tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/teacher-quality-5113/articlesTeacher quality – The Conversation2021-05-03T20:07:58Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1601012021-05-03T20:07:58Z2021-05-03T20:07:58ZYes, quality teaching improves student outcomes. But that means all teachers need support – not just those in training<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398279/original/file-20210503-21-182uquo.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-helping-two-small-kids-classroom-310986524">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In his speech to <a href="https://theageschools.com.au/">The Age Schools Summit</a> in Melbourne last week, federal Education Minister Alan Tudge talked about his <a href="https://ministers.dese.gov.au/tudge/initial-teacher-education-review-launched">recently launched review</a> of initial teacher education. He said quality teaching was the most important in-school factor for determining student outcomes, and the review was a step towards this goal. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/uncategorised/resources/school-quality-australia-exploring-drivers-student-outcomes-and-links-practice-and-schooling-quality">Some research</a> backs the minister’s claim — teaching has a significant impact on student outcomes. But the focus on initial teacher education is insufficient. </p>
<p>First, <a href="https://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/1977">research also shows</a> a school’s level of advantage or disadvantage has a significant role to play in student outcomes, in some cases more so than the “quality” of its teachers.</p>
<p>And second, <a href="https://www.aitsl.edu.au/research/ite-data-report-2019">15,000 teachers</a> are graduating from Australian universities each year. This is a fraction of the <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/education/schools/latest-release#staff">300,000 teachers</a> in the workforce, all having and continuing to have an impact on students.</p>
<p>This means reviewing initial teacher education does little to help the <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/education/schools/latest-release#:%7E:text=there%20were%204%2C006%2C974%20students%20enrolled,13.5%20students%20to%20one%20teacher.">more than 4 million students</a> enrolled in Australian schools.</p>
<p>Helping all teachers improve their teaching is a better and faster way to improve the performance of Australian students. Our research shows how we can do this.</p>
<h2>Quality teaching and equality</h2>
<p>In 2019, Deloitte Access Economics issued a report, commissioned by the federal Education Department, called “<a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/uncategorised/resources/school-quality-australia-exploring-drivers-student-outcomes-and-links-practice-and-schooling-quality">School quality in Australia: Exploring the drivers of student outcomes and the links to practice and schooling quality</a>”. The report found the most important in-school factor driving student outcomes was teaching practice.</p>
<p>According to the report, the effect of teaching practice on student outcomes is twice as great as the next most significant driver — the classroom environment.</p>
<p>However, other studies, both in <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-319-08759-7_7">Australia</a> and <a href="https://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/1977">internationally</a>, point to socio-economic inequalities having concentrated and considerable effects on student engagement and achievement.</p>
<p>For instance, a 2014 <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-319-08759-7_7">Australian study</a> noted leaders have tended to cherry-pick evidence. The study’s author’s wrote:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[…] State and Commonwealth education ministers have tended to focus quite selectively on research findings that speak to the positive outcomes associated with quality teaching, while neglecting the complexity of this field […] The phenomenon of “residualisation” in particular, whereby disadvantage is concentrated in certain public schools as a result of “school choice”, has quite powerful effects on the engagement and achievement of low SES [socioeconomic] students.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The education minister’s current approach emphasises in-school factors while minimising the impact of out-of-school factors on student achievement. Both are important if we are to improve our students’ results.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-schools-are-becoming-more-segregated-this-threatens-student-outcomes-155455">Australian schools are becoming more segregated. This threatens student outcomes</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>How do we improve teaching quality?</h2>
<p>Worldwide, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2020.1842182">four broad strategies</a> are used to improve teaching: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>recruiting and training “better” teachers</p></li>
<li><p>improving initial teacher education</p></li>
<li><p>measuring and evaluating the quality of teaching</p></li>
<li><p>providing professional development to build the capacity of practising teachers. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Recruiting strong candidates into teaching and improving teacher education have merit, but they are long-term strategies. Evaluating the quality of teaching might be helpful in identifying needed reforms but does not, in itself, guarantee improvement.</p>
<p>However, building teaching capacity in all teachers will deliver results. This is especially true when seeking quick outcomes, such as <a href="https://ministers.dese.gov.au/tudge/being-our-best-returning-australia-top-group-education-nations">Alan Tudge’s goal</a> for Australian schools to be back “among the world’s top nations” in reading, maths and science by 2030. </p>
<h2>So, how do we build capacity?</h2>
<p>As a profession, we struggle to agree on what makes a quality teacher. We developed an approach focused on what teachers do in the classroom rather than who they are. In other words, quality teaching rather than quality teachers.</p>
<p>At the core of our approach is a framework called the <a href="https://qtacademy.edu.au/what-is-the-quality-teaching-model/">quality teaching model</a>, which focuses on three key concepts:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>the need for intellectual quality, rigour or challenge in every learning experience</p></li>
<li><p>the need to create classroom environments that support not only students but also their learning</p></li>
<li><p>the need to increase the significance of student learning so they can see its connection to the world beyond the classroom.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Using this model, we devised a professional development process called “<a href="https://qtacademy.edu.au/what-is-qtr/">quality teaching rounds</a>”. It is applicable to every grade, subject and teacher career stage.</p>
