.za/centre-for-deaf-studies/academic-programmes/pgce-south-african-sign-language/">at universities</a>. <a href="https://www.thutong.doe.gov.za/Default.aspx?alias=www.thutong.doe.gov.za/southafricansignlanguage">SASL resources</a> need to be expanded along with <a href="https://www.wits.ac.za/centre-for-deaf-studies/roots-resources/">Deaf education materials</a>, and Deaf learners need to see their own <a href="https://newafricabooks.com/products/mpumi-and-jabus-magical-day-1?variant=32244174553124">published literature</a>.</p>
<p>There are <a href="https://issuu.com/witsalumnirelations/docs/wits_review__april_2021_issuu/s/12025816">academic specialists</a> in Deaf education and SASL linguists. But very few are Deaf academics themselves: crucially, Deaf education <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-05-11-much-needed-change-in-deaf-education-must-be-led-by-the-deaf/">must be led by the Deaf</a>. Hearing academics who wish to partner on this journey need to be fluent signers and experts within SASL and Deaf education in the South African context.</p>
<p>To reach this point, universities and the department of basic education must prioritise the training of Deaf teachers. This is an historical challenge: Deaf children come through a poor education system and don’t graduate with an equitable school leaving qualification or don’t qualify for university access to train as teachers – a vicious cycle. The proposals I’ve outlined here can help to break this cycle.</p>
<p>The recognition of SASL as an official language is a big step in the right direction. It’s an opportunity for the almost <a href="http://www.sanda.org.za/">4 million Deaf people</a> in South Africa (of whom <a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064710339351">600,000 are SASL users</a>) to properly access their <a href="https://www.gov.za/documents/constitution/chapter-2-bill-rights">human rights</a> in a language they understand. That journey must begin in the classroom.</p>
<p><em><a href="https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/speeches/remarks-president-cyril-ramaphosa-signing-ceremony-south-african-sign-language-bill%2C-union-buildings%2C-tshwane">Updated to reflect South African Sign Language becoming an official language on 19 July 2003</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207126/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Claudine Storbeck has received research funding from the UK-MRC (Medical Research Council) and the Global Challenges Research Fund (UK-MRC/AHRC). She is a visiting researcher at the University of Manchester, UK.
</span></em></p>This is an opportunity for Deaf people to finally be properly educated in a language they understand.Claudine Storbeck, Professor and Founder of the Wits Centre for Deaf Studies, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2058482023-06-04T20:04:10Z2023-06-04T20:04:10ZDistance education tutors don’t need any formal qualifications – we should make this role a career<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529712/original/file-20230602-23-f1rer4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5472%2C3637&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock.</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There are an estimated <a href="https://www.hea.edu.au/">24,000-plus</a> students who study by distance education in Australia.</p>
<p>While their lessons are delivered remotely, by law, all of these students still need to be supervised by somebody in person. This is the role of the “remote education tutor”, who is the<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13384-022-00576-7">link between</a>the student and the teacher.</p>
<p>Despite the vital work they do, there is no prerequisite or formal qualification for this role, and no precise data on their number, as their work is often misrepresented as parenting, childcare or nannying. </p>
<p>We need to start recognising this key educational role as a career. </p>
<h2>Who are remote tutors and what do they do?</h2>
<p>For students who are unable to attend mainstream schooling, it is the tutor’s job to facilitate everyday classroom learning. The student will be provided instruction and given materials by their school, but the tutor needs to organise and supervise the completion of tasks and lessons. </p>
<p>It is a vital role in the child’s education. </p>
<p>We know remote education tutors are <a href="https://journal.spera.asn.au/index.php/AIJRE/article/view/314?fbclid=IwAR039gzMnvoSji9n5ZZA_y3UoyaQx5XmTw4qXJGKIviiC2gwMCr9JH8JfOk">mostly women</a>. </p>
<p>They are either a family member (typically the mother) or an externally employed person. If it is a non-family member, these tutors come from a wide range of backgrounds, including young people on a gap year, university students who want to work while studying, and domestic and international travellers.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A desk with pencils, books and calculators." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529714/original/file-20230602-17-2owrp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529714/original/file-20230602-17-2owrp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529714/original/file-20230602-17-2owrp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529714/original/file-20230602-17-2owrp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529714/original/file-20230602-17-2owrp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529714/original/file-20230602-17-2owrp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529714/original/file-20230602-17-2owrp4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It is the tutor’s job to organise, supervise and support the ‘classroom’ at home.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>It is hard to find and keep a tutor</h2>
<p>We also know remote tutors are <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-16/outback-governesses-in-short-supply/11803298">hard to recruit</a>.</p>
<p>The position has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-022-00576-7">complex demands and responsibilities</a>, but wages are unregulated and there are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-022-00576-7">no targeted qualifications</a> required or available to advance people’s careers. </p>
<p>This is not helped by a <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-16/outback-governesses-in-short-supply/11803298">lack of government incentives</a> for, say, teaching students to spend a “year in the bush”, or visa provisions to allow overseas-qualified teachers to stay for longer periods in these roles. </p>
<p>So there is a high turnover. Most are only in the job with the one family for <a href="https://journal.spera.asn.au/index.php/AIJRE/article/view/314?fbclid=IwAR039gzMnvoSji9n5ZZA_y3UoyaQx5XmTw4qXJGKIviiC2gwMCr9JH8JfOk">one to two years</a> before leaving the role altogether.</p>
<p>There is a federal government <a href="https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/payment-rates-assistance-for-isolated-children?context=22121">allowance</a> for families doing distance education and some minor <a href="https://icpa.com.au/au/news/federal-allowances-2023-rural-and-remote-students">state government subsidies</a> for internet access and computer hardware. But families say these are <a href="https://icpa.com.au/au/federal-distance-education-briefing-paper">not enough</a> to help parents recruit and retain a supervisor.</p>
<h2>Why should we recognise tutors?</h2>
<p>If there is formal recognition of remote educator tutors’ knowledge and skills, this provides status and makes the job a more attractive career pathway. </p>
<p>Tutors would not have to do a full education degree, like school teachers. Instead, they could be trained in specific components of a degree through microcredentials, or smaller courses of learning. </p>
<p>They could start with specific skills for setting up and managing a learning space, and strategies for teaching reading, spelling and basic numeracy. These examples are core to the remote educator tutor qualifications, which could also be later used as part of other qualifications, if they wanted to do future study.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/microcredentials-what-are-they-and-will-they-really-revolutionise-education-and-improve-job-prospects-169265">Microcredentials: what are they, and will they really revolutionise education and improve job prospects?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>This could go beyond distance education</h2>
<p>Dedicated, targeted training for remote education tutors could be applied beyond this workforce as well. We know there are many school students studying at home for reasons other than being too far from the nearest school.</p>
<p>Growing <a href="https://theconversation.com/homeschooling-boomed-last-year-but-these-4-charts-show-it-was-on-the-rise-before-covid-157309">numbers of students</a> either study online at private schools or are home-schooled. They also need to be supervised (most often by parents). </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A teenage girl works at her desk in her bedroom." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529692/original/file-20230602-27-4h0tio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529692/original/file-20230602-27-4h0tio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529692/original/file-20230602-27-4h0tio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529692/original/file-20230602-27-4h0tio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529692/original/file-20230602-27-4h0tio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529692/original/file-20230602-27-4h0tio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529692/original/file-20230602-27-4h0tio.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Growing numbers of Australian students are doing their schooling from home, regardless of where they live.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Other groups who would benefit from these training opportunities include: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>parents who are home tutors for their children enrolled in distance education </p></li>
<li><p>parents who home-school their children </p></li>
<li><p>parents who want to develop skills to tutor their child (or children) enrolled in general schooling.</p></li>
<li><p>teacher aides who want to boost their current qualifications.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>This training could be done through online university courses or other vocational providers. It would not only support the professional needs of remote tutors but also empower families to better support their children as they navigate distance education. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-has-a-new-online-only-private-school-what-are-the-options-if-the-mainstream-system-doesnt-suit-your-child-189138">Australia has a new online-only private school: what are the options if the mainstream system doesn't suit your child?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205848/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Karen Peel is affiliated with Australian Geographically Isolated Learner Education (AGILE). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Brad McLennan is affiliated with Australian Geographically Isolated Learner Education (AGILE)</span></em></p>Students who study remotely need to have someone supervise them in-person. If it’s not a family member, it is an external tutor, who are hard to recruit and keep.Dr Karen Peel, Senior Lecturer in Teacher Education, University of Southern Queenskand, University of Southern QueenslandDr Brad McLennan, Senior Lecturer in School of Education, University of Southern QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2051712023-05-23T12:25:42Z2023-05-23T12:25:42ZNew approach to teaching computer science could broaden the subject’s appeal<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527051/original/file-20230518-23-xsgvbi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Language arts students can program chatbots for literary characters.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/side-view-of-youthful-african-american-schoolboy-royalty-free-image/1425235236">shironosov/iStock/Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Despite <a href="https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/computer-and-information-research-scientists.htm#tab-1">growing demand for computer science skills</a> in professional careers and many areas of life, K-12 schools <a href="https://www.eschoolnews.com/steam/2023/02/23/what-is-computer-science-education-lacking/">struggle to teach</a> computer science to the next generation.</p>
<p>However, a new approach to computer science education – called <a href="https://www.fierceeducation.com/teaching-learning/teaching-computational-thinking-essential-future-college-students">integrated computing</a> – addresses the main barriers that schools face when adding computer science education. These barriers include a <a href="https://news.gallup.com/reports/196379/trends-state-computer-science-schools.aspx">lack of qualified computer science teachers</a>, a lack of funds and a focus on courses tied to standardized tests.</p>
<p>Integrated computing teaches computer science skills like programming and computer literacy within traditional courses. For example, students can use integrated computing activities to <a href="https://youtu.be/KG_JqpmmkdQ">create geometric patterns in math</a>, <a href="https://youtu.be/x5w6x7f33Wk">simulate electromagnetic waves in science</a> and <a href="https://youtu.be/654BOJwAWCg">create chatbots for literary characters</a> in language arts. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://education.gsu.edu/profile/lauren-margulieux/">professor of learning technologies</a>, I have been <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=YGV0Y24AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra">designing integrated computing activities</a> for K-12 students for the past five years. I work with faculty and students in teacher training programs to <a href="http://www.doi.org/10.26716/jcsi.2022.11.15.35">create and test integrated computing activities</a> across all academic subjects. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://laurenmarg.com/research/">my research</a>, I have found that integrated computing solves three major hurdles to teaching computer science education in K-12 schools.</p>
<h2>Challenges to teaching computer science</h2>
<p>Fitting a new academic discipline into an <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/0ebc645c-en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/0ebc645c-en">already crowded curriculum</a> can be a challenge. Integrated computing allows computer science education to become part of learning in other classes, the way reading skills are also used in science, math and language arts classes. </p>
<p>Teacher knowledge is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/07380569.2023.2178868">another difficulty when it comes to teaching computer science</a> in K-12 schools. While people who specialize in computer science are often recruited to more lucrative careers than teaching, integrated computing develops all teachers’ computer science knowledge. Teachers do not need to become computer science experts to teach computer literacy and programming skills to their students. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Teacher holds tablet while working in classroom" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527129/original/file-20230518-19-2wsuw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527129/original/file-20230518-19-2wsuw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527129/original/file-20230518-19-2wsuw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527129/original/file-20230518-19-2wsuw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527129/original/file-20230518-19-2wsuw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527129/original/file-20230518-19-2wsuw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527129/original/file-20230518-19-2wsuw7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Teachers do not need a computer science degree to incorporate computing into their classrooms.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/indian-teacher-using-digital-tablet-in-classroom-royalty-free-image/526297603">LWA/Dann Tardif/DigitalVision Collection/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In fact, the most surprising result of my research is how quickly teachers learn to teach integrated computing activities. In about two hours, <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.26716/jcsi.2022.11.15.35">teachers can use a pre-made computer science lesson</a> in their classrooms. In the future, I will teach them to use artificial intelligence to create their own lessons for their students. For example, a science teacher recently asked me how she could create a data analysis activity for her class. AI tools would allow her to <a href="https://www.ironhack.com/us/en/blog/chatgpt-for-data-analysts">quickly design the technical aspects</a> of this activity. </p>
<p>And finally, integrated computing also addresses students’ reluctance to take elective computer science classes when they have little knowledge of computer science. In 2022, over half of U.S. public high schools offered computer science, but just <a href="https://www.edweek.org/technology/computer-science-education-is-gaining-momentum-but-some-say-not-fast-enough/2022/09">6% of students</a> took these classes. Students who do take computer science in high school typically have had <a href="https://doi.org/10.2190/9LE6-MBXA-JDPG-UG90">early exposure to computer science</a>. Integrated computing can give all students early exposure to computer science, which I believe will increase the number of students who take computer science courses later in school. </p>
<h2>Computer science for everyone</h2>
<p>Early exposure to computer science in school is especially important for students from groups <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/exploring-the-state-of-computer-science-education-amid-rapid-policy-expansion/">underrepresented in computer science</a>. A <a href="https://advocacy.code.org/stateofcs">2022 report</a> from Code.org, a nonprofit that advocates for more computer science education in K-12 schools, found that students who are Latino, female or from low-income or rural areas are <a href="https://www.edweek.org/technology/computer-science-education-is-gaining-momentum-but-some-say-not-fast-enough/2022/09">less likely</a> to be enrolled in foundational computer science courses.</p>
<p>Teachers who want to build their computer science knowledge and apply it to their classroom can try these free self-paced, online <a href="https://gavirtualpd.catalog.instructure.com/browse/computerscience">integrated computing courses</a> that I developed, and which are tied to micro-credentials. Also, this sortable list of <a href="https://integratedcomputing.org/">integrated computing activities</a> provides free lesson plans. The activities require only a computer – no prior knowledge is needed, and young learners can complete them outside of class, too.</p>
<p>Integrated computing provides a path to increase computer literacy for all K-12 students. As technology advances at an increasing rate, I believe schools must take care that our young people do not fall behind.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205171/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lauren Margulieux receives funding from Snap, Inc., Google, the National Science Foundation, and the US Department of Education. </span></em></p>Integrated computing enables teachers to incorporate basic programming skills into K-12 students’ regular math, science and language arts classes.Lauren Margulieux, Associate Professor of Learning Technologies, Georgia State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2060082023-05-22T14:53:35Z2023-05-22T14:53:35ZSouth Africa’s 10 year-olds are struggling to read – it can be fixed<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527278/original/file-20230519-29-zuh178.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">While there's no single solution to the crisis, a range of approaches can help to bolster children's literacy.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kobus Louw/Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>More than 80% of South Africa’s grade 4 pupils – who are on average nine or 10 years old – cannot read for meaning. That means they can’t answer basic questions about or draw inferences from a text they’re reading. This worrying statistic emerged from the 2021 <a href="https://pirls2021.org/">Progress in International Reading Literacy Study</a> (PIRLS), which <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/in-numbers-sa-produces-one-of-worst-global-reading-results-among-over-50-countries-20230516">were released</a> by the country’s basic education minister, Angie Motshekga, on 16 May.</em></p>
<p><em>The Conversation Africa asked Karen Roux, a specialist in reading literacy and development of equivalent assessments, to unpack the results.</em></p>
<hr>
<h2>What is the purpose of the study?</h2>
<p>It’s an international large-scale assessment which provides participating countries with comparisons across education systems. Perhaps more importantly, it also allows countries to monitor trends over time and indicators of growth in the early years of children’s education. The assessments are conducted in five-year intervals; more than 50 countries participate. Only three African countries participated in the latest cycle: South Africa, Egypt and Morocco.</p>
<p>One of the main objectives for South African education authorities and researchers was to compare how well grade 4 learners read, across the country’s 11 official languages and its nine provinces. This information is vital to government bodies, policy-makers, non-government organisations, and scholars – it can be used to identify strengths and weaknesses and to address curriculum or policy shortcomings.</p>
<h2>How did South Africa fare?</h2>
<p>The PIRLS 2021 study showed that 81% of South African grade 4 pupils, across all 11 official languages, cannot read for meaning. Five years earlier, in the <a href="https://pirls2016.org/wp-content/uploads/encyclopedia-pirls/downloadcenter/3.%20Country%20Chapters/South%20Africa.pdf">2016 study</a>, the figure stood at 78%.</p>
<p>The latest results indicate that eight out of 10 grade 4 children did not reach the <a href="https://pirls2021.org/results/international-benchmarks/">Low International Benchmark</a>, where they are expected to read a piece of text and locate and retrieve explicitly stated information. For example, the text would say “octopuses sometimes even make rock ‘doors’ for their dens that can be pulled closed to keep them safe” and the question would ask “what do octopuses use to make doors for their dens?” </p>
<p>The texts used in these tests came from all over the world, submitted by the participating countries. Twelve were trend texts; they were used in previous PIRLS cycles. Six new tests were developed. All countries got the same tests. </p>
<h2>What explains South Africa’s performance?</h2>
<p>The study happened in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, when schools all over the world had to close for a period of time. It was to be expected that school closures would cause <a href="https://theconversation.com/heres-how-much-learning-south-african-children-lost-in-the-pandemic-183659">learning losses</a> – that is, what pupils ought to have gained over a normal year of schooling, versus what they actually learned.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-learning-losses-what-south-africas-education-system-must-focus-on-to-recover-176622">COVID learning losses: what South Africa's education system must focus on to recover</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In low- and middle-income countries, including South Africa, the pandemic <a href="https://blogs.worldbank.org/education/learning-loss-covid-sub-saharan-africa-evidence-malawi">exacerbated</a> existing learning losses. Some scholars <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0738059321001334">suggest</a> that learning losses also include the “deterioration” of accumulated knowledge that is lost over time.</p>