<p>These rounds involve teachers collaborating in professional learning communities of four or more. They observe and analyse each other’s teaching using the quality teaching model. Over a period of weeks, each teacher takes a turn to host a lesson observed by their peers. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/making-better-use-of-australias-top-teachers-will-improve-student-outcomes-heres-how-to-do-it-131297">Making better use of Australia's top teachers will improve student outcomes: here's how to do it</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>All the teachers (including the host) assess the lesson using the elements of quality in our model. Next, they have discussions about each teacher’s justification of their assessment, drawing on evidence gathered during the lesson. </p>
<p>The goal is to reach consensus on what is working. This process generates lively interaction, critical insights and goes well beyond providing feedback to the host teacher. Importantly, the assessments remain confidential to the participants, creating a safe space for their analysis. </p>
<h2>Does it work?</h2>
<p>This approach has been shown to improve the quality of teaching, teacher morale and, most importantly in the current context, student performance.</p>
<p>We conducted a trial involving 192 teachers randomly assigned to two groups: the first group did quality teaching rounds and the comparison group did professional development as usual. The researchers were blinded to group allocation.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/YvxLC0YKMxS4plyMuwVJjH?domain=sciencedirect.com">findings</a> show the quality of teaching (measured by our quality teaching model) improved significantly in the group that participated in rounds.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-government-claims-teaching-is-a-national-priority-but-cheaper-degrees-wont-improve-the-profession-141524">The government claims teaching is a national priority, but cheaper degrees won't improve the profession</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This year, we <a href="https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/Ua_WCgZ0y3cNDnBmfoeNN9?domain=sciencedirect.com">published findings</a> of a more recent trial involving 234 year 3 and 4 primary teachers and more than 5,000 students from 133 New South Wales government schools. The participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: a group involved in quality teaching rounds; a less structured form of peer observation; or professional development as usual (control). </p>
<p>Compared to the control group, student outcomes in mathematics improved by 25% in the group where teachers participated in quality teaching rounds. This was equal to two months additional improvement over an eight month period. The results also improved by less than one month in the peer observation group but were not statistically significant.</p>
<h2>Resources matter too</h2>
<p>If we are to meet the education minister’s objectives for Australia to again be among the world’s leading nations in student performance, we must support all teachers with professional development shown to work.</p>
<p>Yet it would be remiss not to acknowledge the enormous contribution of out-of-school factors in determining student outcomes.</p>
<p>Inadequate resources and disadvantage in low socioeconomic schools play a significant role in students’ poorer educational outcomes.</p>
<p>Teachers, teaching and teacher education cannot alone make the improvements sought without considerable commitment to, and investment in, rectifying longstanding inequalities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160101/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 NSW Department of Education.</span></em></p>Improving initial teacher education is a long-term strategy. It won’t achieve the education minister’s goal of getting Australia to the top-performing nations in maths and literacy by 2030.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/1400592020-06-08T19:49:25Z2020-06-08T19:49:25ZStudent teachers must pass a literacy and numeracy test before graduating – it’s unfair and costly<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/339689/original/file-20200604-67351-1ihmtkx.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/education-concept-student-computer-studying-school-144889735">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/coronavirus-student-teachers-call-for-delayed-tests-to-be-axed/news-story/fd9a93b1379ca768c8052cf0516ebbee">recent media report</a> noted student teachers are facing delays in sitting a literacy and numeracy test they need to pass to graduate, due to the pandemic. </p>
<p>The report noted a group of student teachers have petitioned education minister Dan Tehan to scrap the Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Teacher Education Students (LANTITE) this year, and indefinitely. </p>
<p>The group puts forward a number of reasons for getting rid of the test all teachers must pass before graduating:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>the test is discriminatory</p></li>
<li><p>it tests only a small subset of the skills teachers need </p></li>
<li><p>making LANTITE a requirement for graduation stops the university awarding the degree in which the student is enrolled, even in cases where all university courses have been passed (and more than A$40,000 in HECS-HELP debt accumulated).</p></li>
</ul>
<p>So, what is the LANTITE and should it be scrapped?</p>
<h2>Why the test was introduced</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://teacheredtest.acer.edu.au/about">LANTITE</a> is a computer based test student teachers must pass before graduating. It consists of two sections – literacy and numeracy – with two hours given for each.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.scu.edu.au/school-of-education/course-options/lantite/">test was introduced</a> in 2016 as part of a series of reforms <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/node/36783">sparked by a 2014 report by the Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group</a>. The report made recommendations for educating “classroom ready teachers” and noted lifting teacher standards would equally lift those of students. </p>
<p>One of the 38 recommendations was that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Higher education providers use the national literacy and numeracy test to demonstrate that all preservice teachers are within the top 30% of the population in personal literacy and numeracy.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The need for the test has been widely discussed in education circles. For instance, <a href="https://www.alea.edu.au/documents/item/1521/">education experts have put forward</a> the test is unnecessary because Australia’s teachers have among the highest literacy levels in the OECD. </p>
<p>Others have drawn attention to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/viewpoints-should-teaching-students-who-fail-a-literacy-and-numeracy-test-be-barred-from-teaching-109882">limitations of what the test measures</a>. Functional literacy and numeracy are, of course, crucial skills for teachers. But there are a wide range of skills that make a good teacher and they can’t all be measured by a multiple-choice test. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1268044057252511746"}"></div></p>
<p>Results of the test haven’t been released publicly since 2018, but <a href="https://www.school-news.com.au/news/new-teachers-score-95-percent-in-skills-test/">success rates of around 95%</a> would suggest universities are already doing quite a <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-we-need-to-review-how-we-test-for-teacher-quality-95074">good job of teaching these literacy and numeracy skills</a>.</p>
<h2>So, is the test discriminatory?</h2>
<p>In all standardised tests like LANTITE, NAPLAN and PISA (the Programme for International Student Assessment), the questions rely on a context. This brings with it some <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11422-015-9662-z">assumptions around the “right” way to solve problems</a> and vocabulary associated with the context rather than the skill being tested.</p>
<p>For instance, some of the numeracy questions in the LANTITE have been <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs13384-017-0238-7">criticised</a> for being too open to interpretation. Multiple answers are possible, depending on the way the question is read and how the reader interprets the vocabulary.</p>
<p>Several <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs13384-017-0238-7">research studies</a> <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17508487.2018.1558410">have found</a> standardised testing reduces diverse ways of understanding a problem and has coincided with a decrease in ethnic diversity of the teaching workforce. </p>
<h2>Barriers to LANTITE access</h2>
<p>Social distancing rules have made it more difficult for student teachers to take the literacy and numeracy test, but there were already significant barriers. </p>
<p>The testing sites are usually in metropolitan areas. There are regional test centres, but these usually don’t have as many places and aren’t available in all four annual test windows. </p>
<p>This means students in regional areas need to plan more carefully and think further ahead to ensure they get a place in the test centre, in the test window, that will allow them to graduate on time.</p>
<p>Many students drive to metropolitan areas and book overnight accommodation so they can arrive at the test centre well rested and ready. This is only possible for those who have the means.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-we-need-to-review-how-we-test-for-teacher-quality-95074">Why we need to review how we test for teacher quality</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>For students who can’t get to a test centre, “remote proctoring” is available, where the space in which the student takes the test is monitored by audio and video through their computer. Access to this relies on having computer hardware that meets minimum standards, a stable internet connection, as well as a quiet environment where the test can be taken at the designated time without interruption. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, Australia’s internet network is <a href="https://theconversation.com/around-50-of-homes-in-sydney-melbourne-and-brisbane-have-the-oldest-nbn-technology-115131">not so reliable</a>.</p>
<p>Due to COVID-19 restrictions, remote proctoring is the only option available, but the test provider can’t provide enough places for all students who need to take the test this year. Not being able to do the test will delay students’ graduation and future employment prospects.</p>
<p>Cost is another barrier to access. To complete both literacy and numeracy components of the test costs $196, which is a lot for a student living near the <a href="https://gupsa.org.au/two-thirds-of-university-students-living-below-the-poverty-line-report/">poverty line</a>. <a href="https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/55637/">Research</a> emerging from Murdoch University has revealed the test takes an emotional and financial toll on many student teachers.</p>
<p>Some students want to put off taking the test for as long as possible, to give themselves the best chance of passing the first time. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/viewpoints-should-teaching-students-who-fail-a-literacy-and-numeracy-test-be-barred-from-teaching-109882">Viewpoints: should teaching students who fail a literacy and numeracy test be barred from teaching?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This means if they fail, they not only need to find the money again, but they have limited time to do so without delaying their graduation.</p>
<p>There is a “three strikes” rule – meaning if a student teacher fails either the literacy or numeracy component three times, they can’t take it again. </p>
<p>As LANTITE success is required for graduation from a teaching degree, all of these barriers create significant problems for student teachers. </p>
<h2>Is the test working?</h2>
<p>Because LANTITE is part of a suite of reforms, it’s not possible to determine whether the test has made an impact on the number or quality of teachers entering the profession.</p>
<p>What we do know is it assesses a very small subset of the skills required for teaching and has a disproportionate impact on student teachers’ futures. We also know it has had unintended impacts, including <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1359866X.2020.1725809">increasing academic stresses</a> on student teachers and <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-15-4124-7_8">adverse effects on their confidence and teacher identity</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/140059/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>Student teachers need to pass a test to put them in the top 30% of Australia’s literacy and numeracy abilities. This test costs more money than some students have and can be discriminatory.Rachael Dwyer, Lecturer in Arts and Teacher Education, University of the Sunshine CoastAlison Willis, Lecturer and Researcher, School of Education, University of the Sunshine CoastLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1100952019-01-27T18:55:40Z2019-01-27T18:55:40ZLift teacher status to improve student performance<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255538/original/file-20190125-108348-iksykx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There need to be deeper reforms to teaching, such as higher pay at the top end, better opportunities for career advancement, and improvements to the professional working environment.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia needs to lift the status of teachers to attract the best and brightest to teaching. The world’s top-performing school systems make it a national priority to attract the strongest candidates. Improving teacher selection improves student results.</p>