<h2>COVID disruptions weren’t unique to South Africa, so what explains its poor outcomes?</h2>
<p>It is a (less than) perfect storm of problems. COVID was just part of it. There are also issues with how teachers are being trained to teach languages; parents not instilling a love of reading in their children from a young age, or being involved as they are taught to read at school; and <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-south-africa-can-disrupt-its-deeply-rooted-educational-inequality-48531">inadequate school and classroom resources</a>, especially in poorer schools.</p>
<p>The country’s <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201409/languageeducationpolicy19971.pdf">school language policy</a> also likely plays a role. In South Africa, the language of learning and teaching in the early grades is meant to be the language that the pupils speak at home. However, this is not always the case; classrooms, especially in urban areas, are full of pupils speaking diverse languages – not just isiXhosa or isiZulu, for instance, but these and other African languages. </p>
<p>Then, just as the pupils are getting the hang of the language used in the early grades, they switch to English in grade 4. The foundation is not yet laid for one language before this shift happens, so the pupils struggle with the new language (English).</p>
<p><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6168212/">Language acquisition theories suggest</a> that before mastering a second language, the child must first have a solid foundation in their first, or home, language.</p>
<h2>Can this crisis be turned around?</h2>
<p>It’s been done elsewhere. </p>
<p>Brazil, which like South Africa is classified as an <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/?locations=ZA-XT">upper-middle class income country</a>, has been working hard on improving education. One of its poorest states, Ceará, has made huge strides in boosting literacy and numeracy. In <a href="https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/540371593598919465/pdf/From-Bad-to-Best-How-One-State-and-One-Municipality-in-Brazil-are-Eradicating-Illiteracy-and-Innumeracy.pdf">a report about</a> the process, the World Bank writes: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>It began with political leadership. Ceará’s government placed learning at the center of the education policy with a series of reforms under three categories.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>These three categories were: (1) incentives for municipalities to better their education outcomes; (2) extensive support from the state’s literacy programme for municipally run schools and (3) regular results monitoring.</p>
<p>As this approach shows, there’s no one solution to solve any country’s reading crisis. But political will is key. So, too, is ensuring the equitable provision of reading resources to South African schools – developed in African languages and grade appropriate. African language experts and storytellers should be the key source here. </p>
<p>Another thing that should be considered is a revision of the current <a href="https://www.education.gov.za/Portals/0/CD/National%20Curriculum%20Statements%20and%20Vocational/CAPS%20IP%20%20HOME%20ENGLISH%20GR%204-6%20%20WEB.pdf?ver=2015-01-27-160412-720">curriculum policy</a> for the early grades, introduced in 2012. The amount of time available for the skill of reading is extremely limited. Only six hours per week are allocated for home language, but this is divided into the different skills that learners must be competent in: listening and speaking, reading and viewing, writing and presenting, as well as language structures and conventions.</p>
<p>That leaves pupils with about five hours in a two-week period to work on reading. This time should be extended.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206008/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karen Roux works for the University of Pretoria. She is affiliated with Literacy Association of South Africa. </span></em></p>Political will is key to tackling pupils’ literacy struggles.Karen Roux, Senior Lecturer in Assessment and Quality Assurance, University of PretoriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1878602022-08-08T20:02:55Z2022-08-08T20:02:55Z‘It hurt my heart and my wallet’: the unnecessary test stressing teachers before they even make it to the classroom<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477973/original/file-20220808-90374-rohu21.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C38%2C5150%2C3309&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There is no shortage of articles about how teachers are <a href="https://theconversation.com/teachers-are-more-depressed-and-anxious-than-the-average-australian-117267">stressed</a>, due to their complex jobs and <a href="https://theconversation.com/this-is-like-banging-our-heads-against-the-wall-why-a-move-to-outsource-lesson-planning-has-nsw-teachers-hopping-mad-188081">high workloads</a>. </p>
<p>But what is happening before they make it to the classroom? </p>
<p>There are lots of reasons why Australia has a <a href="https://theconversation.com/growing-numbers-of-unqualified-teachers-are-being-sent-into-classrooms-this-is-not-the-way-to-fix-the-teacher-shortage-186379">teacher shortage</a> and my new research sheds light on one deterrent that is not often talked about. </p>
<p>This is the high-stakes Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Teacher Education, known as <a href="https://teacheredtest.acer.edu.au/">LANTITE</a>.</p>
<h2>What is LANTITE?</h2>
<p>Introduced in 2017, LANTITE is made up of two separate computer-based tests: one for numeracy, and one for literacy. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/this-is-like-banging-our-heads-against-the-wall-why-a-move-to-outsource-lesson-planning-has-nsw-teachers-hopping-mad-188081">'This is like banging our heads against the wall': why a move to outsource lesson planning has NSW teachers hopping mad</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The multiple-choice tests are administered independently of universities by the Australian Council for Educational Research. Universities have no visibility of the tests, or how students perform, even after results are released. </p>
<p>It costs A$196 to sit both tests, or A$98 to sit just one of them.</p>
<p>Students must find time to prepare for and attempt LANTITE on top of their theory and practical study in a teaching degree. They must pass both the literacy and numeracy components of LANTITE in order to graduate.</p>
<p>The pass rate is <a href="https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2020/07/22/student-teacher-test-graduation/">more than 90%</a>. </p>
<h2>A stress test</h2>
<p>For my doctoral research, I surveyed 189 student teachers about their experience with LANTITE through an online questionnaire. They came from 33 universities across Australia. From this group, 27 students also completed in-depth interviews to further describe their experiences. I also spoke to 41 teachers and teacher educators.</p>
<p>Among the many stories and experiences were students like Monique* who described the test as “fun” and “just like doing an IQ test”. However, it was far more common for interviewees to report <a href="https://search.informit.org/doi/epdf/10.3316/informit.747070367787061">negative experiences</a>, with a particular emphasis on the impact on mental health and wellbeing. As Suraya told me: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I ended up having a really bad panic attack, where I blacked out. I could not comprehend anything that was going on in front of me.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Suraya was not alone. My research uncovered other alarming accounts of panic attacks and even suicidal ideation from students after they had sat the test. For some students who did not pass, the stress and pressure of having to reattempt the tests resulted in prolonged mental health conditions.</p>
<p>Any test or exam creates a certain amount of stress. But for student teachers, LANTITE comes on top of existing study and practical teaching pressures as they finalise their degrees. For those students who need to reattempt one or more component of LANTITE, the stress escalates, as was the case for Vince. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>My journey has been a nightmare. I was panicking when it came to the last questions. I was running out of time and some of the words I didn’t understand because I was panicked.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>It is expensive</h2>
<p>I also found students are paying a high price to become a teacher. While the cost to sit both components of LANTITE is just under $200 per attempt, many students purchase professional study materials and pay tutors or attend workshops to help them prepare.</p>
<p>One student in the study reported spending $6,000 on private tutoring. These costs have to be paid upfront, unlike HECS loans which can be deferred.</p>
<p>Teacher educators I interviewed echoed concerns about these costs and pressures. As Wynette said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>As a student you already have time pressures, you already have stressors and financial demands […] and to have this extra thing on top is a bit more stressful.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, culturally and linguistically diverse students, and students with disability were more likely to emphasise how harsh the LANTITE experience can be. This suggests it may hindering a more diverse workforce. As Mary, another teacher educator, explained: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>If they are coming from a background or environment where they have not done a lot of high-stakes testing that will also mean that they don’t have the same experiences that your mainly more mainstream white-Anglo students do.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>We don’t need this test</h2>
<p>Yes, teachers need to have certain levels of literacy and numeracy going into the classroom. But we don’t need LANTITE to determine this. </p>
<p>Student teachers already have a wide range of assessments throughout their courses. These are both practical and theory-based and implicitly assess numeracy and literacy. For example, prior to graduating, students complete a nationally mandated individual <a href="https://www.aitsl.edu.au/deliver-ite-programs/teaching-performance-assessment">teacher performance assessment</a>, which looks at the practical skills and knowledge of a graduating teacher.</p>
<p>Teacher education programs also have ongoing accreditation requirements to ensure “<a href="https://research.acer.edu.au/aer/15/%20Bahr%20and%20Mellor">quality</a>” of graduates.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/student-teachers-must-pass-a-literacy-and-numeracy-test-before-graduating-its-unfair-and-costly-140059">Student teachers must pass a literacy and numeracy test before graduating – it's unfair and costly</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Standardised assessments in timed situations are also becoming less common in university studies, as programs seek more nuanced ways to assess the complex skills graduates need to teach.</p>
<p>A more sensible approach, which trusts the profession and universities to do their jobs training new teachers, is needed.</p>
<p>As other <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2020.1832061">studies</a> have argued, LANTITE is an ineffective quality control mechanism anyway, as you can resit the test multiple times if you fail. It does little to change who becomes a teacher and who does not. </p>
<p>If anything, LANTITE has only served to teach our future teachers how to sit a standardised test and pass. In the meantime, students’ graduation is delayed, resources are wasted and students are even more stressed. </p>
<p>As student Michael, summed it up, “it hurt my heart and my wallet”.</p>
<p><em>*All names have been changed</em></p>
<hr>
<p><em>If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187860/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alison Hilton does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New research finds students are having panic attacks and losing money on a test they must pass to qualify as teachers.Alison Hilton, Academic Chair Secondary Education, Murdoch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1881842022-08-08T12:21:33Z2022-08-08T12:21:33ZThe most recent efforts to combat teacher shortages don’t address the real problems<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477473/original/file-20220803-21-syg3j6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C0%2C5973%2C3997&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Teachers face a range of challenges, but hiring more teachers won't fix them.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/VirusOutbreakCalifornia/9e1c06a48efb4871b626326500ba287d/photo">AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>States have recently focused their efforts to reduce <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/08/03/school-teacher-shortage/">the nation’s teacher shortage</a> by promoting strategies that “<a href="https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/states-relax-teacher-certification-rules-to-combat-shortages/2022/06">remove or relax barriers to entry</a>” to quickly bring new people into the teaching profession. </p>
<p><a href="https://edsource.org/2021/california-commission-continues-to-ease-testing-requirements-for-teachers/664620">California</a>, for example, allows teacher candidates to skip basic skills and subject matter tests if they have taken approved college courses. <a href="https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/education/new-mexico-lawmakers-seek-clearer-details-on-type-of-teacher-vacancies/article_dedd2a0e-0dc3-11ed-9948-afd9903735fd.html">New Mexico</a> is replacing subject skills tests with a portfolio to demonstrate teaching competency. </p>
<p>Similarly, <a href="https://www.kxii.com/2022/05/07/oklahoma-removes-requirement-pass-general-education-portion-competency-exam-future-teachers/">Oklahoma</a> eliminated the Oklahoma General Education Test as a certification requirement. <a href="https://www.khou.com/article/news/education/missouri-education-department-loosens-restrictions-teacher-certifications/63-c5bead98-ec0c-4b7a-9e0d-a731f515863c">Missouri</a> no longer looks at a prospective teacher’s overall grades – just the ones earned in select courses required to become a teacher. <a href="https://www.al.com/educationlab/2022/07/alabama-approves-immediate-changes-to-teacher-certification-praxis.html">Alabama</a> has moved to allow some who score below the cutoff scores on teacher certification exams to still get a teacher’s license, and Arizona’s education requirements for teachers now allow <a href="https://www.fox13now.com/arizona-teachers-no-longer-need-college-degree">people without a college degree</a> to begin teaching – so long as they are currently enrolled in college.</p>
<p>All of these efforts focus on <a href="https://www.ed.gov/coronavirus/factsheets/teacher-shortage">recruiting new teachers</a>, mostly by <a href="https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/states-relax-teacher-certification-rules-to-combat-shortages/2022/06">lowering requirements to make it easier</a> for people to become certified to teach in public schools.</p>
<p>But these approaches do not address the actual causes of the <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-illinois-teacher-shortage-salary-woes-20220430-vc4g5xtbkrgfbh6tehowohtqqm-story.html">nationwide teacher shortage</a>. As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=VziSjl8AAAAJ">we</a> found doing research for our book “<a href="https://www.infoagepub.com/products/How-Did-We-Get-Here">How Did We Get Here?: The Decay of the Teaching Profession</a>,” college students who are interested in becoming teachers and current teachers agree: The root cause of the problem is a longstanding overall lack of respect for teachers and their craft, which is reflected by decades of <a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/teacher-pay-penalty-dips-but-persists-in-2019-public-school-teachers-earn-about-20-less-in-weekly-wages-than-nonteacher-college-graduates/">low pay</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-education-reforms-can-support-teachers-around-the-world-instead-of-undermining-them-166528">hyperscrutiny</a> and <a href="https://www.apa.org/education-career/k12/violence-educators-technical-report.pdf">poor working conditions</a>. </p>
<h2>Disrespect to the profession is driving teachers away</h2>
<p>Even before COVID-19 hit, teachers were <a href="https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/product-files/A_Coming_Crisis_in_Teaching_REPORT.pdf">leaving the profession at an increasing rate</a>. In the late 1980s, annual teacher turnover was 5.6%, but it has grown to around 8% over the past decade. </p>
<p>The stress of <a href="https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2022/07/26/teachers-mental-health-crisis-pay-covid-pandemic-burnout/">teaching through a pandemic</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/teacher-burnout-hits-record-high-5-essential-reads-185550">has been speculated to drive away even more teachers</a>. About 1 in 6 teachers expressed that they would <a href="https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA1108-1.html">likely leave their job</a> pre-pandemic, but this increased to 1 in 4 by the 2020-21 school year. While teachers continue to leave classrooms, <a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/the-teacher-shortage-is-real-large-and-growing-and-worse-than-we-thought-the-first-report-in-the-perfect-storm-in-the-teacher-labor-market-series/">fewer people are signing up</a> to replace them. </p>
<p>In fact, <a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/the-teacher-shortage-is-real-large-and-growing-and-worse-than-we-thought-the-first-report-in-the-perfect-storm-in-the-teacher-labor-market-series/">the number of incoming teachers declined</a> from 275,000 in 2010 to under 200,000 in 2020 and is projected to be under 120,000 by 2025. And even those staying on the job are so unhappy, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/mar/25/teachers-strikes-us-low-pay-covid">many have been striking</a>.</p>
<p>We found that the reasons teachers are leaving primarily revolve around the disrespect they and the profession consistently face. For example, teachers <a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/teacher-pay-penalty-dips-but-persists-in-2019-public-school-teachers-earn-about-20-less-in-weekly-wages-than-nonteacher-college-graduates/">earn about 20% less</a> than similarly educated professionals.</p>
<p>They also faced an <a href="https://theconversation.com/teacher-burnout-hits-record-high-5-essential-reads-185550">escalating workload</a>, even before the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-022-09533-2">pandemic placed additional demands</a> on their time, energy and mental health.</p>
<p>In addition, teachers have been <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-education-reforms-can-support-teachers-around-the-world-instead-of-undermining-them-166528">experiencing diminishing control</a> over what and how they teach. They are also regularly exposed to a continued tide of <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/teacher-begs-parents-discipline-disrespectful-kids-viral-video-1701487">disrespectful student behavior</a> and parental hostility, as highlighted by a <a href="https://www.apa.org/education-career/k12/violence-educators-technical-report.pdf">survey of 15,000 educators</a> that revealed a growing trend of students verbally and physically harassing teachers, as well as parents engaging in online harassment and retaliatory behaviors for teachers simply doing their jobs.</p>
<p>This overall lack of respect drives turnover from existing teachers and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-07-2018-0129">discourages potential teachers</a> from considering the profession.</p>
<p>One college student told us, “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-07-2018-0129">I looked into teaching as a career pretty strongly</a> … and every person I talked to, be it a grade school teacher or college professor, told me the same thing – that it was a lot of work, it was an unstable work environment, and the pay was very poor for the amount of work that you put in.” Unsurprisingly, she chose another career path.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477475/original/file-20220803-24-k2avdp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man in camouflage stands in a classroom and hands a piece of paper to a student" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477475/original/file-20220803-24-k2avdp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477475/original/file-20220803-24-k2avdp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477475/original/file-20220803-24-k2avdp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477475/original/file-20220803-24-k2avdp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477475/original/file-20220803-24-k2avdp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477475/original/file-20220803-24-k2avdp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477475/original/file-20220803-24-k2avdp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In early 2022, New Mexico’s teacher shortage got so bad that the governor called in the National Guard to serve as substitutes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/VirusOutbreakSoldiersasTeachers/dad689df567f4a77874497b3506f0963/photo">AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The wrong solutions for the problem</h2>
<p>A growing number of states have eliminated or have proposed to remove <a href="https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/states-relax-teacher-certification-rules-to-combat-shortages/2022/06">basic skills and subject matter exam requirements</a> for teacher certification. Those prerequisites have long served as <a href="https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/10090/chapter/2">quality control checks</a> for prospective teachers. While they do not guarantee effective teaching, they do serve as a minimum qualification threshold.</p>
<p>We believe efforts to loosen requirements for new teachers will bring more disrespect to the profession. History also suggests that they will make it so that schools that serve mostly students of color will have <a href="https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/crdc-teacher-access-report">even fewer certified and experienced teachers</a> than they already do.</p>
<p>But more directly, these efforts to boost teacher recruitment don’t address the reasons teachers are leaving the profession in the first place, which drive <a href="https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/blog/teacher-shortages-take-center-stage">90% of the demand for new teachers</a>.</p>