<p>Australia’s brightest students are increasingly rejecting teaching. The greatest <a href="http://andrewleigh.org/pdf/TrendsTeacherQuality%20(old).pdf">falls</a> were in the 1980s. But entry standards have slipped further over the past decade. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255508/original/file-20190125-196215-1tqd02y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255508/original/file-20190125-196215-1tqd02y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255508/original/file-20190125-196215-1tqd02y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255508/original/file-20190125-196215-1tqd02y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255508/original/file-20190125-196215-1tqd02y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255508/original/file-20190125-196215-1tqd02y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255508/original/file-20190125-196215-1tqd02y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 2018, only <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/undergraduate_applications_offers_and_acceptances_2018.pdf">one in four</a> students offered a place in undergraduate teaching based on their <a href="http://www.vtac.edu.au/results-offers/atar-explained.html">Australian Tertiary Admission Rank</a> (ATAR) had an ATAR of 80 or more, compared to one in two across all courses. </p>
<p>To stop the decline, <a href="https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/teacher-accreditation/how-accreditation-works/your-accreditation/future-teachers/increased-academic-standards">New South Wales</a> and <a href="https://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/educationstate/Pages/intteached.aspx#link51">Victoria</a> have tightened entry standards. Victoria will increase minimum ATAR requirements from 65 to 70 this year.</p>
<p>Federal Labor’s shadow education minister Tanya Plibersek <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-06/low-scoring-atar-students-to-be-barred-from-becoming-teachers/10687746">wants</a> to make entry to teaching far more competitive by significantly increasing ATAR requirements towards an ATAR of about 80. She has threatened to cap teaching places if universities don’t lift entry standards themselves. She says too many high-achieving school students get told not to “<a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/they-should-try-me-universities-reject-labor-call-on-raising-atar-20190106-p50pvk.html">waste their ATAR</a>” by going into teaching. </p>
<p>The federal minister, Dan Tehan, says better <a href="https://au.educationhq.com/news/56273/tehan-staggered-by-how-educators-are-treated-in-australian-schools/">career paths</a> and pay reforms are key to making teaching a more attractive profession. His <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House/Employment_Education_and_Training/TeachingProfession">Parliamentary Inquiry</a> into teaching status will report back soon.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/viewpoints-should-teaching-students-who-fail-a-literacy-and-numeracy-test-be-barred-from-teaching-109882">Viewpoints: should teaching students who fail a literacy and numeracy test be barred from teaching?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Both arguments have merit. Making entry more selective will help lift status, but the low status of teaching is more than an image problem. There also needs to be deeper reforms to the job itself, such as higher pay at the top end, better opportunities for career advancement, and improvements to the professional working environment.</p>
<p>These reforms would have dual benefits: they would help attract talented people to teaching, and empower existing teachers to be more effective. </p>
<h2>Entry to teaching should be more selective</h2>
<p>Tightening teacher selection can deliver big improvements in student results. Yet universities tend to have a knee-jerk reaction to proposals to raise ATAR entry standards. For example, earlier this month the President of the Australian Council of Deans of Education, Tania Aspland, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/they-should-try-me-universities-reject-labor-call-on-raising-atar-20190106-p50pvk.html">claimed</a> “there is no evidence to show that those with higher ATARs become better teachers”.</p>
<p>But the world’s top-performing systems, such as Singapore, Korea and Finland, invest heavily in screening candidates on admission to teaching. Prospective teachers are assessed on their prior academic ability, as well as traits such as dedication to teaching. </p>
<p>Singapore even assesses student teacher performance in a real-world classroom trial. Only one in ten students who apply to be teachers in Singapore are <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/130_report_learning_from_the_best_detail.pdf">accepted</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255510/original/file-20190125-108367-sb2khk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255510/original/file-20190125-108367-sb2khk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255510/original/file-20190125-108367-sb2khk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255510/original/file-20190125-108367-sb2khk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255510/original/file-20190125-108367-sb2khk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255510/original/file-20190125-108367-sb2khk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255510/original/file-20190125-108367-sb2khk.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">Making entry to teaching more selective will need careful management.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://scholar.princeton.edu/sites/default/files/wdobbie/files/dobbie_tfa_2011.pdf">Several</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.3386/w14485">rigorous</a> <a href="http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2018/07/03/jhr.55.1.0317.8619R1.abstract">studies</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.3386/w14021">find</a> prior academic performance is a good indicator of who will go on to become a great teacher, not just on standardised tests but <a href="https://www0.gsb.columbia.edu/faculty/jrockoff/papers/Manuscript,%20Teacher%20Hiring%20082118.pdf">also</a> according to on-the-job performance reviews. One 2018 multi-country study found countries with teachers who have high academic aptitude <a href="http://hanushek.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/publications/Hanushek%2BPiopiunik%2BWiederhold_JHR.pdf">get better</a> student maths and literacy results.</p>
<p>Yes, <a href="http://www.nber.org/papers/w12155">some</a> <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED509656.pdf">studies</a> find no link between markers of cognitive ability (such as the SAT scores of US teachers) and student results. But on balance, the evidence suggests requiring prospective teachers to have a higher ATAR – along with other predictive factors such as leadership capabilities and dedication to teaching - will increase the likelihood of recruiting more effective teachers. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/in-the-atar-battle-one-thing-is-clear-teaching-needs-to-attract-better-recruits-55700">In the ATAR battle, one thing is clear: teaching needs to attract better recruits</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Making entry to teaching more competitive will need to be carefully managed. To ensure diversity in the future workforce, there will need to be adequate alternative pathways for students from a variety of backgrounds or specialist skills. But alternative pathways should not be used as a smokescreen for lowering overall entry standards.</p>
<h2>Deeper reforms are needed to help raise teacher status</h2>
<p>Tightening selection into teaching will help make it more prestigious, but lifting the profession’s low status requires at least three other reforms. </p>
<p>First, lift teacher pay at the top end. Teachers in Australia start on a good salary compared to other graduates, but the pay is too low at the top end. Australia’s top teacher salary is 40% higher than the starting salary, well below the <a href="https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=EAG_TS_ACT">OECD</a> average of 80%. To attract high-achievers, the top-end salary needs to be competitive with their options elsewhere. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255509/original/file-20190125-108361-14n0o5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/255509/original/file-20190125-108361-14n0o5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255509/original/file-20190125-108361-14n0o5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255509/original/file-20190125-108361-14n0o5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255509/original/file-20190125-108361-14n0o5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255509/original/file-20190125-108361-14n0o5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/255509/original/file-20190125-108361-14n0o5s.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">There are no easy fixes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Second, offer better career pathways. The best teachers should have fast-track opportunities that give them responsibility for developing other teachers and driving improvement in their school and beyond. Job descriptions such as this exist on paper, but they don’t necessarily happen in practice. </p>
<p>Better career options for those passionate about mastering teaching should sit <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/662684_tgta_accessible_final_0.pdf">alongside</a> school leadership pathways, so teachers don’t have to switch into school management to gain promotion and a pay rise. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/to-raise-status-of-teaching-australia-needs-to-lift-pay-and-cut-teacher-numbers-63518">To raise status of teaching, Australia needs to lift pay and cut teacher numbers</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Third, improve the professional work environment for teachers. Teachers need more opportunities to develop on the job, with meaningful feedback on how to improve their classroom practice. They need more high-quality, tried-and-tested materials – and fewer time-consuming administrative tasks.</p>
<p>There are no easy fixes to the entrenched problem of low teacher status in Australia. Making entry to teaching more selective would be a good first step, but deeper reforms to pay, career and the work environment are also necessary.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/110095/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>Evidence shows improving teacher selection will improve student results.Julie Sonnemann, Fellow, Grattan InstituteJonathan Nolan, Associate, Grattan InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1086982019-01-07T13:23:52Z2019-01-07T13:23:52ZWhy South Africa will find it hard to break free from its vicious teaching cycle<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251491/original/file-20181219-45385-datotw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Academic outcomes can be accomplished by high teaching quality.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Half of all South African pupils who attended school for five years can’t do <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2018-11-23-00-basic-education-is-failing-the-economy">basic calculations</a>. This is according to a 2015 TIMMS <a href="http://www.timss-sa.org.za/download/TIMSS-2015-Grade-5-National-Report.pdf">report</a> on mathematics achievements among Grade 5 learners in South Africa. </p>
<p>At the same time, it’s calculated that 10% of the country’s teachers are <a href="http://www.702.co.za/articles/271296/report-10-of-teachers-are-absent-daily-at-most-south-african-public-schools#">absent</a> from school each day, while <a href="http://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/handle/10539/17772">research</a> found that 79% of South African Grade 6 mathematics teachers were classified as having content knowledge levels below the level at which they were teaching. </p>
<p>Given that teacher quality is one of the biggest factors determining the learning <a href="https://research.acer.edu.au/research_conference_2003/3/">outcomes</a> of students, what will it take to improve teacher quality and professionalism in the country?</p>
<p>Numerous suggestions have been floated. But one idea has recently generated particular interest among education departments, statutory bodies, and academia – the introduction of <a href="http://www.cde.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/CDE-Insight-Professional-Standards.pdf">“teacher professional standards”</a>. These can be broadly defined as a set of common standards that include the professional knowledge, skills and conduct that characterise good teaching. </p>
<p>Their development began in the US in the late 1980s. It was stimulated by the view that higher expectations for student learning could be accomplished only by higher expectations of teaching quality. In the South African context, teacher standards are a response to a lack of teacher accountability. This has been <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09720073.2012.11891280">identified</a> as a cause of the poor quality of South African education. </p>
<p>The basic premise of teacher standards is that if you expect more from teachers, don’t allow them into the classroom until they’ve met a basic set of criteria, and hold them to account if they fall short, then the quality of teachers will improve. </p>
<p>But introducing teacher standards in South Africa also comes with a caveat. <a href="http://www.cde.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/CDE-Insight-Professional-Standards.pdf">Research</a> into the value of teacher standards for South Africa warns that this approach could serve to de-professionalise the country’s teaching force if not approached carefully. </p>
<p>This is because there are effectively two types of teacher standards, and it’s important not to conflate the two. There are standards that professionalise teaching and standards that simply manage teachers. While standards which professionalise create cultures of collegiality, expertise and pride among teachers, standards that manage can leave them feeling brow-beaten, untrusted, and demotivated.</p>
<p>Yet management standards are often mistaken for professional standards. When this happens, teacher morale drops. This is a common trend in countries like South Africa which have a “vicious” rather than “virtuous” schooling cycle.</p>