<p>Lowering the standards to allow more people to enter the teaching profession may, for a short period, boost the number of people available to stand in front of classrooms. But that approach does not make teaching an attractive profession to consider, nor worthwhile for someone to stay and thrive in. Solving the teacher shortage problem requires solutions that reduce the numbers of teachers leaving the field and specifically address the lack of respect, low pay, hyperscrutiny and poor working conditions that they regularly endure.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188184/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Looser requirements for teacher certification don’t fix teachers’ problems, which are low pay, high workload and lack of respect.Henry Tran, Associate Professor of Education Leadership, University of South CarolinaDouglas A. Smith, Associate Professor of Education, Iowa State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1839672022-06-07T12:32:12Z2022-06-07T12:32:12ZSchool mental health resources critical to ensuring safe school environments<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466997/original/file-20220603-14-syxar7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=26%2C0%2C3000%2C1994&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">School counselors like Jacquelyn Indrisano, left, can help students feel welcome and safe at school.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/guidance-counselor-jacquelyn-indrisano-embraces-ninth-news-photo/1169518487">Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Whenever a mass shooting takes place in schools, public discussion often focuses on laws or policies that might have prevented the tragedy. But averting school violence needs more than gun policy. It requires both <a href="https://luskin.ucla.edu/scholars-issue-call-for-evidence-based-action-to-prevent-school-violence">prevention and crisis response</a> that take students’ emotional well-being – not just their physical safety – into account.</p>
<p>School violence prevention also requires professionals – counselors, psychologists and social workers – who know how to create an <a href="https://safesupportivelearning.ed.gov/topic-research/safety/emotional-safety">emotionally safe environment</a>, which research shows is critical to safe schools. Unfortunately, statistics show there is a <a href="https://www.edweek.org/leadership/school-counselors-and-psychologists-remain-scarce-even-as-needs-rise/2022/03">critical shortage</a> of such employees. Staffing shortages have become a major obstacle to creating schools that are emotionally safe for children. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=wP7uXtkAAAAJ">school psychology professors</a> who <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=C9YZiOsAAAAJ&hl=en">train future school psychologists</a>, we know that school counselors, psychologists and social workers are in short supply. Though school shootings have led to increased hiring of police officers <a href="https://www.aclu.org/report/cops-and-no-counselors">to serve in schools</a>, the hiring of experts in <a href="http://www.schoolmentalhealth.org/Resources/Foundations-of-School-Mental-Health/">school mental health</a> has not kept pace. Demand is greater than supply, a trend that <a href="https://bhw.hrsa.gov/sites/default/files/bureau-health-workforce/data-research/behavioral-health-2013-2025.pdf">is projected</a> to continue in the years to come. </p>
<h2>Staffing matters</h2>
<p>Employment of school counselors is expected to <a href="https://www.bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/school-and-career-counselors.htm">grow 11%</a> over the coming decade. However, there are not enough trained professionals to fill the positions. Current ratios are already twice what they should be, with one <a href="https://www.schoolcounselor.org/getmedia/b079d17d-6265-4166-a120-3b1f56077649/School-Counselors-Matter.pdf">school counselor</a> for every 464 students and one <a href="https://www.nasponline.org/research-and-policy/policy-priorities/critical-policy-issues/shortage-of-school-psychologists">school psychologist</a> for every 1,200 students. These ratios are <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2019/2019020/index.asp">even higher</a> in schools where most students are members of ethnic or racial minorities.</p>
<p>Better-staffed schools are <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J202v06n04_02">more likely</a> to use preventive and restorative approaches to student violence – ones that aim to educate, rather than those that simply aim to punish. In understaffed schools, providers manage only to keep up with emergencies, rather than doing the preventative work required to <a href="https://www.nasponline.org/resources-and-publications/resources-and-podcasts/school-safety-and-crisis/systems-level-prevention/a-framework-for-safe-and-successful-schools">make schools safer and more successful</a>.</p>
<p>Key preventive and restorative activities to promote emotionally safe environments include:</p>
<ol>
<li><p><strong>Promoting connected communities:</strong> Research has found that when students feel more comfortable at school, and feel like they belong there, they are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-020-00142-8">less likely</a> to engage in aggressive behavior at school – even when they have experienced violence at home. Key activities such as group decision-making, teamwork-building and conflict resolution – often led by teachers with support from school mental health personnel – can help build this type of community. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>Teaching social-emotional skills:</strong> School mental health professionals can help to ensure all students are taught strategies to <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.772260">identify</a> their feelings, calm themselves and connect with others. Students with these skills not only have fewer conduct problems and less emotional distress at school but <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01564.x">get better grades as well</a>. Most states, however, <a href="https://doi.org/10.17105/SPR-2017.0116.V47-3">don’t require schools to teach</a> these skills to all students. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>Intervening early:</strong> Schools are in a unique position to provide proactive supports when data suggests widespread need. For example, rates of anxiety and depression in youth <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2782796">have doubled</a> since the onset of the pandemic, such that as many as 20% of students in a classroom may be affected. Targeted therapeutic supports delivered in small group formats by school mental health personnel <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2016.10.005">can help prevent</a> the development of future disorders. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>Providing accessible mental health suppport:</strong> Schools can be a primary source for mental health support for young people in crisis. This includes both providing direct services in school and coordinating care with community providers. For many students, especially students of color and those with fewer financial resources, school may be the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/josh.12753">only accessible way</a> to receive mental health treatment. </p></li>
</ol>
<h2>Preparing school staff</h2>
<p>Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, and much more severely since it began, <a href="https://theconversation.com/students-are-returning-to-school-with-anxiety-grief-and-gaps-in-social-skills-will-there-be-enough-school-mental-health-resources-165279">schools have been struggling</a> to provide enough mental health support to students, given insufficient staffing. </p>
<p>There are several federal bills proposed that aim to expand the number of school mental health workers. <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/4198/text">One bill</a> would help grow the pipeline by subsidizing the cost of graduate training for those who commit to working in schools. <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/6214/text">Another</a> would provide grants directly to schools to fund additional in-school positions. However, experts project both bills only have a <a href="https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/117/hr6214">3% chance</a> of being enacted by Congress.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183967/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amy Briesch receives funding from the U.S. Department of Education.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sandra M. Chafouleas receives funding from National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Education, Principal Financial Foundation, and the Neag Foundation.</span></em></p>School violence prevention requires professionals – counselors, psychologists and social workers – who know how to create an emotionally safe environment. Those staffers are in very short supply.Amy Briesch, Associate Professor of School Psychology, Northeastern UniversitySandra M. Chafouleas, Professor of Educational Psychology, University of ConnecticutLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1816972022-05-26T12:26:30Z2022-05-26T12:26:30ZWant to expand computer science education? Educate more teachers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464866/original/file-20220523-23-ehi9kr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5691%2C3797&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A teacher works with students in a computer lab.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/mature-teacher-assisting-female-students-using-royalty-free-image/1055844022">Maskot via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When advocates push for computer science education, usually they’re talking about boosting the number of schools offering computer science classes – <a href="https://advocacy.code.org/2021_state_of_cs.pdf">with the intent to reach more students</a>. But from our perspective as scholars of computer science education, a key factor is how many teachers are qualified to teach the subject.</p>
<p>Data from 2020 indicates that in one of the most advanced high school computer science classes taught around the country, the College Board’s Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles course, enrollment <a href="https://cs4all.home.blog">grew from nearly 44,000 in 2017 to more than 114,000 in 2020</a>. The growth in enrollment – for that class and other computer science courses leading up to it – has been driven by more teachers taking quick classes on how to teach computer science.</p>
<p>Expanding the number of computer science courses depends on educating even more teachers to teach them. But almost half of all U.S. states don’t have a plan to teach computer science at the K-12 level. There are eight states that lack certification for computer science teachers. And 27 states and the District of Columbia don’t offer incentives for higher education institutions to offer computer science teacher education programs, according to data from <a href="https://code.org/advocacy/landscape.pdf">Code.org</a>.</p>
<p>What this means is schools won’t have enough teachers to expand computer science education. Increasing high-quality access to computer science is important for students who want to use computing as a tool for <a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/fullHtml/10.1145/3029595">problem-solving</a> and <a href="https://www.learntechlib.org/p/151572/">creativity</a>.</p>
<p><iframe id="E0xM0" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/E0xM0/16/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Teacher education programs</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1953163.1953193">National Science Foundation</a> and private groups have <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=134316&org=NSF">set up programs to increase</a> the number of computer science teachers. But most of those training efforts happen in <a href="https://code.org/educate/professional-development-online">one- to two-week sessions</a> that typically prepare teachers without a computing background to <a href="https://www.pltw.org/our-programs/pltw-computer-science">teach basic computer science principles</a>.</p>
<p>They do teach some of the computer science content teachers will need to impart, but they emerge from the training often lacking the <a href="https://narst.org/research-matters/pedagogical-content-knowledge">ability</a> to translate that content for students. The short-term courses don’t offer that level of depth.</p>
<p>Without policies and incentives for more dedicated teacher preparation, we believe many new computer science teachers won’t be adequately prepared. Two-week training courses can give prospective computer science teachers a grounding in the basics. But in our view they can’t provide enough depth to prepare teachers to deliver high-quality computer science instruction. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464060/original/file-20220518-21-dyxnjp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Girls work on computers while a woman assists." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464060/original/file-20220518-21-dyxnjp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464060/original/file-20220518-21-dyxnjp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464060/original/file-20220518-21-dyxnjp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464060/original/file-20220518-21-dyxnjp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464060/original/file-20220518-21-dyxnjp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464060/original/file-20220518-21-dyxnjp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464060/original/file-20220518-21-dyxnjp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fifth graders at Marshall Elementary School in Marysville, Wash., participate in computer science class.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/GirlsTechScores/f038776721b740dcb797dce201f86061/photo">AP Photo/Elaine Thompson</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A combination as a solution</h2>
<p>At <a href="https://education.msu.edu/news/2021/msu-helps-increase-computer-science-equity-and-access-in-detroit/">Michigan State University</a>, in partnership with University of Detroit-Mercy, we have begun exploring another approach that we hope will better prepare school teachers to teach a full range of computer science courses.</p>
<p>Our effort puts university instructors with deep knowledge of computer science in high school computer science classes alongside a schoolteacher who is seeking to become a computer science teacher. The university instructor initially takes the lead, teaching the high school students while simultaneously demonstrating best practices for the teacher. As the year progresses, the high school teacher gains knowledge and experience, ultimately taking on more responsibility in the classroom.</p>
<p>We expect our evaluations to find that this method will allow the teachers to become more comfortable with the content. Then they can independently offer high-quality computer science instruction.</p>
<p>We have also seen great opportunities arise for schoolteachers to connect with their students’ identities and interests to explore computer science. For instance, one teacher used a coding tool called <a href="https://csdt.org/culture/cornrowcurves/index.html">Cornrow Curves</a> – named after an African and African American style of hair braiding – to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/3379918">explain and explore how algorithms work</a>.</p>
<p>More recently, we have been thinking about how to build on social relationships that students value – such as with coaches and barbers – to design a computationally and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1145/3379918">culturally rich learning environment</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/181697/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aman Yadav receives funding from National Science Foundation, Robin Hood Foundation, and Apple. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Lachney does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Without university-level programs to provide teacher training for advanced computer science, states will not be able to offer high-quality computer science education to all students.Aman Yadav, Professor of Educational Psychology and Educational Technology, Michigan State UniversityMichael Lachney, Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology and Educational Technology, Michigan State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1748862022-01-20T04:29:13Z2022-01-20T04:29:13ZSchools can expect a year of disruption. Here are 7 ways they can help support the well-being of students and staff<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441647/original/file-20220120-14-1z0n4xf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/african-american-teacher-schoolgirl-wearing-protective-1798363273">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There’s just over a week to go before term one starts across the country – except in Queensland which has pushed back the start of the school year. We are yet to see states and territory plans for how to open schools safely, and to minimise the inevitable Omicron-induced teacher shortages, but one thing is clear: even with plans in place, schools will continue to experience disruptions in 2022.</p>
<p>As such, they will bear the consequences for the mental health of <a href="https://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/news/teachers-the-forgotten-frontline-of-the-pandemic/">their staff</a> and <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/children-youth/covid-19-and-young-people">students</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-and-schools-australia-is-about-to-feel-the-full-brunt-of-its-teacher-shortage-174885">COVID and schools: Australia is about to feel the full brunt of its teacher shortage</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>We investigated <a href="https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:98b178a">what schools have done during the pandemic</a> to help support and maintain the well-being of their students and staff. We reviewed studies world-wide on the initiatives they used and listened to 25 experts – school leaders, teachers and school psychologists and counsellors – from public, independent, primary and secondary schools across Australia. Most participants (80%) were from Queensland schools and all had experienced school disruptions during the pandemic. </p>
<p>We pulled out seven steps schools can take to mitigate mental ill health during COVID-related disruptions and help staff, students and the school community deal with uncertainty.</p>
<h2>1. Have clearly outlined plans for certain events</h2>
<p>School staff need a clear protocol for what to do when certain events occur, so all staff are on the same page. </p>
<p>For example, what happens if the school closes for face-to-face teaching (fully or partially)? What roles will each staff member play? What happens when a child or teacher gets very sick or even dies? </p>
<p>These guidance documents must be easily accessible and every staff member must know where to look.</p>
<p>One teacher whose school had such plans in place told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>we had excellent protocols […] it was great to just get that folder off the shelf and go.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>2. Help staff maintain their own well-being and emotionally support students</h2>
<p>Schools must provide staff with the skills they need to have difficult conversations with students, identify those at risk, and incorporate some psychological and emotional strategies into their teaching practice.</p>
<p>Our interviewees described such professional development being part of their weekly after-school staff meetings (sometimes termed learning lounges). They recommended many of these meetings could focus on self-care and provide opportunities for teachers to share their experiences of stress and how to deal with it. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441649/original/file-20220120-15-zgfq8d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441649/original/file-20220120-15-zgfq8d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441649/original/file-20220120-15-zgfq8d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441649/original/file-20220120-15-zgfq8d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441649/original/file-20220120-15-zgfq8d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441649/original/file-20220120-15-zgfq8d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441649/original/file-20220120-15-zgfq8d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441649/original/file-20220120-15-zgfq8d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">At weekly staff meetings teachers could share their experiences and coping strategies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/smiling-multiracial-colleagues-talking-eating-pizza-1075401611">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This time could also be used to give teachers strategies to manage their own well-being. One <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18073689">study we looked at</a> examined the effectiveness of a reframing intervention to build resilience and reduce burnout in teachers in Israel. Teachers would identify their stressful thoughts and then find evidence for opposing these thoughts. Teachers reported increased resilience and improved well-being relative to the control group who reported greater burnout.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/is-learning-more-important-than-well-being-teachers-told-us-how-covid-highlighted-ethical-dilemmas-at-school-144854">Is learning more important than well-being? Teachers told us how COVID highlighted ethical dilemmas at school</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>School psychologists and counsellors and other professionals could also share strategies with teachers for how to incorporate mindfulness techniques into classes. </p>
<p>And they can help teachers have difficult conversations with kids. It is normal for students to feel worried or sad after loss of any kind. In the initial stages, they need to have a conversation with a familiar person who can empathise with their worry and grief. Teachers who know a student well can be helped on how to have these early conversations and refer the student for further support when needed.</p>
<h2>3. Be patient with students who may need time to adjust</h2>
<p>Children and young people benefit from a secure school environment and familiar routines, but returning to school after a disruption requires flexibility. </p>
<p>Schools and teachers must understand it won’t be possible to get back to normal right away, so be patient with all students and their unique responses. Students may have had different COVID-related experiences and where one student takes disruption in their stride, another might need more support and time to adjust.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-familiar-place-among-the-chaos-how-schools-can-help-students-cope-after-the-bushfires-129904">A familiar place among the chaos: how schools can help students cope after the bushfires</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>4. Incorporate mindfulness and calming techniques into classes</h2>