<h2>How the schooling cycle works</h2>
<p>The quality of a nation’s teachers cannot be divorced from the quality of its learners exiting schools. This is because successive cohorts of learners progress through school, enter university as student teachers, and graduate as teachers where they nurture the next cohort through the cycle. The end of school is therefore the beginning of higher education. </p>
<p>In a virtuous schooling cycle, such as Finland, education is a desirable career choice for top graduates. This allows for competitive entry requirements for teacher education programmes, which in turn allows for rigorous and challenging courses. This, in turn, produces high quality teachers who improve learner outcomes. The quality and professionalism of the teachers nurtures the next generation of high-quality teacher trainees.</p>
<p>In a virtuous cycle the system can afford to set standards that reflect the best professional knowledge internationally. Initial teacher education is intensive and teachers exit the programmes with high levels of subject and pedagogical knowledge. As a result, their learners perform well and the school system enjoys a high level of public esteem. </p>
<p>Consequently teaching is a prestigious and attractive profession which recruits the brightest and most motivated school graduates, who don’t require continual monitoring and oversight. Teachers instead enjoy professional autonomy; they are trusted in key decisions about their teaching and professional development. </p>
<p>Compare this to South Africa, which has a vicious schooling cycle. Initial teacher education is highly variable but generally insufficient. For example, a <a href="https://www.jet.org.za/resources/taylor-iterp-summary-report-on-component-1-feb15web.pdf">study</a> found that three out of five of the Higher Education Institutions that were sampled provided no English language, literature, or linguistic education for teacher trainees not specialising in this subject, despite poor English language proficiency among teacher trainees being a ubiquitous concern. </p>
<p>Unsurprisingly then, <a href="https://www.jet.org.za/resources/deacon-iterp-final-composite-report.pdf">research</a> on newly qualified teachers indicates that students enter their studies with very poor skills, and leave with little more. Consequently, their learners do very poorly and teaching is perceived as a low status career. Teacher education programmes are therefore in general unable to reliably attract high quality graduates, and so tend to be less demanding. The vicious cycle repeats itself.</p>
<p>In vicious schooling cycles governments take it upon themselves to hold teachers accountable. Standards are used to manage teachers, and to protect students from the worst educators through supervisory surveillance and control. Invariably, the relationship between teacher unions and governments becomes antagonistic and generates feelings of fear and mistrust. This, in turn, alienates the best school graduates who frankly have better career options. </p>
<p>While in-service training programmes attempt to make up the backlog, and some are succeeding in achieving small learning gains, they cannot fully compensate for the lack of teacher skills resulting from poor initial teacher education and generally unskilled matriculants.</p>
<h2>Not all standards professionalise teaching</h2>
<p>Given it’s vicious cycle, management standards may be more likely than professional standards in South Africa. Does this mean that South African teachers are damned to the stick, rather than the carrot? Not necessarily. There are many excellent teachers who are hungry for opportunities to develop in ways that nurture autonomy and collegiality.</p>
<p>South Africa should not shy away from developing and promoting professional best practice, and providing the opportunities for teachers to reach them. </p>
<p>At the same time, management standards must be considered carefully. While they may prevent the worst teaching, they’re unlikely to create the professional culture that promotes the best teaching and attracts the best candidates.</p>
<p><em>Nick Taylor, Senior Research Fellow at JET Education Services, also contributed to this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/108698/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Natasha Robinson receives funding from the ESRC.</span></em></p>The introduction of teacher standards may actually reduce teacher professionalism if not handled correctly.Natasha Robinson, PhD Candidate and research consultant, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1013842018-10-04T20:03:59Z2018-10-04T20:03:59ZTeachers and trainers are vital to the quality of the VET sector, and to the success of its learners<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/238821/original/file-20181002-195263-1em57ls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Teacher quality is key in getting a good education.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This article is part of a series on the Future of VET exploring issues within the sector and how to improve the decline in enrolments and shortages of qualified people in vocational jobs. Read the other articles in the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=Future+of+VET">here</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Vocational Education and Training (VET) is an important part of the education sector and trains people of all ages for occupations vital across all sectors of the economy. It also makes a major contribution to social inclusion. </p>
<p>Australia endlessly debates the ATAR level needed even to <em>enter</em> teacher-training programs for school teaching. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/viewpoints-should-universities-raise-the-atar-required-for-entrance-into-teaching-degrees-102841">Viewpoints: should universities raise the ATAR required for entrance into teaching degrees?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But it doesn’t seem to care about the qualifications of those who teach our young people, workers and citizens in VET. For the last 20 years, VET teachers have only been required to have a Certificate IV level qualification in VET teaching, and the industry qualification at the level at which they are teaching people. </p>
<p>Teacher preparation has been identified as a key factor in the quality of education, so to improve the quality of the VET sector, we need to ensure teachers and trainers are getting the right training themselves. Other factors – such as funding – affect VET quality and student success. </p>
<p>But, in the school sector, it has been shown teachers make the most difference, so the same is likely to be true of VET. Teaching in any sector is a highly skilled activity and VET, especially, has such a range of learners that diverse teaching strategies are needed.</p>
<h2>Who are these teachers and trainers?</h2>
<p>VET teachers work in TAFE (the public provider) private registered training organisations (RTOs), community colleges or enterprise RTOs (providing qualifications to their workforces). They may teach full-time, have a portfolio of jobs across several providers, or may still work in their industry while they teach part-time. </p>
<p>They are “dual professionals”, needing to keep up with changes in industry, the economy and society, and developing their teaching skills to deal with increasingly complex learner groups and teaching environments. </p>
<p><a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/306/Keynote_Address_-_Roger_Harris_-_What_do_we_learn_from_40_years_of_history.pdf?1538441019">Until 1997</a>, all full-time TAFE teachers nationally were helped to get degrees in VET teacher training after recruitment, or graduate diplomas if they already had a degree in another area. They studied part-time while teaching. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/expert-panel-what-makes-a-good-teacher-25696">Expert panel: what makes a good teacher</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In 1998, the minimum qualification – the Certificate IV level – was introduced for all VET teachers and trainers. States and territory TAFE systems gradually stopped requiring higher-level qualifications. The Certificate IV <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14480220.2017.1355301">floor became a ceiling</a>. </p>
<p>While some teachers undertake higher-level study, they are now the minority. Yet, those who undertake higher level qualifications can clearly point to their value. </p>
<h2>Where’s the evidence these qualifications benefit teachers?</h2>
<p>Our national <a href="http://federation.edu.au/research-vet-quality">study</a>, conducted from 2015 to 2017, looked at whether and how VET teachers’ qualifications made a difference. The project had seven phases of qualitative and quantitative research over three years, with 1,255 participants from the sector, from all types of training provider and industry areas. We had good numbers of teacher participants at all qualification levels.</p>
<p>In TAFE and RTO case studies for this project, we interviewed supervisors, managers, professional development staff and students as well as teachers. </p>
<p>Based on detailed survey responses and our case study results, we found:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>higher level qualifications, either in VET teaching practice or another discipline improve teaching approaches, confidence and ability</p></li>
<li><p>higher level qualifications in VET teaching specifically make a significant difference to VET teachers’ confidence in teaching a diversity of learners</p></li>
<li><p>the qualification level that makes the most difference is a degree.</p></li>
</ol>
<h2>How many VET teacher are qualified at different levels?</h2>
<p>There is no national source of information on how many VET teachers are qualified at different levels. In our main survey, twice as many VET teachers had degrees in their industry area (37%) as had degrees in VET teaching (19%). Some 27% had qualifications only at Certificate III or Certificate IV in their industry area, and 64% had only a Certificate IV qualification in VET teaching.</p>
<hr>
<p><iframe id="ZZgqW" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/ZZgqW/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<hr>
<p>By far, the greatest proportion of teachers sat in the lowest qualification combination (sub-degree qualification in their industry area and Certificate IV in VET teaching). Only 11.9% had qualifications at degree level or above in both their industry area and in VET teaching.</p>
<p>But our study showed teachers with degree-level knowledge in teaching and their industry area were the most confident in passing on knowledge and skills to their students. Some teachers with lower qualification levels did show the characteristics of excellent teaching, but these were more common in highly-qualified teachers.</p>
<h2>What’s stopping VET teachers from qualifying themselves?</h2>
<p>Perhaps the existence of a mandated minimum VET teaching qualification may provide an excuse not to progress further than the minimum. Some people think professional development can act as a substitute for qualifications – but our study found people with lower level qualifications undertake less professional development. </p>
<p>In most jobs, professional development supplements rather than replaces initial qualifications. Perhaps resourcing is an issue. TAFE teachers <a href="https://www.ncver.edu.au/__data/assets/file/0016/3724/2311.pdf">may expect</a> their study to be supported by employer funding and a workload allowance, neither of which may be possible. </p>
<p>Some people imagine to get a university qualification in VET teaching, people must give up their jobs and go to university for three years. This could, of course, be difficult if it were true - <a href="https://www.acde.edu.au/networks-and-partnerships/acde-vocational-group/">but it isn’t</a>. </p>
<p>All <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13596748.2015.1081752">VET teacher-training courses</a> at universities are part-time and offered flexibly, as most students are working full-time in VET or in industry and may live at a distance. Universities work closely with individual TAFE and other providers in making their VET teacher-training courses relevant. </p>
<h2>What could help VET teachers become more qualified?</h2>
<p>Already, a higher level qualification in adult education (the Diploma of VET or university degree) is recognised by the VET regulator, the <a href="https://www.asqa.gov.au/">Australian Skills Quality Authority</a> (ASQA), as an alternative to the Certificate IV. VET teachers must now show continuous professional development in VET as well as in industry. Undertaking a VET teaching qualification can meet this requirement. </p>
<p>A more open attitude from some in the VET sector – allowing teachers to attain higher-level qualifications rather than the sector insisting only on educating its own – would help. Ambassadors, such as graduates of higher level courses, could spread the word about what they’ve gained from their studies, personally and in their careers. </p>