<p>Incorporating activities to teach self-calming, emotion regulation, and other coping skills into regular class time can help. Mindfulness has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12980">been shown to be particularly effective</a> for reducing anxiety, depression and stress in 14-18 year olds.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-015-0389-4">review of numerous studies</a> recommends 35 minute group mindfulness sessions, twice a week for eight weeks (including basic stress management education, yoga, and breathing and relaxation techniques) delivered by <a href="https://www.mindfulmeditationaustralia.org.au/what-we-do/mindful-schools">trained teachers</a> as part of typical classroom routine. There are also <a href="https://www.smilingmind.com.au/smiling-mind-app">free smartphone apps</a> tailored to young people that offer mindfulness and other exercises.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441650/original/file-20220120-22-11fsadr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441650/original/file-20220120-22-11fsadr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441650/original/file-20220120-22-11fsadr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441650/original/file-20220120-22-11fsadr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441650/original/file-20220120-22-11fsadr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441650/original/file-20220120-22-11fsadr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441650/original/file-20220120-22-11fsadr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441650/original/file-20220120-22-11fsadr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Practicing relaxation and mindfulness techniques such as art therapy or going for a walk can help kids feel less stressed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/kids-hands-holding-colored-pencils-painting-663657268">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One teacher we interviewed told us “a pandemic feels like you’re out of control”, and recommended “normalising that […] using mindfulness, gratitude and going for walks.”</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110560">A study</a> of teenagers in China found listening to daily mindfulness increased students’ resilience and emotional intelligence. In <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s13034-021-00367-5">another study</a>, primary school students in Canada received two forms of online art therapy which showed a reduction in their anxiety.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-place-to-get-away-from-it-all-5-ways-school-libraries-support-student-well-being-145180">A place to get away from it all: 5 ways school libraries support student well-being</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>5. Put together a team to address school community’s concerns</h2>
<p>Principals (or a senior leader) should be available for teachers and parents to express their concerns to. </p>
<p>The school can bring together a leadership team of school psychologists/counsellors, chaplains, health nurses and other support people to share the burden of addressing them.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441653/original/file-20220120-14-1uwp2yj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441653/original/file-20220120-14-1uwp2yj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441653/original/file-20220120-14-1uwp2yj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441653/original/file-20220120-14-1uwp2yj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441653/original/file-20220120-14-1uwp2yj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441653/original/file-20220120-14-1uwp2yj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441653/original/file-20220120-14-1uwp2yj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441653/original/file-20220120-14-1uwp2yj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Schools may have to close due to infections, but keeping the community informed in a timely way can help them cope with uncertainty.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/school-closed-sign-protective-mask-hanging-1678762114">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Regular communication is also important. Anxiety will be high and keeping the school community regularly informed of any changes or protocols will go some way to calming the sense of uncertainty.</p>
<p>One school leader told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s really important to communicate regularly and the same message over and over again to everybody.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>6. Have a support system in place for teachers</h2>
<p>We found an effective way to help support teachers is to have a buddy system so teachers can support each other.</p>
<p>Another way is to make sure the leadership team checks in with all the staff members regularly. As one school leader told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>we had a group list of […] every single staff member and we made a commitment that we would ring each one of those people once a week.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/teachers-are-expected-to-put-on-a-brave-face-and-ignore-their-emotions-we-need-to-talk-about-it-153642">Teachers are expected to put on a brave face and ignore their emotions. We need to talk about it</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>7. Identify and keep an eye on students at risk</h2>
<p>Watch for signs when a student is not coping in the weeks and months following a disruption. Young people don’t always ask for help, but their <a href="https://raisingchildren.net.au/">behaviours can be a sign</a> when something is wrong. </p>
<p>For example, a younger child might say they have a tummy ache, become aggressive, or disinterested in the things they usually enjoy. An adolescent might be moody, irritable, say negative things about themselves, and isolate from friends. If you see students whose behaviour is telling you they are having mental-health issues, refer them to specialised services.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/more-children-are-self-harming-since-the-start-of-the-pandemic-heres-what-parents-and-teachers-can-do-to-help-167436">More children are self-harming since the start of the pandemic. Here's what parents and teachers can do to help</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The authors would like to thank Professor Annemaree Carroll from The University of Queensland for her involvement in all aspects of the project.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/174886/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth J Edwards received funding from Queensland Department of Education under the Education Horizon Grant scheme.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marilyn Campbell received funding from Queensland Department of Education under the Education Horizon Grant scheme.</span></em></p>We investigated the initiatives schools around the world took to help support and maintain the well-being of their students and staff. We pulled out seven things that made a difference.Elizabeth J Edwards, Senior Lecturer in Education, The University of QueenslandMarilyn Campbell, Professor Faculty of Education, School of Cultural and Professional Learning, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1724862021-12-05T19:12:03Z2021-12-05T19:12:03ZWe’re short of teachers, and the struggles to find training placements in schools add to the problem<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435470/original/file-20211202-17-es116s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=50%2C0%2C5608%2C3727&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Teaching graduates want “more time spent in schools”. This <a href="https://dro.deakin.edu.au/eserv/DU:30080802/walkergibbs-studyingthe-2015.pdf">research finding</a> is noted in the <a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/quality-initial-teacher-education-review/resources/quality-initial-teacher-education-review-2021-discussion-paper">discussion paper</a> of the <a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/quality-initial-teacher-education-review">teacher education review</a> announced by the federal education minister in March this year. </p>
<p>However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of pre-service teachers were unable to do any teaching placements. This <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/lockdowns-rob-student-teachers-of-classroom-training-20210909-p58q4w.html">breakdown of the placement system</a> highlighted existing weaknesses in teacher education, which now threaten future teacher supply.</p>
<p>Schools are already <a href="https://www.theeducatoronline.com/k12/news/whats-being-done-to-address-teacher-shortages/278840">short of teachers</a>. A 2021 Victorian government <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7H3DghvbQA">advertisement</a> tells us: “We’re looking for 4,000 new teachers.” New South Wales is on a <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-joy-of-teaching-plan-to-find-3700-new-teachers-to-plug-school-shortage-20211014-p5902t.html">similar search</a>. <a href="https://www.aare.edu.au/blog/?p=9732">Current shortages</a> are worrying given that prospective teachers must make up the placements lost in 2020 and 2021 before they are ready to teach. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1445902693424193536"}"></div></p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/john-hattie-why-i-support-the-education-ministers-teacher-education-review-160181">John Hattie: why I support the education minister's teacher education review</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>What is more concerning is that a three-year Australian Research Council <a href="https://researchdata.edu.au/discovery-projects-grant-id-dp170103203/944143">investigation</a>, “Teaching workforce development through integrated partnerships”, identified these problems facing teacher education before COVID hit. </p>
<p>The research project aimed to understand how schools and universities work together in teacher education. The researchers interviewed people from schools, including principals, as well as university academics, administrators and deans. </p>
<h2>What did the research find?</h2>
<p>The first significant weakness identified was that universities need teachers to do the daily work of supervising pre-service teachers. </p>
<p>The problem here is that schools must look after their own students first. Teachers’ work is demanding. For many teachers, supporting pre-service teachers is one job too many. </p>
<p>This means it is often difficult for universities to persuade schools to accept placements. A placement officer interviewed said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>You felt like the telemarketer that called people at seven o'clock at night and no one wanted to speak to you.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/exhausted-beyond-measure-what-teachers-are-saying-about-covid-19-and-the-disruption-to-education-143601">'Exhausted beyond measure': what teachers are saying about COVID-19 and the disruption to education</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The research also found that all universities employ many placement workers whose job it is to secure placements for pre-service teachers in schools. But many universities do not have enough resources to support all those they place. One university administrator said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We send students out, but we don’t send ongoing support or connection with the unit. It’s just a funding cut. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>In other universities, pre-service teachers were better supported. However, the staff who visited schools were often casual staff who had limited contact with their universities themselves.</p>
<h2>Unis and schools need to work closely together</h2>
<p>The picture is one of schools and universities having limited connection as they work to educate future teachers. It certainly does not match the goal of “seamless integration of the work of staff in the two settings” proposed in a 2014 ministerial <a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/teaching-and-school-leadership/resources/action-now-classroom-ready-teachers-report-0">review of teacher education</a>. The 2021 review agrees that school and university staff must work closely together to create strong teachers. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-education-minister-wants-graduating-teachers-to-be-classroom-ready-but-the-classroom-is-not-what-it-used-to-be-159051">The education minister wants graduating teachers to be 'classroom-ready'. But the classroom is not what it used to be</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In the ARC investigation, researchers did find examples of close partnerships between schools and universities. Lecturers set up programs designed to give their students more in-depth experience in schools than the usual placement arrangements. </p>
<p>One lecturer, for example, arranged for her pre-service teachers to assist in a school’s sports program. She wanted future teachers to see “the reality of teaching […] through the more informal, team teaching”. </p>
<p>As a result she found her pre-service teachers “increase[d] their confidence” and “the year 5/6 class teachers […][were] grateful for support in coaching their students”. She felt proud to give her pre-service teachers “genuine experiences of teaching practice”.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1369233725129711616"}"></div></p>
<p>But this useful collaboration relied on the commitment of the individual lecturer who as “instigator” felt “responsible for "massaging’ the relationships” between the school and university. She found she could not maintain the partnership once the pandemic hit. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>[Pre-service teachers] and their school partnership learning were left behind in the dust.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>A model for supporting placements</h2>
<p>A group of school principals started a partnership with a particular university because they wanted to help educate the kind of graduate they wanted to employ. This project not only survived COVID, it was also useful during that difficult time. </p>
<p>The schools remained committed to taking placement students. They included them in online teaching at a time when many schools were not prepared to do so. </p>
<p>This partnership was also distinctive in that it was supported by <a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/heppp">federal funding</a> for schools in low socieoconomic areas. This support allowed the schools and the university to set up processes that meant they communicated regularly and solved problems together. </p>
<p>People interviewed from both schools and universities agreed this close collaboration was ideal. But the research made clear these partnerships were on a small scale compared to the large placement network. </p>
<p>In 2021, one of the universities studied had placement relationships with more than 600 schools but had “integrated partnerships” with about 70 schools. </p>
<p>The large placement system was not able to do its job of securing placements during the pandemic. This is a problem if we want sufficient future teachers, let alone ones who have benefited from close links between university and school learning while completing their course. </p>
<h2>What can be done to improve the system?</h2>
<p>Governments need to work with schools to give teachers time in their workload to supervise pre-service teachers. Currently, most teachers receive a small payment for supervision, but this does not make it easier to manage the important work.</p>
<p>The ARC project showed the value of small-scale partnerships that support the larger placement system. These partnerships experiment with new practices and strengthen teacher education. </p>
<p>Adequate resources to sustain these partnerships would mean the individual work of teacher educators is not lost under pressure of circumstances.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172486/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Josephine Ryan participated in the investigation funded by the Australian Research Council "Teaching workforce development through integrated partnerships". </span></em></p>Teaching graduates must have spent time training in schools for the day they take charge of their own classes. But the past two years have laid bare the system’s failings.Josephine Ryan, English/Literacy Education Lecturer and Deputy Head, School of Education (Victoria), Australian Catholic UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1665282021-10-04T13:08:30Z2021-10-04T13:08:30ZHow education reforms can support teachers around the world instead of undermining them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422687/original/file-20210922-25-zllvey.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C5551%2C3700&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Access to qualified teachers is a major source of educational inequality around the world.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/teacher-sings-a-song-with-her-kindergarten-class-during-the-news-photo/1334723201">Paul Bersebach/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://en.unesco.org/commemorations/worldteachersday">World Teachers’ Day</a>, held on October 5 each year since 1994, is an annual event to reflect on the progress teachers have made. </p>
<p>But in many countries, including the United States, the <a href="https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1226&context=gse_pubs">professional status</a> of teachers has declined in the last decade. </p>
<p>For example, studies in <a href="https://www.routledge.com/A-Class-Act-Changing-Teachers-Work-the-State-and-Globalisation/Robertson/p/book/9780815335788">Britain</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487105282579">Japan</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00071005.2018.1497770">Hong Kong</a> show an erosion of teacher autonomy and public confidence in teachers, which leads to teachers feeling disempowered and demoralized. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/662010">Job satisfaction</a> has also <a href="https://www.metlife.com/about-us/newsroom/2012/march/metlife-survey-of-the-american-teacher-finds-decreased-teacher-s/">deteriorated</a> among teachers in the U.S., where teacher education itself has <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Struggle-for-the-Soul-of-Teacher-Education/Zeichner/p/book/9781138064096">become a target</a> of policymakers who think it requires higher standards and greater state control.</p>
<p>As a researcher who studies <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=VCt87SkAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate">teacher reform initiatives around the world</a>, I have seen very few reforms <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-3679(2013)0000019016">do what they were designed to do</a>, which is to improve the quality of teachers’ work and their professional standing. </p>
<p>With colleagues in the U.S., Sweden and South Korea, I researched <a href="https://pages.pedf.cuni.cz/uvrv/files/2019/10/IRDE_Seminar-LeTendre_SettingTeacherPolicy24-10-2019-1.pdf">teacher-focused policies</a> in four Nordic countries (Finland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark) and four East Asian countries (Taiwan, Singapore, Japan and South Korea) from 1995 to 2020.</p>
<p>All eight countries are stable, wealthy democracies whose school systems are generally regarded as having solid – even exemplary – educational systems. In other words, one might not expect them to be that worried about their teachers. Yet over the 25-year period that we studied, these countries collectively passed 56 national policies that were specifically aimed at reforming some part of teacher career development, education or training. </p>
<p>Sweden was the most active with 12 reforms, while Finland passed only two. </p>
<p>Sometimes these reforms didn’t really help teachers. In fact, some <a href="https://eera-ecer.de/ecer-programmes/conference/26/contribution/50376/">reforms actually undermined the quality</a> of the national teaching force. </p>
<p>Here is what we found is mostly likely to work when it comes to new teacher policies.</p>
<h2>Make policies comprehensive</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.tcpress.com/improving-teacher-quality-9780807771228">Comprehensive teacher policies</a> address at least three key areas: recruitment and training, hiring and placement, and professional development. This is crucial in addressing significant problems like teacher shortages, where focusing on recruiting and training alone <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/03/30/395322012/the-hidden-costs-of-teacher-turnover">has not worked, at least in the U.S.</a> </p>
<p>However, most of the eight countries in our study passed polices that target only one of these stages. Some nations addressed more than one, but the reforms were often uncoordinated. And, these nations were also influenced by international organizations like the <a href="https://www.oecd.org/about/">Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development</a>, resulting in contradictory reforms that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2016.1172502">undermined the effectiveness of national systems</a>.</p>
<p>Denmark was the only nation that specifically <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/oecd-reviews-of-evaluation-and-assessment-in-education-denmark-2011_9789264116597-en">targeted recruitment</a> by trying to recruit teachers from the best college graduates. Sweden was the only country to pass a policy vaguely related to teacher placement. They started <a href="https://www.lararforbundet.se/artiklar/fast-track-an-opportunity-for-newly-arrived-teachers">“fast track” programs</a> that prepare immigrants with teacher qualifications to teach in Swedish schools. These programs were spread around the country in six universities that would encourage placing the graduates outside the Stockholm area. </p>
<p>Instead, countries concentrated on policies that set standards for teacher certification, improved work conditions and extended opportunities for professional development. While these are important areas, they don’t address crucial bottlenecks in recruitment and distribution. Simply setting standards does not guarantee that qualified teachers will be available where they are needed. For example, due to shortages in certain subjects, teachers are often assigned to teach courses that they are not qualified to teach – something called <a href="https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9789463009539">“out-of-field” teaching</a>.</p>
<p>Despite all the teacher-focused reforms that have occurred, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X07308739">access to qualified teachers</a> remains a major source of educational inequality in the world today. </p>
<h2>Focus on teachers’ actual needs</h2>
<p>There is <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1108/S1479-3679201527">international consensus</a> that effective teacher education and development involves offering teachers multiple opportunities to <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/345209973_Opportunities_to_study_practice_and_rehearse_teaching_in_teacher_education_An_international_perspective">practice and reflect on</a> actual teaching practices. This means professional development should be integrated into local schools where local practitioners can identify the problems they face while working with experts to identify solutions. Yet few of the policies we analyzed indicated this as a goal.</p>
<p>One example that did engage teachers was the <a href="https://www.eera-ecer.de/ecer-programmes/conference/20/contribution/34416/">OSAAVA program</a> in Finland, which supported projects where teachers and schools could identify what expertise they already had available, areas that needed more professional development and how to sustain this professional development over time.</p>
<p>In addition to being focused on actual problems, <a href="https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/effective-teacher-professional-development-report">good professional development</a> supports collaboration between teachers, universities and the communities where they work. In most industries, professional development is created by expert practitioners in the field. Teacher professional development, however, is mostly <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00071005.1982.9973622">created by academics in universities</a>. To achieve effective professional development often requires reforming the relationship between universities and schools. </p>
<h2>Include teachers in the process</h2>
<p>In both Nordic and East Asian countries, governments often passed reforms related to teacher professional development by setting standards, but few governments involved teachers in the process. This undermines teachers’ professional status and autonomy. It also means that the professional development is less likely to meet teachers’ needs. </p>
<p>In Japan, in the early 2000s, the government took what was once a teacher-led form of professional development, <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Lesson_Study.html?id=vNsQGKrC-hwC">Lesson Study</a>, and integrated it into required professional development. This weakened the collaboration which research had shown to be essential for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2018.10.012">effective teacher learning</a>. In 2017, I conducted interviews with teacher educators who complained about the long-term decline in Lesson Study quality. Indeed, the Lesson Study sessions I observed in 2017 were less well attended and lacked the collaborative support that I had witnessed while <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300182675/learning-be-adolescent">researching Japanese schools</a> in the 1980s and 1990s.</p>
<p>In contrast, the “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02619768.2021.1913117">Teach Less, Learn More</a>” reform passed in Singapore in 2005 allowed schools to hire more staff so that teachers had more time to study how to better present lessons or to review and redesign the curriculum. </p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Decades of scientific research confirm that quality teachers <a href="https://www.rand.org/education-and-labor/projects/measuring-teacher-effectiveness/teachers-matter.html">improve student achievement</a>. At the same time we see the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/4faf6c4e-1d84-11e9-b2f7-97e4dbd3580d">rise of authoritarian regimes</a> and anti-democratic movements across the globe. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2053168015613360">Education has a democratizing effect</a>, particularly in poor countries. I believe that, now more than ever, every nation must support teachers as they provide the education and critical thinking skills that children will need to confront antidemocratic sentiment and resolve the significant problems of the future.</p>
<p>[<em>Over 110,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletter to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=100Ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166528/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gerald K. LeTendre has received funding from the Fulbright Foundation, the Spencer Foundation and the U.S. Dept. of Education to conduct research on various aspects of teachers' work.</span></em></p>If national teacher policies are not comprehensive, practical and inclusive of teachers, they can undermine the very workers they aim to help, a global education policy expert argues.Gerald K. LeTendre, Professor of Educational Administration, Penn StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1662922021-09-15T15:37:46Z2021-09-15T15:37:46ZGrammar still matters – but teachers are struggling to teach it<p>Do you know what a suffix is, or how to distinguish <a href="https://theconversation.com/beware-the-bad-big-wolf-why-you-need-to-put-your-adjectives-in-the-right-order-64982">adjectives from adverbs</a>? If you have a six or seven-year-old, the chances are they do. Or at least, the UK government now says they should – by the end of year 2, to be specific. </p>
<p>In year 3, primary schoolers turn their attention to prefixes and conjunctions. By the time pupils head to secondary school, they are expected to know what determiners and adverbials are. They should be able to recognise a relative clause as a special type of subordinate clause. And their creative writing should showcase modal verbs and the active and passive voice. </p>
<p>Obviously, for all this to happen, teachers need to be comfortable with these terms and the concepts they cover. And if you went to school before 1960, you probably are. However, between 1960 and 1988, English – in England and Wales – was taught in a virtually grammar-free manner. </p>
<p>While grammar made a comeback in 1988, with the introduction of the national curriculum, many teachers today feel ill-prepared to teach it. And that’s because, as I and other language experts have <a href="https://clie.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Bridging-the-KAL-gaps.pdf">pointed out</a>, they themselves were never taught much, if any, grammar. And appropriate teaching support and materials are lacking. </p>
<p>Of course, grammar at school often becomes a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/may/10/michael-gove-grammar">political issue</a>, with liberals rejecting a more <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-grammar-police-belong-in-the-18th-century-lets-not-inflict-their-rules-on-todays-children-57606">conservative insistence</a> on so-called correct grammar. But as a Dutch linguist, my perspective is that learning grammar isn’t about speaking properly. It is about gaining a broader understanding of one’s own language and how to use it creatively. It’s also a useful tool for learning other languages.</p>
<h2>Grammar-free teaching</h2>
<p>Before 1960, the way in which British schools taught English grammar was based on Latin. Categories that had been developed for Latin grammar were imposed on English. That frequently made little sense because English is a very different language. </p>
<p>From the 1920s, this Latinate approach was <a href="http://www.educationengland.org.uk/documents/newbolt/newbolt1921.html">highly criticised</a>, and the argument against English grammar in schools gathered force in the 1940s and 1950s. Studies in <a href="https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.2044-8279.1947.tb02223.x">Scotland</a> and <a href="https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1111/j.2044-8279.1958.tb01441.x">England</a> in the middle of the 20th century claimed that the subject was essentially too difficult for children. </p>
<p>Research suggests the disappearance of grammar from the English school curriculum in 1960 is also due to an <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232025628_The_English_Patient_English_grammar_and_teaching_in_the_twentieth_century">increased emphasis</a> on English literature. The idea was that children would pick up the needed grammar more or less as they went along. </p>
<p>The 1970s marked a turning point. The government published <a href="http://www.educationengland.org.uk/documents/bullock/bullock1975.html#26">several critical reports</a>, citing in particular high levels of illiteracy in England and Wales. This led to a U-turn in policy, with grammar gradually returning to the classroom from 1988.</p>
<p>Research in the years that followed <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09500789509541407">showed that</a> student teachers didn’t have the knowledge they needed to teach it, though. The authors of <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09500789509541407">a 1995 study</a> of 99 student teachers in Newcastle noted –- and subsequent researchers <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09500780008666787">concurred</a> – that without significant input during training, teachers would struggle. </p>
<h2>Why grammar matters</h2>
<p>Teachers’ knowledge about grammar remains problematic. A <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1111/eie.12100">2016 case study</a> of a primary school in the north-west of England (which was rated “good” by Ofsted) analysed data collected over ten months from June 2014 to March 2015 on what teachers knew. </p>
<p>When questioned about the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-english-programmes-of-study/national-curriculum-in-england-english-programmes-of-study">terms specified</a> in the national curriculum, including adjective, conjunction and determiner, the teachers only got about half of the questions right. Teaching-support staff fared even worse. </p>
<p>Why should we care about whether our teachers are well equipped to teach grammar? In the first instance, we should because they have to. It is crucial that teachers have the knowledge and confidence to support pupils through <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-grammar-police-belong-in-the-18th-century-lets-not-inflict-their-rules-on-todays-children-57606">statutory subjects</a>, on which, in non-pandemic times at least, they will be <a href="https://www.tes.com/news/coronavirus-sats-2021-u-turn-ks1-tests-scrapped">formally tested</a>.</p>
<p>A growing body of evidence also shows that teaching grammar may enhance students’ <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02671522.2011.637640">writing development</a>. This is because knowledge about concepts such as active and passive voice may allow for more precise and productive conversations between teachers and students about textual effects and possibilities. And it may enable students to shape their prose more consciously. </p>
<p>It can also help them <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amn051">learn new languages</a>. If learners already have a conscious awareness of linguistic features such as tenses, that helps them to recognise and discuss what is the same or different in <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-german-language-has-so-many-great-words-55554">another tongue</a>. And though <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02671522.2018.1493742">more research is needed</a>, some scholars have even suggested that grammar teaching may <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-linguistics/article/why-education-needs-linguistics-and-vice-versa/66F48C7DC73DD7D4BB63FC0C6DD06614">improve general thinking skills</a>.</p>
<p>Many publishers have stepped into the gap left by the government and have produced support materials to help (student) teachers master the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/244216/English_Glossary.pdf">grammatical terms</a> the curriculum specifies. But publishers operate in a free market without oversight from the Department for Education. Also, the materials have generally not had any input from academic grammarians. As a result, they often contain mistakes. </p>
<p>These are not just typos. For instance, one book aimed at teachers analyses “have” as a modal verb, which it is not, and suggests that modal verbs form tenses, which they do not. Another grammar book categorises “don’t touch!” as an exclamation, while it is actually a straightforward example of a command. Such errors are not dissimilar to the suggestion that seven times seven is 48, when <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/335158/PRIMARY_national_curriculum_-_Mathematics_220714.pdf">all year 4s</a> are of course taught that it is in fact 49. </p>
<p>Furthermore, it is well known that teachers <a href="https://www.nfer.ac.uk/media/3344/teacher_labour_market_in_england_2019.pdf">experience more job stress</a> than other professionals. In this context it may not be reasonable to expect them to have to independently procure and work through professional development materials in a subject area of such importance.</p>
<p>Our baseline argument is that when it comes to recognising the importance of grammar, the curriculum is on point. However, the government should equip its teachers to teach it. It needs to commission research into the exact nature of the gaps in their knowledge. And it should get academic grammarians on board in developing appropriate support materials and training.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166292/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Willem Hollmann is affiliated with the Committee for Linguistics in Education (CLiE) and with the Education Committee of the Linguistics Association of Great Britain (LAGB). </span></em></p>Grammatical nous has been found to give students a broader understanding of their own language and a key to learning others. The problem is, teachers aren’t being equipped to teach it.Willem Hollmann, Professor of Linguistics, Lancaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1652112021-09-15T12:14:56Z2021-09-15T12:14:56Z5 characteristics of an effective science teacher – from a researcher who trains them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419610/original/file-20210906-23-1mk17he.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C9%2C6061%2C4019&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Today's science standards encourage teachers to base lessons on real-world phenomena rather than textbook facts and definitions.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/students-answering-a-question-royalty-free-image/1134338121">FatCamera/E+ Collection via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Rather than have students memorize definitions and facts about a science topic such as light, an effective first grade teacher today would have students investigate various types of objects under sunlight and flashlight. Students would collect evidence to understand how light helps them see, and they’d experiment with different materials to understand <a href="https://www.nextgenstorylines.org/how-does-light-help-me-see-and-communicate">how and why shadows are made</a>.</p>
<p>This shift is a result of the <a href="https://www.nextgenscience.org/">Next Generation Science Standards</a>, which aim to define a uniform vision for K-12 science education across the country. Introduced in 2013, the standards move away from emphasizing scientific vocabulary and facts recorded in textbooks to using <a href="https://www.nextgenscience.org/resources/phenomena">real-world phenomena</a> to explore and explain the natural world. These phenomena engage students in a set of <a href="https://ngss.nsta.org/practicesfull.aspx">science and engineering practices</a>, or SEPs. Over 40 states have <a href="https://ngss.nsta.org/about.aspx">adopted the Next Generation standards</a> or some version of them.</p>
<p>Despite the wide adoption of these standards, the <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED548249">current status of elementary school science education</a> is concerning. The <a href="https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/science/student-experiences/?grade=4">nation’s report card</a> shows that many students in grades K-5 do not get quality science instruction. The situation is <a href="https://www.ecs.org/wp-content/uploads/CTE_STEM-Desert-Brief_FINAL.pdf">worse in high-poverty school districts</a>. The majority of instructional time in elementary school grades is often <a href="https://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/news/teachers-have-little-time-teach-science-study-shows">dedicated to math and language arts</a>, with science on the back burner.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://education.mercer.edu/faculty-and-staff/meenakshi-sharma/">science education researcher</a> and a teacher educator, my goal is to help prepare the next generation of science teachers. Here are five attributes of an effective elementary school science teacher that align with the new standards.</p>
<h2>1. Nurtures student curiosity</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/why-young-children-are-curious/">Kids are curious</a> by nature. Science teachers should use relevant everyday events as a basis of science instruction that <a href="https://landing.carolina.com/nurturing-young-thinkers-whitepaper">fosters interest and curiosity</a>. This approach encourages students to take a more active role in figuring out how natural events work instead of being taught those lessons by an instructor.</p>
<p>For instance, in <a href="https://vimeo.com/178074139">this video</a>, a teacher poses an interesting query to students: How did a water puddle disappear over time? During a subsequent experiment, students used thermometers to measure the temperature of a water puddle outside at different times of the day. They used the data to make connections between temperature changes and the shrinking size of the puddle and delve into the reasoning behind it. </p>
<p>In this case, the teacher involved students in scientific practices and used an everyday occurrence to teach key scientific concepts such as sunlight, energy and energy transfer.</p>
<h2>2. Encourages scientific thinking</h2>
<p>Effective science teachers involve students in <a href="https://www.illuminateed.com/blog/2019/03/sense-making-is-the-core-of-ngss">making sense of natural events</a> and the science ideas underlying them. In other words, they actively engage students in wondering and figuring out science phenomena around them and how they happen. They help students develop exploratory questions and hypotheses to explain such events, and encourage them to test and refine their explanations based on scientific evidence. </p>
<p>For example, when a <a href="https://www.nsta.org/blog/first-graders-modeling-day-and-night-making-sense-phenomenon">first grade classroom</a> was learning about <a href="https://www.nsta.org/blog/first-graders-modeling-day-and-night-making-sense-phenomenon">how day and night happen</a>, students illustrated their own understanding of the phenomena – using a scientific practice called modeling. As they learned more and more, they kept revising their drawings. They also collected long-term data to understand the repeating patterns of day and night. </p>
<p>Teachers should also ensure that all students participate in making sense of science phenomena in their classrooms. </p>
<p>To share their ideas about a science phenomenon, students often rely on their personal experiences and native languages from their <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ945830">homes and communities</a>. For instance, a student from an agricultural community might have particular knowledge about plant growth and unique local language to describe it. An effective science teacher provides opportunities to build on such native experiences and local knowledge in their science classrooms.</p>
<h2>3. Develops scientific literacy</h2>
<p>Teachers who plan lessons according to the current standards aim to develop <a href="https://www.nap.edu/read/4962/chapter/4#22">scientifically literate</a> young citizens who can identify, evaluate and understand scientific arguments underlying local and global issues.</p>
<p>They also use <a href="https://serc.carleton.edu/sp/library/issues/what.html">socioscientific issues</a> in their instruction. Socioscientific issues are local or global phenomena that can be explained by science and signify social and political problems. For example, students might make sense of the scientific information underlying the current <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/global-covid-19/index.html">COVID-19 crisis</a> and make arguments for how and why vaccination is important for their communities. Other examples of socioscientific issues are climate change, genetic engineering and pollution from oil spills.</p>
<h2>4. Integrates science with other subjects</h2>
<p>Teaching science with an <a href="http://stemteachingtools.org/brief/62">interdisciplinary approach</a> – that is to say, using math, technology, language arts and social studies to make sense of science phenomena – can lead to rich and rigorous learning experiences. </p>
<p>For example, teachers can integrate math by having students create visual charts and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/27/learning/whats-going-on-in-this-graph-is-now-weekly-stem-teachers-explain-why-its-a-powerful-activity.html">graphs to explain</a> their experimental or observation data. Technology integration in the form of <a href="https://www.nap.edu/read/13078/chapter/5">games and simulations</a> in science classrooms can help students picture complex science ideas. <a href="https://dpi.wi.gov/science/disciplinary-literacy/types-of-literacy">Incorporating reading and comprehension strategies</a> in science can bolster students’ ability to read critically for scientific ideas and evidence. </p>
<h2>5. Uses classroom assessments to support student learning</h2>
<p>A science teacher who is interested in students’ ideas will design and use classroom-based assessments that reveal students’ science thinking. They do not use closed-ended assessments that require yes or no answers, textbook-style definitions or lists of scientific facts. Instead, they use open-ended, <a href="https://www.achieve.org/our-initiatives/equip/tools-subject/science/task-annotation-project-science">phenomenon-based assessments</a> that give students a chance to show their understanding. </p>
<p>For example, a <a href="https://www.achieve.org/files/sites/default/files/MovementOfMatter_Consensus.pdf">fifth grade assessment</a> presents students with a story of an Australian ecosystem and prompts them to use modeling to explain relationships between different components of the ecosystem. Such an assessment encourages students to explain how a process happens instead of recalling information.</p>
<p>Effective science teachers do not evaluate students’ responses for right and wrong answers. They <a href="https://my.nsta.org/resource/7214/perspectives-assessing-for-science-learning">interpret and evaluate</a> students’ scientific explanations to understand strengths and gaps in their learning and use this information to adapt future instruction.</p>
<p>Teachers who are prepared to implement these five evidence-based practices can potentially involve all students in their classroom in meaningful science learning.</p>
<p>[<em>Get our best science, health and technology stories.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/science-editors-picks-71/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=science-best">Sign up for The Conversation’s science newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165211/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Meenakshi Sharma does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Effective science teachers use everyday natural events to get students to explore their world. Here’s how they do it, according to an expert who prepares elementary school science teachers.Meenakshi Sharma, Assistant Professor of Science Education, Mercer UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1665702021-09-02T03:16:53Z2021-09-02T03:16:53ZA good induction is important for all new jobs. So why are teachers being left behind?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418820/original/file-20210901-25-wbocbt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/teacher-standing-front-class-pupils-141106999">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australian schools are struggling to recruit and keep teachers. Low wages, overwork, difficult student behaviour, lack of support and stress are some of the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jul/04/everyones-bailing-australian-teachers-speak-on-stress-and-uncertainty-of-increasing-casual-contracts">reasons teachers leave</a> the profession or have periods of sick leave.</p>
<p>More than <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-04/why-do-teachers-leave/8234054">half of teachers</a> with a current teaching qualification are not working in education. States such as <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/nsw-schools-struggle-to-find-teachers-as-supply-collapses-20210621-p582w5.html">New South Wales</a> are facing major difficulties in employing teachers. This is especially so in the case of <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/tutoring-program-exacerbates-dire-shortage-of-casual-teachers-20210321-p57col.html">casual teachers</a> who are needed to replace stressed and sick teachers.</p>
<p>Part of the reason for the teacher shortage is Australia’s lack of support for graduating teachers to successfully transition into the profession.</p>
<h2>How does this work?</h2>
<p>The transition for graduate teachers into the profession can be very challenging and they need to be supported with a <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2014.967477">quality induction program</a>. Such programs help new teachers learn more about their roles, gain confidence and refine their teaching skills. </p>
<p>They are especially important for new teachers learning how to effectively manage diverse classrooms and student behaviour.</p>
<p>According to the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, <a href="https://www.aitsl.edu.au/docs/default-source/national-policy-framework/graduate-to-proficient.pdf?sfvrsn=e27fff3c_6">induction programs</a> should be:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>school-based</p></li>
<li><p>delivered over two years</p></li>
<li><p>embedded in daily practice</p></li>
<li><p>practice-focused to further develop teaching skills. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>From doing research in this area, we know Australian schools have responded to this need and increasingly developed induction programs to support new teachers over the past decade.</p>
<p>But it can take teachers several years to find long-term employment, which means many new teachers miss out on effective induction programs. </p>
<p>Research from 2019 <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-8621-3_9">shows that, within the first two years</a> of graduating, 60% of new teachers are employed as insecure replacement teachers. We know </p>
<ul>
<li><p>30% of new teachers are employed on contracts of less than one year</p></li>
<li><p>30% of new teachers are employed as casual teachers.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>This leaves many new teachers relying on the strategies they develop during their insecure work experience to manage diverse classrooms and difficult student behaviours. </p>
<p>Newly qualified teachers who aren’t involved in a good induction program are <a href="https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol44/iss3/6/">more likely to leave</a> the profession within their first five years of teaching.</p>
<h2>No induction affects students too</h2>
<p>Teachers employed casually or on short-term contracts know it is important to understand students’ strengths, needs and interests, as well as build good relationships with them. But they often don’t have the time or opportunity to do this properly. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/six-ways-to-support-new-teachers-to-stay-in-the-profession-106934">Six ways to support new teachers to stay in the profession</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>They know curriculum and pedagogy are important, yet often don’t know what the regular teacher had planned. And they haven’t always got time to assess and understand the students’ learning needs.</p>
<p>Short-term teaching work leads to a reliance on surviving or just getting through the day. Typically, this means managing student behaviour using more reactive <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-discipline-your-children-without-rewards-or-punishment-39178">techniques</a> such as rewards and consequences (punishments). </p>
<p>On top of this, newly qualified teachers may feel anxiety about their uncertain job prospects and the potential loss of income.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418824/original/file-20210901-23-ku4qkq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Tired teacher leaning head against blackboard." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418824/original/file-20210901-23-ku4qkq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418824/original/file-20210901-23-ku4qkq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418824/original/file-20210901-23-ku4qkq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418824/original/file-20210901-23-ku4qkq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418824/original/file-20210901-23-ku4qkq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418824/original/file-20210901-23-ku4qkq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418824/original/file-20210901-23-ku4qkq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">New teachers employed as casuals just try to survive. They don’t have the time or experience to use evidence-based approaches to teaching and class management.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/student-frustration-difficult-math-test-718581694">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Teachers employed for a short term usually try to perform as well as they can, so they get a subsequent job. This means they are <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13540602.2020.1806050">usually reluctant to let anyone know they need help</a>. They are aware they are being scrutinised and it’s important they are seen as being capable of managing students’ behaviour. More controlling approaches can help them achieve this.</p>
<p>Such teaching approaches mean they are not attending to the students’ problem behaviours in a way that prevents them from reoccurring. This can lead to an <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/0013189X09357618">escalation of these behaviours over time</a> and result in the student being disaffected at school.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-teachers-are-taught-to-discipline-a-classroom-might-not-be-the-best-way-34860">How teachers are taught to discipline a classroom might not be the best way</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Teachers need to develop a broad range of <a href="https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9789811006265">proactive strategies</a> to build a positive learning environment and prevent student behaviour problems. They must also be able to intervene effectively to de-escalate issues when they arise. </p>
<p>Much of this learning is based on developing and refining classroom management strategies during the induction period with the support of colleagues.</p>
<h2>We’ll keep losing teachers</h2>
<p>Induction programs are focused more on permanent new teachers. But the majority of new teachers are contract or casual staff.</p>
<p>A one-size-fits-all approach to induction programs will not address the specialist needs of casual teaching staff, particularly graduate teachers who move regularly between diverse school settings as work demands require. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/teachers-shouldnt-have-to-manage-behaviour-issues-by-themselves-schools-need-to-support-them-76569">Teachers shouldn't have to manage behaviour issues by themselves – schools need to support them</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Education departments should support schools, including financially, to include casual and contract teachers in meaningful induction programs. They should also think more creatively about what is possible because this problem rests with them.</p>
<p>If we don’t develop meaningful ways for new teachers to be inducted into the profession, we may keep losing them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166570/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anna Sullivan receives funding from the Australian Research Council. She is Board Chair and Director of the Media Centre for Education Research Australia.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michele Simons receives has received research funding from the ARC, the NVETRE program as well as from state-based education employers. Michele is currently the President of the Australian Council of Deans of Education, Treasurer of the the Australian Association for Educational Research, and a member of the AVETRA executive. Michele sits on a number of boards including MCERA, the Chain Reaction Foundation and a number of education providers in the school and tertiary education sectors </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Neil Tippett receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrea Reupert, Simone White, and Stuart Woodcock do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Newly qualified teachers who aren’t involved in a good induction program are more likely to leave the profession within their first five years of teaching. And most don’t get these inductions.Anna Sullivan, Associate Professor of Education, University of South AustraliaAndrea Reupert, Professor, School of Educational Psychology & Counselling, Monash UniversityMichele Simons, Dean of Education, Western Sydney UniversityNeil Tippett, Research Fellow, University of South AustraliaSimone White, Professor, School of Education, Queensland University of TechnologyStuart Woodcock, Associate Professor, School of Education and Professional Studies, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1651022021-08-17T17:53:10Z2021-08-17T17:53:10ZMajor teaching reform in England will erode the intellectual basis of the profession<p>The quality of any education system is highly dependent on the quality of its teachers. Research has shown how vital universities are in equipping teachers with the theory and the principles <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1359866X.2019.1575946?casa_token=iAAQmdWw7zAAAAAA%3AcWouuViopObfJVZ7tdETP-4UmPsrKuUFAkbQVf2e8oKbrU7gE5HMfFX8cwxFMWNv1feHp7xvBcI">they need</a> to do their jobs well. </p>
<p>In England, universities are currently responsible for 100% of initial teacher education (ITE) at undergraduate level and around 70% of postgraduate courses. And evidence from the <a href="https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/initial-teacher-training-census/2020-21#releaseHeadlines-summary">Department for Education</a> itself indicates that this approach works. Between <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/859422/Annual_Report_of_Her_Majesty_s_Chief_Inspector_of_Education__Children_s_Services_and_Skills_201819.pdf">2018</a> and <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ofsted-annual-report-201920">2020</a>, all the institutions that offer ITE were rated good or outstanding by Ofsted, the UK government’s quality assurance agency. </p>
<p>Despite this impressive record, a major review of ITE - or as the government prefers to call it, ITT (initial teacher training) - is underway. In July 2021, the department for education published <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/999621/ITT_market_review_report.pdf">the ITT market review report</a>. The public consultation on its recommendations <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/initial-teacher-training-itt-market-review">has been notably short</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/999621/ITT_market_review_report.pdf">This review</a> continues a decade-long trend, shifting the responsibility for ITE away from universities and towards schools. Specialists have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02680939.2020.1748722">highlighted</a> how selectively research has been used to justify this approach. The difference in nomenclature between the university label (ITE) and the government label (ITT) for how teachers are taught is not just semantic. It highlights a fundamental conflict of approach: should teachers be educated or trained? </p>
<h2>Significant upheaval</h2>
<p>Since Michael Gove was <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/175429/CM-7980.pdf">education secretary</a>, the UK government has increasingly pushed for teacher training to happen in schools. The <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/999621/ITT_market_review_report.pdf">ITT market review</a> is the latest in a <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/508447/Educational_Excellence_Everywhere.pdf">series of attempts</a> by the Department for Education to limit the role of universities. </p>
<p>This latest review makes several recommendations that are not based on national or international evidence. <a href="https://www.ucet.ac.uk/downloads/13250%2DUCET%2DMarket%2DReview%2DResponse%2D%28July%2D2021%29.pdf">Teacher education specialists</a> say they risk destabilising the sector and diluting the intellectual standing of the profession. For instance, if these reforms go through, they could potentially drive out <a href="https://russellgroup.ac.uk/news/russell-group-response-to-the-itt-market-review/">prestigious universities</a>, including the <a href="https://www.cam.ac.uk/notices/news/statement-on-the-uk-government-initial-teacher-training-itt-market-review-report">University of Cambridge</a> and the <a href="http://www.education.ox.ac.uk/government-review-threatens-to-undermine-teacher-education/">University of Oxford</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/manchester-institute-of-education-statement-on-the-initial-teacher-training-market-review-report/">Others</a> cite serious concerns around university independence.
The government wants any institution that trains teachers to go through an accreditation process for quality control - even those universities that have been doing it for years. Conversely, it would open up teacher training to <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/936251/Multi_academy_trusts_benefits_challenges_and_functions.pdf">multi-academy trusts</a> and other groups of schools which have relatively little experience of training teachers, as well as <a href="https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429331695">training programmes</a>, which <a href="http://scde.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/TeachFirstReviewParkerGalepaper.pdf">have been criticised</a> for framing teaching as a career stepping stone - and not a destination.</p>
<p>The changes the review suggests also risk placing more demands - and greater costs - on schools. Teaching staff who mentor student teachers on placement, for example, will see their workload doubled. </p>
<p>This review also recommends creating an ITE curriculum that all teacher-training institutions would have to follow. This threatens individual universities’ ability to respond to local needs. Currently, they can devise bespoke teacher education programmes which can make a difference in rural areas, coastal regions and areas of deprivation, where recruiting teachers is often challenging, though <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2020.1775566">more research</a> is required on this.</p>
<p>The Department for Education has, itself, <a href="https://www.tes.com/news/dfe-itt-shake-moving-quickly-maintain-momentum">admitted</a> that it is moving quickly. This has also raised concerns. The review was concluded in six months, without any meaningful consultation with either universities or schools. It was published just as the summer term ended. And the public consultation was scheduled to last only seven weeks. The government’s <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/100807/file47158.pdf">own code of practice </a> requires 12. </p>
<p>By undermining university involvement in ITE, the reforms will erode the <a href="https://www.ucet.ac.uk/11675/intellectual-base-of-teacher-education-report-updated-february-2020">intellectual basis</a> of the profession - the very feature of <a href="http://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?hl=en&publication_year=2006&author=L.+Darling-Hammond&title=Powerful+teacher+education">high-performing education systems</a> across the world. What then is this dispute between policymakers and education specialists based on? </p>
<h2>Unrealistic expectations</h2>
<p>Recent educational policy in England, much like in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2021.1887359">the US</a>, has focused on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02680939.2018.1544665">universal educational excellence</a>. It <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Spirit_Level/jfJMajQulfQC?hl=en&gbpv=0">avoids</a> acknowledging the impact systemic social injustice and structural inequality have on how well children do at school. Instead, it focuses on notions of “what works” and “best practice” in relation to teacher education. </p>
<p>The government’s approach draws a unidirectional line of influence from schools to society. It assumes that the former can compensate for any shortcomings in the latter, fostering <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02680930903428622">undue and unrealistic</a> expectations that schools and teachers are able to fix society.</p>
<p>The government prioritises what specialists call an “evidence-based”, “what works” approach to teaching teachers. This means that teachers are encouraged to make decisions about their pupils’ learning based on what has worked for others, but not necessarily on what the children in front of them actually need. They are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-5446.2006.00241.x">discouraged</a> from using their judgement. This focuses on what is taught in the classroom and how comes at the expense of critical considerations around <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11217-010-9191-x">why</a> it is taught in the first place. As teacher education specialist <a href="https://theconversation.com/expert-panel-what-makes-a-good-teacher-25696">John Loughran</a> has noted, that “why” is what <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/1359866X.2019.1575946">enhances</a> pupils’ learning. And in its one-size-fits-all approach, the government fails to recognise the distinctive contributions that <a href="http://ref.scielo.org/6gmsbf">pupils bring</a> to their own learning. </p>
<p>Several <a href="https://www.ucet.ac.uk/13249/ucet-market-review-response-july-2022">key</a> organisations <a href="https://www.nasbtt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/NASBTTs-Response-to-the-Initial-Teacher-Training-ITT-Market-Review-Consultation-July-2021.pdf">involved</a> in <a href="https://chartered.college/2021/07/15/itt-market-review-chartered-college-position-paper/">ITE</a> have issued statements challenging this review. They insist that the problems that the government has identified in the way teachers are taught could be resolved in collaboration with universities - not by excluding them. </p>
<p>Universities are well placed to make changes to the programmes they offer via existing internal (university programme review and validation) and external (Ofsted) quality-assurance processes. And they would do so in compliance with existing or amended <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/initial-teacher-training-criteria/initial-teacher-training-itt-criteria-and-supporting-advice">government ITT criteria</a>. </p>
<p>Crucially, universities have the established infrastructure, the extensive resources and the research expertise, that student teachers need. They encourage students to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1757743815607025">systematically interrogate</a> research, policy and practice, including their underlying assumptions and assertions. </p>
<p>It is this perspective on education – informed by critical, historical and sociological expertise – that will best equip future teachers to adapt to changes throughout their careers. Universities have a proven record of working effectively in partnership with schools, too. They know how to enable student teachers to integrate the theory they learn in lectures with the practical experience they gain in the classroom to meet the needs of a diverse population. This needs to be built on, not dismantled.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165102/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Universities are responsible for the majority of teacher training and eduation in England. The government is set on shifting the focus to schoolsMatthew Clarke, Professor of Education, York St John UniversityKeither Parker, Associate Head of School: Education, York St John UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1624692021-06-21T12:17:10Z2021-06-21T12:17:10Z4 ways to get more Black and Latino teachers in K-12 public schools<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405738/original/file-20210610-25-b572hz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C0%2C4722%2C3226&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">More than half of U.S. public school students are children of color, while most of their teachers are white.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/bryant-elementary-school-kindergarten-teacher-chris-johnson-news-photo/1311697476">Justin Sullivan/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Black children are more likely to <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781475839654/Ethnic-Matching-Academic-Success-of-Students-of-Color">score higher on standardized tests</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.3386/w25254">finish high school and want to attend college</a>, and less likely to <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373717693109">be suspended</a>, if they have a Black teacher. Similarly, studies show that Latino students who have a Latino teacher are more likely to want to take <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0162353216686217">advanced coursework</a>.</p>
<p>This data reflects earlier research on Black <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543070004485">and Latino teachers</a> and the positive social and emotional experiences they create for their students. </p>
<p>Education historian <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312038004751">Vanessa Siddle Walker writes</a> about how, even before the <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/brown-v-board-of-education-of-topeka">Brown v. Board of Education</a> school desegregation decision in 1954, Black teachers and principals provided their students with tools and a framework to navigate a society that was anti-Black. And renowned education researcher <a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-us/The+Dreamkeepers%3A+Successful+Teachers+of+African+American+Children%2C+2nd+Edition-p-9781118622988">Gloria Ladson-Billings explains</a> Black teachers’ capacity to draw on their own experiences as Black people in the U.S. and incorporate their Black students’ cultural experiences into the classroom.</p>
<p>Given the added value of teachers of color, a pressing problem remains: There is a considerable demographic mismatch between teachers and students of color in the U.S. While teachers of color represent <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ntps/SpotlightTeacherDemo.asp">21% of public school educators</a>, students of color account for more than <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cge">52% of public school students</a>.</p>
<p>As an <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=CGPe6PEAAAAJ&hl=en">education researcher</a>, I study the experiences of teachers of color. Here are four ways to get more teachers from ethnically and racially diverse backgrounds in K-12 classrooms.</p>
<h2>1. Focus on retention</h2>
<p>Policymakers, school principals and philanthropies have spent a great deal of resources on <a href="https://woodrow.org/news/ww-rbf-2015/">recruiting teachers of color</a>. And those efforts have paid off. <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2016/2016876.pdf">More Black and Latino teachers</a> are entering the teacher workforce. </p>
<p>The story now is one of retention.</p>
<p>Teachers of color leave the profession and move to other schools at a <a href="https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/product-files/Teacher_Turnover_REPORT.pdf">higher rate</a> than their white peers. An <a href="https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/ae_fall2016asi.pdf">analysis of nine school districts</a> found that Black teachers in particular have higher turnover rates than their white and Latino peers. For example, the number of Black teachers in Chicago Public Schools <a href="https://www.shankerinstitute.org/resource/teacherdiversity">decreased by 39%</a> between 2002 and 2011, compared to a 3% decrease in white teachers and a 6% increase in Latino teachers during the same period. </p>
<h2>2. Improve leadership, work conditions</h2>
<p>Historically, <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1056722">researchers believed</a> that teachers in urban schools that predominantly serve children of color left their schools because they did not want to work with those students. But teachers don’t leave their students; teachers leave their principals. </p>
<p>Principals create the <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1268449">working conditions that lead to turnover</a> by not supporting teachers or providing the resources they need to work with their students.</p>
<p>To ensure that principals instead create conditions that help teachers of color thrive, they need high-quality preparation. This preparation should include a focus on how to support new teachers as well as work collegially with students, caregivers and teachers.</p>
<p>Model programs that continue to do this work are <a href="https://www.leadershipacademy.org">The Leadership Academy</a> and the <a href="https://gse.berkeley.edu/academics/professional-programs/principal-leadership-institute">Principal Leadership Institute</a> at University of California, Berkeley. </p>
<h2>3. Fund schools equitably</h2>
<p>To retain teachers of color, districts have to improve the working conditions in their schools. One way to do this is to fund schools more equitably. </p>
<p>Some states, <a href="https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/california-way-equitable-excellent-education-system-brief">like California</a>, have a more progressive, equitable funding formula. That means schools that have a significant number of students who are unhoused, adopted, qualify for free or reduced lunch, or speak English as a second language get more money and resources. </p>
<p>Other states, <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/2018-02-27/in-most-states-poorest-school-districts-get-less-funding">like New York and Illinois</a>, which are home to some of our country’s largest public school districts, have more regressive funding formulas. Since public schools are primarily funded by local property taxes, students who live in high-income communities across New York State, for example, attend <a href="https://newyork.edtrust.org/press-release/new-york-ranks-near-bottom-states-new-analysis-school-funding-disparities/">more well-resourced schools</a> than children living in low-income communities. <a href="http://nyser.org">Legal efforts</a> to dismantle this separate and unequal funding system are ongoing. </p>
<h2>4. Redesign teacher training</h2>
<p>The U.S. has a wide variety of teacher preparation programs. There’s no common framework for thinking about how to prepare people to become teachers.</p>
<p>Furthermore, in states like California and Texas, after two months of preparation a new teacher can teach children in historically marginalized communities. Given where these teachers are placed, it is clear that school districts, like Oakland Public Schools, <a href="https://www.teachforamerica.org/where-we-work/bay-area/our-work">will hire those new educators</a>.</p>
<p>Placing the most inexperienced teachers in schools with the most challenging working conditions <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/3497042">increases turnover</a>. </p>
<p>What stands in the way of getting more Black and Latino teachers in classrooms is not a clear understanding of the problem, but the courage to act on what we already know. </p>
<p>[<em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162469/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Travis Bristol does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Teacher turnover is higher among Black and Latino teachers than white teachers. An education policy expert explains what schools can do to reverse the trend.Travis Bristol, Assistant Professor of Education, University of California, BerkeleyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1625242021-06-17T13:18:38Z2021-06-17T13:18:38ZWhy the push to overhaul teacher training in Kenya is a bad idea<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405927/original/file-20210611-17-gpgiex.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Kenyan teacher Ayub Mohamed giving a lesson in the Nairobi suburb of Eastleigh.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tony Karumba/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Kenya is in the fourth year of implementing a <a href="https://nation.africa/kenya/news/education/education-your-cbc-queries-answered-3286928?view=htmlamp">new competence-based curriculum</a> for all levels of schooling. The new curriculum seeks to develop student competencies including mastery of content, critical thinking and complex problem-solving. </p>
<p>This new curriculum is the third topdown overhaul of the country’s education system since Kenya’s independence in 1963. The previous curriculum was deemed too <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1745499917711550">academic and examination-oriented</a>. It was deficient in hands-on, experiential learning, and practical experimentation to allow for competence. </p>
<p>The goals of the new curriculum are worthwhile. But a controversial government <a href="https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/education/article/2001414062/tsc-plans-to-hit-education-graduates-hard">proposal to radically change teacher training</a> is unwarranted. Under new guidelines by the Teachers’ Service Commission – the government agency which administers public school teachers – the Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) teacher training degree is to be abolished. </p>
<p>This degree, in place for the past 50 years, emphasises the mastery of teaching (pedagogical) skills during training. The teacher candidates simultaneously take courses in education courses as well as in content areas during their entire undergraduate studies. </p>
<p>The approach being proposed is identical to the one <a href="http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke/handle/11295/89063">abandoned</a> in 1970. Under this model – which emphasised subject matter expertise – prospective teachers enrolled in regular arts or sciences degree lasting three years. This would be followed by a one-year post-graduate education diploma, completing a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science (Education Option). </p>
<p>The diploma covered educational courses in pedagogy, curriculum, foundations, and management. </p>
<p>In some countries like the US and UK, both approaches are common depending on the institution attended. India and Nigeria, like Kenya, adhere to the Bachelor of Education model only. </p>
<p>Kenya’s official support for change has met a <a href="https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/opinion/article/2001415003/bed-programme-best-for-kenyas-education-syste">forecul defence</a> of the existing programme. But, in fairness, research is inconclusive on whether student learning is enhanced by the development of teachers’ theoretical professional knowledge or subject matter expertise. </p>
<p>As such it isn’t definitive which is the best approach for teachers to get their initial training (called pre-service training). Given student learning outcomes aren’t determined by what type of pre-service training teachers get, it is my view that the new teacher training policy initiative isn’t driven by research evidence. Rather, it is informed by political calculations. The public teachers’ commission is seeking to project a reformist stance because it wants to be seen to be contributing to the new education system. </p>
<p>There is an alternative. Rather than overhauling the existing pre-service teacher training programmes, the commission should pursue a staff development programme for teachers that would focus on collaboration, active learning and problem-solving of complex issues in the new curriculum. </p>
<p>Just as important, university curricula and how they’re implemented should remain the preserve of the academic institutions. This control would ensure that academic programmes are grounded in the best knowledge available. And it would ensure courses were free of short-term political considerations.</p>
<h2>Back to the future?</h2>
<p>The Bachelor of Education programme, offered under arts or science, is the most widely offered degree in Kenya’s universities. Some 56 of the 74 public and private universities – equivalent to 76% – <a href="https://nation.africa/kenya/blogs-opinion/editorials/tsc-s-education-proposal-has-many-grey-areas-3423350">offer the course</a>. The popularity of the programme emanates not only from the ease of mounting the programmes but also the good employment prospects, captured in <a href="https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/education/article/2001371384/kenya-short-of-50000-teachers-says-state">teacher shortage </a> surveys. The degree was launched at the then Kenyatta University College in 1970. </p>
<p>Prior to this, prospective teachers completed undergraduate studies in the content teaching areas (either arts or science). This was followed by a one-year postgraduate diploma in professional educational studies. Offered at the University of Nairobi, it stressed the mastery of teaching content over pedagogical skills as a basis for effective student learning outcomes.</p>
<p>But by the late 1960s, teacher graduates from the university were <a href="http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke/handle/11295/89063">being rated below</a> the exemplary teaching records of teachers from two institutions – Kenyatta University College (arts) and the Kenya Science Teachers College (science). The <a href="http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke/handle/11295/89063">perceived reason</a> was the focus on teacher pedagogical skills rather than content mastery at the two institutions. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, graduates of the two diploma-awarding institution could only teach junior high school. Only degree holders were entitled to teach the rest of the high school classes. This precipitated the introduction of the Bachelor of Education degree which has remained in place for 50 years.</p>
<p>The real issue isn’t about whether there is a focus on content mastery or on pedagogical skills. The problem is that many of Kenya’s teachers <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2158244011434102">fail to excel in teaching</a> mainly because the pre-service training is disjointed and fragmented. Teacher education scholar Deborah Loewenberg Ball has observed that teacher candidates in universities take standalone professional and subject matter courses with <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022487100051003013">minimal opportunities for integrating this knowledge</a> in the context of their work. Such integration, according to Ball, is a complicated task, yet it is assumed teachers achieve it in the course of their work. </p>
<p>Some will, most won’t.</p>
<p>Content mastery, on the other hand, is important yet there’s little research to demonstrate the connection between this mastery to students’ learning outcomes. As the Ball rightly <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022487100051003013">observes</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>what is measured as “content knowledge” (often teachers’ course attainment) is a poor proxy for subject matter understanding. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Furthermore, she argues, many teachers with content mastery lack sufficient understanding of how to hear students, select good learning tasks, or help students learn.</p>
<p>Equally, the benefits of excessive focus on pedagogy, or the method and practice of teaching, are uncertain. Though it elevates teachers’ practice and may improve students’ learning outcomes, research has <a href="https://www.education.uw.edu/ctp/sites/default/files/ctpmail/PDFs/TeacherPrep-WFFM-02-2001.pdf">not identified</a> which aspects of pedagogy contribute to this. </p>
<p>Therefore, a hodgepodge of education courses is offered without a clear justification of their effectiveness in teacher preparation. </p>
<p>What has been <a href="https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/effective-teacher-professional-development-report">found to be effective</a> and helped in teacher retention is consistent in-service professional development activities. </p>
<h2>Next steps</h2>
<p>What the government should focus on is providing school or site-based in-service professional development to improve student learning outcomes.</p>
<p>It would enable teachers to learn and refine pedagogies in context, it would be content-focused, incorporate active learning, use models of effective practice, and support collaboration between teachers and school administrators. </p>
<p>This cannot be achieved in any pre-service training. This because opportunities for such collaboration and practical sharing of experience are unavailable in universities and colleges.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162524/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ishmael Munene does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>What Kenya should focus on is providing in-service professional development to improve student learning outcomes.Ishmael Munene, Professor of Research, Foundations & Higher Education, Northern Arizona UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1598262021-05-10T09:24:58Z2021-05-10T09:24:58ZSmartphones are powerful personal pocket computers – should schools ban them?<p>When the UK took its first steps out of national lockdown in April and schools reopened, education secretary Gavin Williamson <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2021/04/06/nothing-dickensian-classroom-well-ordered-disciplined-environment/">announced</a> the implementation of the behaviour hubs programme. And as part of this push to develop a school culture “where good behaviour is the norm”, he pushed for banning smartphones in schools. </p>
<p>Williamson claims that phones distract from healthy exercise and, as he put it, good old-fashioned play. And he says they act as a breeding ground for cyberbullying. Getting rid of them will, to his mind, create calm and orderly environments that facilitate learning. “While it is for every school to make its own policy,” he wrote, “I firmly believe that mobile phones should not be used or seen during the school day, and will be backing headteachers who implement such policies.” </p>
<p>The difficulty that teachers face is that there are often conflicting assessments of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-smart-is-it-to-allow-students-to-use-mobile-phones-at-school-40621">risks</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/no-mobile-phones-should-not-be-banned-in-uk-schools-98717">benefits</a> of the constant <a href="https://ny.chalkbeat.org/2019/12/17/21055617/five-years-later-nyc-schools-still-struggle-with-de-blasio-s-cell-phone-policy">influx</a> of new devices in schools. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0742051X21000640">As we found in our recent study</a>, guidance for educators on how to navigate all this is limited. And there is no robust evaluation of the effect of school policies that restrict school-time smartphone use and there is limited evidence on how these policies are implemented in schools. So how can teachers approach this controversial subject?</p>
<p>We believe the best way to start is to reframe the smartphone itself. Rather than just a phone, it is more accurately described as a powerful pocket computer. It contains, among other things, <a href="https://theconversation.com/no-mobile-phones-should-not-be-banned-in-uk-schools-98717">a writing tool, a calculator and a huge encyclopaedia</a>. </p>
<p>Suggesting that children use smartphones in ways that help them learn, therefore, seems hardly radical. The perennial debate about banning phones needs to shift to thinking about how best to help schools better design school phone policies and practices that can enrich their pupils’ learning, health and wellbeing. And for that, we can start by looking at the evidence on phone use by young people.</p>
<p>We know that <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0023/190616/children-media-use-attitudes-2019-report.pdf">most adolescents</a> own a smartphone. When used appropriately and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0956797616678438">in moderation</a>, they can provide multiple benefits in terms of <a href="https://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentId=23039">learning</a>, <a href="https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9781137573681">behaviour and connection with peers</a>. There is also <a href="https://www.tcrecord.org/content.asp?contentid=23303">evidence</a> that technology use in classrooms can support learning and attainment. </p>
<p>The operative word here, though, is “moderation”. <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanchi/article/PIIS2352-4642(19)30186-5/fulltext">Excessive use</a> of smartphones (and other digital devices) can lead to heightened anxiety and depression, <a href="http://hbscengland.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/HBSC-England-National-Report-2020.pdf">neglecting other activities</a>, conflict with peers, <a href="https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/docs/default-source/improving-care/better-mh-policy/college-reports/college-report-cr225.pdf">poor sleep habits</a> and an increased exposure to <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanchi/article/PIIS2352-4642(19)30186-5/fulltext">cyberbullying</a>. </p>
<p>Then there’s everything we don’t yet fully understand about the impact – good or bad – that smartphone use may have on children. No one does. This has been reflected in recent <a href="https://post.parliament.uk/research-briefings/post-pn-0635/">research briefings</a> and <a href="https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmselect/cmsctech/822/822.pdf">reports</a> published by the UK government: they recognise the risks and benefits of phone use, and report that it is essential that schools are better supported to make decisions about their use in school with evidence-based guidance. </p>
<h2>Playing catch-up</h2>
<p>To investigate existing school positions on phone and media use, we interviewed and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0742051X21000640">did workshops with</a> more than 100 teenagers across years nine to 13, along with teachers, community workers and international specialists in school policies and health interventions.</p>
<p>We found that teachers tend to be scared of phones. Most of them said this was because they didn’t know how pupils are using their phones during school hours. Amid pressures regarding assessment, safeguarding and attendance, phones are simply not a priority. Issuing a blanket ban is often just the easiest option.</p>
<p>Teachers too recognise the benefits, as well as the risks, of smartphone use. But, crucially, they don’t have the necessary guidance, skills and tools to parse seemingly contradictory information. As one teacher put it: “Do we allow it, do we embrace it, do we engage students with it, or do we completely ignore it?” </p>
<h2>Different approaches</h2>
<p>This is, of course, a worldwide challenge. Looking at how different institutions in different cultural settings are tackling it is instructive. Often, similar motivations give rise to very different approaches. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/netherlands-school-that-has-no-classes-or-curriculum-119050801149_1.html#:%7E:text=This%20school%20also%20allows%20ubiquitous,your%20phone%20in%20certain%20moments.">mould-breaking Agora school</a> in Roermond, in the Netherlands, for example, allows ubiquitous phone use. Their position is that teenagers won’t learn how to use their phones in a beneficial way if they have to leave them in their lockers. </p>
<p>By contrast, governments in <a href="https://theconversation.com/banning-mobile-phones-in-schools-can-improve-students-academic-performance-this-is-how-we-know-153792">Australia</a>, <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/france-mobile-phone-ban-school-french-government-students-a8521961.html">France</a> and <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-47547135">Canada</a> are urging schools to restrict phone use during the day in a bid to improve academic outcomes and decrease bullying. </p>
<p>Teachers need a new type of training that helps them to critically evaluate – with confidence - both academic evidence and breaking news. Working with their students in deciding how and when phones can be used could prove fruitful too. </p>
<h2>Accessing information</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.routledge.com/Pedagogical-Cases-in-Physical-Education-and-Youth-Sport/Armour/p/book/9780415702454">Academic research</a> takes time to publish, data is often incomprehensible to non-experts and papers reporting on findings are often subject to expensive journal subscription prices. Professional development providers, trusts and organisations therefore must do more to make it easier for teachers to access the information they need to make decisions.</p>
<p>New data alone, though, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/0013189X17746402">isn’t enough</a>. Researchers need be prepared to translate their evidence in ways that educators can actually use to design better school policies and practices.</p>
<p>The children’s author and former children’s laureate Michael Rosen <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/apr/24/dear-gavin-williamson-teenagers-use-mobile-phones-get-with-the-times">recently made the point</a> that “we are living in an incredible time: whole libraries, vast banks of knowledge and multimedia resources are available to us via an object that fits in our pockets”. </p>
<p>That doesn’t sound like something educators should ignore. Findings from our study add to the current debate by suggesting that new evidence and new types of teacher training are urgently needed to help schools make informed decisions about phone use in schools.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159826/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Victoria Goodyear receives funding from Wellcome Trust. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kathleen Armour receives funding from Wellcome Trust</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Miranda Pallan receives funding from the UK National Institute for Health Research and is a member of the Labour Party.</span></em></p>Phones have the potential to help children learn, but UK teachers need evidence-based guidance on phone use in schoolsVictoria Goodyear, Senior Lecturer in Pedagogy in Sport, Physical Activity and Health, University of BirminghamKathleen Armour, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education), University of BirminghamMiranda Pallan, Reader in Public Health & Epidemiology, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1590512021-04-20T06:45:58Z2021-04-20T06:45:58ZThe education minister wants graduating teachers to be ‘classroom-ready’. But the classroom is not what it used to be<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395932/original/file-20210420-23-kx00li.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/pretty-stylish-schoolgirl-studying-homework-math-1938096421">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Federal Education Minister Alan Tudge has <a href="https://ministers.dese.gov.au/tudge/initial-teacher-education-review-launched">launched a six-month review</a> into teacher education. The aim is to return Australian students to the top of international rankings in reading, maths and science by 2030. </p>
<p>In the 2019 round of the OECD’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/aussie-students-are-a-year-behind-students-10-years-ago-in-science-maths-and-reading-127013">Programme for International Student Assessment</a> (PISA), 41% of Australian 15 year olds failed to meet the minimum national standards in reading – up from 31% in 2000. In maths and science, Australian students trailed students in 23 and 12 countries respectively, including Singapore, Poland and Canada.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/aussie-students-are-a-year-behind-students-10-years-ago-in-science-maths-and-reading-127013">Aussie students are a year behind students 10 years ago in science, maths and reading</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The ministerial press release for the initial teacher review said teacher education was the most critical element towards lifting our international standards. The review will address two key questions: how to attract and select high-quality candidates into teaching, and how to prepare them to become effective teachers.</p>
<p>The education minister said “many teachers are still graduating from their courses insufficiently prepared to teach in a classroom”. </p>
<p>But what do we mean by classroom readiness? Our education system, and those who work in it, need to be ready not just for classroom teaching, but also for disruption. </p>
<h2>The changing classroom</h2>
<p>The currently announced review echoes a 2014 report from the the Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group, <a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/teaching-and-school-leadership/teacher-education-ministerial-advisory-group">Action Now: Classroom Ready Teachers</a>. This recommended for schools, universities and education systems to work together as partners to prepare “classroom-ready” teachers.</p>
<p>We <a href="https://dataportal.arc.gov.au/NCGP/Web/Grant/Grant/DP170103203">investigated the effects</a> of the implementation of these 2014 reforms. We interviewed teachers, academics and leaders in schools and universities to help us understand the partnerships recommended in the report.</p>
<p>Our data shows teachers and leaders in education need to be ready not only for classrooms, but also for disruption and catastrophe. </p>
<p>In announcing the launch of the current review, Minister Tudge acknowledged that last year, in particular, had shown us the importance of teachers. </p>
<p>Teachers were challenged to make informed decisions and be as effective as possible during a period of disruption. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395937/original/file-20210420-17-1shepqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A 'school closed' sign hangs on school gates." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395937/original/file-20210420-17-1shepqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395937/original/file-20210420-17-1shepqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395937/original/file-20210420-17-1shepqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395937/original/file-20210420-17-1shepqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395937/original/file-20210420-17-1shepqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395937/original/file-20210420-17-1shepqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395937/original/file-20210420-17-1shepqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The traditional classroom all but disappeared in 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/school-closed-sign-protective-mask-hanging-1678762111">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Teachers stepped up to the challenges of supporting school students learning from home. But pre-service teachers — those undertaking the initial education courses Tudge wants to review – couldn’t demonstrate how “classroom-ready” they were. That’s because no classrooms operated and, as the university deans noticed, school leaders and teachers did not count pre-service teachers as “priority work”.</p>
<p>The work that had been done to build partnerships between schools, universities and education systems to prepare pre-service teachers for the classroom – as recommended by the 2014 report – fell over when schools had to deny them professional placements. </p>
<p>This created a crisis of teacher supply. Every year <a href="https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/school/teachers/profdev/careers/,k%20TSDR-2018-final-report.pdf">Victoria requires</a> around 5,000 teaching graduates to move into the teaching profession to meet workforce needs across the state, Catholic and independent school systems. But internal university data in 2020 suggested Victoria would be lucky to have even 1,500 graduates.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/exhausted-beyond-measure-what-teachers-are-saying-about-covid-19-and-the-disruption-to-education-143601">'Exhausted beyond measure': what teachers are saying about COVID-19 and the disruption to education</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The 2014 reports’ recommendations were implemented, but they became impossible to operate when catastrophe struck. This example shows school closures didn’t just affect classrooms but all parts of the education system — teacher education programs, teacher recruitment and supply of teachers to schools in 2021.</p>
<h2>It’s an uncertain world</h2>
<p>The start of a global pandemic may never happen again in the same way as it did in 2020. But last year also presented mega fires and floods — environmental as well as health scares — and the world is still struggling for control in 2021. Those events affected industries, driving unemployment up and increasing government welfare spending.</p>
<p>In a world that is integrated globally, with continuing evidence of climate consequences, it seems risky to revert to business as usual. </p>
<p>For kids to have jobs of the future, teachers and leaders working in schools and university need to problem-solve when disruption hits. When routine work is impossible, professionals must be confident they can adapt.</p>
<p>Australians need to know how to live in uncertain times, which means teachers must also learn to teach and lead in unexpected circumstances.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159051/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Terri Seddon receives funding from Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joanna Barbousas is affiliated with the Victorian Institute of Teachers as a Board Member and previously the President of the Victorian Council of Deans of Education and a board member of the Australian Council of Deans of Education. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ben Arnold does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>During 2020, we saw the traditional classroom all but disappear. We can expect education to face other types of disruption. In an uncertain future, teachers need more than classroom-readiness.Terri Seddon, Professor of Education, La Trobe UniversityBen Arnold, Postdoctoral Researcher, Deakin UniversityJoanna Barbousas, Professor, Dean of Education, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1553712021-03-17T18:25:30Z2021-03-17T18:25:30ZHas a gap in old-school handwriting and spelling tuition contributed to NZ’s declining literacy scores?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388944/original/file-20210311-18-j3emj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C6%2C4235%2C2806&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The recently reported decline in student performance in international tests for literacy, science and maths confirmed a view in some quarters that New Zealand’s curriculum is in need of an overhaul. </p>
<p>Notably, the New Zealand Principals’ Federation <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/435607/principals-challenge-education-ministry-over-student-failure">called for</a> increased leadership and direction from the Ministry of Education. Federation president Perry Rush said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We need more clarity when it comes to the knowledge that teachers and principals use when they’re engaged in teaching and learning, so that’s about what is in the curriculum.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is a complex debate, but one area where greater direction might help is the teaching of the seemingly basic but vital skills of handwriting and spelling. </p>
<p>Children require time to develop the necessary capability in these complex foundation skills. Without them, they will struggle with the higher-order skills of constructing paragraphs and composing texts.</p>
<p>But teaching handwriting and spelling is often marginalised. Many schools question the value of spending time on the formal teaching of these skills. Compared with other areas of literacy, teachers have <a href="https://literacyonline.tki.org.nz/Literacy-Online/Planning-for-my-students-needs/Writing-hub">struggled to find</a> direction.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1357076015542013952"}"></div></p>
<h2>The importance of handwriting</h2>
<p>It is common these days to hear handwriting will soon be unnecessary; digital technology is rendering it redundant and most people rarely put pen to paper anymore. </p>
<p>But handwriting is still used for many everyday tasks, as well as in most test and exam situations. More importantly, <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/new-study-suggests-handwriting-engages-the-brain-more-than-typing-1.5132542">studies show</a> the brain activates differently when writing by hand than when writing on a keyboard. </p>
<p>The importance of this brain activity is seen in the way learning correct letter formation is involved in <a href="https://www.readingrockets.org/article/importance-teaching-handwriting">embedding</a> letter knowledge. Teachers notice older children who struggle with writing composition often also have a problem with handwriting. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/test-or-invest-nzs-sliding-international-student-assessment-rankings-are-all-about-choices-154729">Test or invest? NZ's sliding international student assessment rankings are all about choices</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Efficient letter formation affects the amount and quality of writing output. One study of beginning writers <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232535985_Examining_the_contribution_of_handwriting_and_spelling_to_written_expression_in_kindergarten_children">reported</a> up to 30% of the difference in writing achievement was attributed to capability in handwriting and spelling. </p>
<p>Mastering handwriting involves learning <a href="https://theinspiredtreehouse.com/handwriting-development-sizing-spacing-alignment-and-more/">various techniques</a> and needs focus over a number of years. However, it can be difficult for teachers to justify a place for teaching letter formation in the busy school day. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Young girl using laptop computer" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388977/original/file-20210311-18-112hg9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388977/original/file-20210311-18-112hg9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388977/original/file-20210311-18-112hg9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388977/original/file-20210311-18-112hg9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388977/original/file-20210311-18-112hg9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388977/original/file-20210311-18-112hg9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/388977/original/file-20210311-18-112hg9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Studies show the brain activates differently when writing by hand than when writing on a keyboard.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Spelling is the basis of writing</h2>
<p>The teaching of spelling has been undervalued, too. Teachers have been guided to help children <a href="https://literacyonline.tki.org.nz/Literacy-Online/Planning-for-my-students-needs/Effective-Literacy-Practice-Years-1-4/What-we-know-about-teaching-reading-and-writing-in-Y1-4/Spelling">work out spelling rules</a> but the complex code of English spellings needs explicit teaching.</p>
<p>As with handwriting, spelling may seem unimportant in an age of digital spellcheckers. But spelling ability reflects what children know about words, including word meanings. Children I speak to report that difficulty with spelling puts them off wanting to write at all. </p>
<p>This is a real problem. The easier it is to put words on a page, the more it frees the writer to compose ideas into sentences and paragraphs. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/in-an-age-of-digital-disinformation-dropping-level-1-media-studies-in-nz-high-schools-is-a-big-mistake-151475">In an age of digital disinformation, dropping level 1 media studies in NZ high schools is a big mistake</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>It is easy to undervalue the foundation skills of handwriting and spelling — they can seem less important than producing a complete written composition. The focus of assessment is on the written “product” rather than progress in the foundation skills. </p>
<p>But mastering those skills is big and important work for beginning readers and writers. Any decline in their ability could be a canary in the education coal mine.</p>
<h2>Teachers and learners deserve better</h2>
<p>There are, however, some hopeful signs. A more explicit approach to teaching spelling, in part derived from strategies for <a href="https://www.inclusive.tki.org.nz/guides/dyslexia-and-learning/teach-spelling-strategies-explicitly">helping with literacy difficulties</a>, is gaining ground. </p>
<p>New early reading books that follow a clear <a href="https://literacyonline.tki.org.nz/Literacy-Online/News/Scope-and-Sequence-for-levelling-the-new-Ready-to-Read-Phonics-Plus">sequence of word patterns</a> are due to arrive in schools at the end of March. These resources have been eagerly awaited by schools keen to make a difference to their students’ learning.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/young-new-zealanders-are-turning-off-reading-in-record-numbers-we-need-a-new-approach-to-teaching-literacy-141527">Young New Zealanders are turning off reading in record numbers – we need a new approach to teaching literacy</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>At the same time, teacher training will need to include the tools required for such systematic teaching. As <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11881-018-00168-0">one New Zealand study</a> has shown, teacher knowledge about important literacy concepts has generally been lacking.</p>
<p>The fact there is a lack of consistent training for teachers in such an important area should be cause for real concern. While many schools are making important teaching and system changes to ensure success for all their learners, they cannot do it alone. </p>
<p>Guidelines for teacher training, school curriculums and professional development need to be clear and consistent. We can liken this to a GPS system, but for teaching. Good directions in education are vital to ensure all children arrive at the right destination at the right time. </p>
<p>Learners and teachers deserve nothing less. They need much more.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155371/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christine Braid works for Massey university. Christine was part of a Ministry funded research project in 2015-2017.</span></em></p>Kiwi school kids are not consistently taught letter formation or spelling the way they once were. But these simple skills are part of the foundations of higher learning.Christine Braid, Professional Learning and Development Facilitator in Literacy Education, Massey UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1536422021-02-28T19:06:30Z2021-02-28T19:06:30ZTeachers are expected to put on a brave face and ignore their emotions. We need to talk about it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386316/original/file-20210224-3587-lgfb9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-female-teacher-sitting-on-bench-447182140">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australian universities enrol thousands of people to become teachers. Some who <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0959475208000674">choose to study</a> education are motivated by a desire to make a difference to the lives of young people, while others are looking for job security and intellectual fulfilment. </p>
<p>A course in education <a href="https://www.aitsl.edu.au/teach/standards">encompasses a broad range</a> of cognitive and technical skills aligned to professional teacher standards. Yet, what is largely missing from a teaching degree is what to do with emotions as a teacher. </p>
<p>Despite all the theory, training and practical experience, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00098655.2017.1323519?journalCode=vtch20">research shows</a> teachers’ professional lives can be highly demanding, pressured, stressful and at times, emotionally exhausting. </p>
<p>In doctoral <a href="http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/81668">research</a>, I followed pre-service teachers throughout their course. I found there exists an invisible rule book that defines what teachers can and cannot do with their emotions.</p>
<h2>Emotional labour is hard work</h2>
<p>Our teachers recently started the school year. Many are likely facing a range of emotional challenges including working with difficult students and communities, managing increasing administrative control over their work and standardisation reforms. All these can result in substantial mental health issues. </p>
<p>One Australian <a href="https://theconversation.com/teachers-are-more-depressed-and-anxious-than-the-average-australian-117267">study found</a> increasing numbers of teachers suffer from persistent anxiety and depression. Up to 50% burn out or <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13664530.2014.945129">simply leave</a> in the first five years of their career. </p>
<p>Early <a href="http://ojs.wiserpub.com/index.php/SER/article/view/588">studies are showing</a> the COVID-19 lockdowns of 2020 are further exacerbating the stresses facing Australian teachers. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/exhausted-beyond-measure-what-teachers-are-saying-about-covid-19-and-the-disruption-to-education-143601">'Exhausted beyond measure': what teachers are saying about COVID-19 and the disruption to education</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Because teaching is emotionally demanding, teachers experience what is known as “<a href="https://eprints.qut.edu.au/137261/">emotional labour</a>”. This is when teachers have to manage, suppress or feign their emotions as part of the work. Like other forms of labour, doing so can become exhausting. </p>
<p>Understanding these facts is a fundamental part of learning to become a teacher. I’ve come to know this through years of researching teacher emotions, specifically focused on those learning to teach. </p>
<h2>Putting on a mask</h2>
<p>I spoke with and collected questionnaires from almost one hundred education students in a large Western Australian university. I wanted to find out how someone who wants to become a teacher learnt what they <em>should</em> or <em>should not</em> be doing with their emotions in secondary schools.</p>
<p>I found pre-service teachers learnt about the rules for emotional behaviour from expectations and assumptions about teacher’s work, which was confirmed when they began training in school placements. </p>
<p>From interviews, focus groups, diary entries and questionnaires, I have summarised some of the unwritten rules these teaching students spoke of: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Don’t ever cry in front of students, because if you do, they will see you as weak and eat you alive.</p>
<p>Don’t lose your temper, shout or get angry, because if you do, students will lose respect for you.</p>
<p>Don’t show your emotional vulnerability, especially not to other teachers, because if you do, they might think you are not right for the job.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Many pre-service teachers explained they worked at “hiding” or “suppressing” their vulnerable emotions from students and other teachers. </p>
<p>Some said they put on a “mask”, “a brave face” or “façade” to show they were “professional” and could “control” their emotions. </p>
<p>One participant experienced “intense frustration” during school placement in trying to manage and engage a group of behaviourally difficult students, which led to her feeling “emotionally overwhelmed”. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386317/original/file-20210224-15-146sgsl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman holding a smiley face in front of her head." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386317/original/file-20210224-15-146sgsl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386317/original/file-20210224-15-146sgsl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386317/original/file-20210224-15-146sgsl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386317/original/file-20210224-15-146sgsl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386317/original/file-20210224-15-146sgsl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386317/original/file-20210224-15-146sgsl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/386317/original/file-20210224-15-146sgsl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Teachers says they have to wear a mask to hide their emotions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/successful-female-designer-expressing-happiness-help-633478925">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>She hid these emotions from her supervising teacher, telling me she did not want to “appear weak”. So she held back her tears because she would “hate” being the “little woman that cries at work, who gets upset”. </p>
<p>This shows there exists a demand for teachers to behave in ways they believe to be acceptable. All these pre-service teachers have learnt to keep a hold of their “inappropriate” emotions in front of other teachers or risk being perceived as incompetent and unprofessional. </p>
<h2>Let’s talk about it</h2>
<p>Navigating the emotional rules of learning to teach is a significant aspect of becoming a teacher, yet it goes largely unrecognised in an initial teacher education course. </p>
<p>Such labour in teaching <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0742051X18308722">can have personal costs</a> and lead to emotional exhaustion, depression and anxiety.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/teachers-are-more-depressed-and-anxious-than-the-average-australian-117267">Teachers are more depressed and anxious than the average Australian</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>If we are to ensure thousands of newly enrolled teachers are to thrive in their courses and careers, we must make the invisible emotional rules of the profession seen and heard. </p>
<p>I believe if pre-service teachers can come together with teacher educators to explore these emotional rules, they could build resilience to confront the many emotional challenges of modern teaching.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/153642/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Saul Karnovsky does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Teachers’ professional lives can be highly demanding, pressured, stressful and at times, emotionally exhausting. But there’s an unspoken demand they suppress their emotions and just get on with it.Saul Karnovsky, Lecturer & Bachelor of Education (Secondary) Course Coordinator, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.