<p>Federal and state government could introduce policy provisions to improve teacher/trainer qualification levels, as they do with <a href="https://www.aitsl.edu.au/teach/start-your-career/registration/nationally-consistent-teacher-registration">school teaching</a> and have done with <a href="https://www.acecqa.gov.au/qualification-requirements">early childhood education</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/teach-for-australia-a-small-part-of-the-solution-to-a-serious-problem-30152">Teach for Australia: a small part of the solution to a serious problem</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Finally, a “Teach VET for Australia” program, similar to <a href="https://www.teachforaustralia.org/">Teach for Australia</a> would be useful. The idea of taking adults with life experience and training them as teachers is what VET teacher-training has done for decades. A named and targeted program could demonstrate the benefits of higher-level qualifications.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The author would like to thank Keiko Yasukawa, Roger Harris, Jackie Tuck, Patrick Korbel and Hugh Guthrie who were researchers on the ARC-funded project, and Steven Hodge who was involved in an earlier project.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/101384/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Erica Smith receives funding from the ARC. She is affiliated with the Australian Council of Deans of Education. </span></em></p>Teacher preparation has been identified as a key factor in the quality of education. To improve the quality of the VET sector, we need to ensure teachers and trainers are qualified to teach.Erica Smith, Professor of Vocational Education and Training, Federation University AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1028412018-09-08T11:26:14Z2018-09-08T11:26:14ZViewpoints: should universities raise the ATAR required for entrance into teaching degrees?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235347/original/file-20180907-190662-11zmcvz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How much does ATAR matter when selecting teacher education students?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Shadow education minister Tanya Plibersek has announced a Labor government would raise the ATAR required for entrance into a teaching degree if elected at the next election. Plibersek said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I don’t want people with ATARs of 35 going into teaching, I just don’t.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The effectiveness of ATAR as an entrance criteria has been heavily debated for some time. Some say to improve teacher quality, we need to raise the entrance criteria. Others argue ATAR doesn’t tell us all we need to know about a person’s suitability for teaching.</p>
<p>So is raising the ATAR for teachers a good idea, or will it simply exclude potentially great teachers?</p>
<hr>
<h2>The case for no minimum ATAR</h2>
<p><strong><em>Tania Aspland, Professor in Teacher Education, Dean, Education Policy and Strategy at Australian Catholic University and President, Australian Council of Deans of Education</em></strong></p>
<p>We all want to attract and retain the best teachers and move away from the singular focus on ATAR scores. Earlier this year, the Mitchell Institute released a <a href="http://www.mitchellinstitute.org.au/papers/crunching-the-number/">report</a> which stated only one in four domestic undergraduate students was admitted to courses based on an ATAR. This does not match the message reinforced by schools, families and the media that ATAR is everything.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235353/original/file-20180907-190639-1mocoxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235353/original/file-20180907-190639-1mocoxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235353/original/file-20180907-190639-1mocoxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235353/original/file-20180907-190639-1mocoxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235353/original/file-20180907-190639-1mocoxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235353/original/file-20180907-190639-1mocoxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235353/original/file-20180907-190639-1mocoxx.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">Many students with average or comparatively low senior secondary results also do well once at university.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 2014, the Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/teacher-education-ministerial-advisory-group">report</a>, which has underpinned the raft of recent reforms in teacher education, found:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>research indicates ATAR is a good predictor of success for students entering university with strong secondary school performance, but loses predictive capability for those entering university with lower scores. Many students with average or comparatively low senior secondary results also do well once at university</p></li>
<li><p>while rankings are clearly a very good predictor of performance in engineering, agriculture and science, the relationship is low for education.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>The argument about ATARs ignores the range of <a href="https://www.acde.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/final-report-siite-project.docx.pdf">selection methods</a> universities use to choose teacher education students with the right mix of academic and personal traits. These include looking at prior experience, interviews or psychometric tests.</p>
<p>It ignores the clearly defined <a href="https://www.aitsl.edu.au/teach/standards">professional teaching standards</a> and the <a href="https://teacheredtest.acer.edu.au/">new numeracy and literacy test</a> teaching students must pass before they graduate. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-we-need-to-review-how-we-test-for-teacher-quality-95074">Why we need to review how we test for teacher quality</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>It also strikes at the heart of whether or not we want to provide multiple pathways to attract a diverse cohort to teach in our increasingly diverse classrooms. This includes those from marginalised and disadvantaged groups, such as students from rural or regional areas and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. </p>
<p>Teacher education students accepted with lower ATARs need to be viewed in context. They may be selected because:</p>
<ul>
<li>they have gained further experience and qualifications that supersede their ATAR, as their ATAR may have been acquired years before their university entry</li>
<li>they’re given special consideration due to personal circumstances (such as the death of a parent) as their low ATAR doesn’t reflect prior academic performance</li>
<li>as a member of a disadvantaged group, they’re granted access to a pathway course during which they would have to prove they’re capable of undertaking teacher education.</li>
</ul>
<p>Research does not support the move to mandate ATAR entry scores. </p>
<hr>
<h2>The case for setting benchmarks</h2>
<p><strong><em>Anne-Marie Morgan, Professor and Associate Dean, Teaching and Learning at the University of New England</em></strong></p>
<p>ATARs provide a visible measure of standard to the public, prospective students and their families. They’re also used by politicians as an indicator of confidence in producing quality teachers. But the reliance on ATAR levels as a predictor of success is insufficient on its own, and is tied up <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0161956X.2018.1449800?scroll=top&needAccess=true&journalCode=hpje20">with complex equity issues</a> around location (especially for regional and rural students), socioeconomic status, family dynamics and unequal access to educational opportunities. </p>
<p>In the Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/teacher-education-ministerial-advisory-group">report</a> which has guided national education policy on initial teacher education, the relationship between ATARs and student success in education courses was acknowledged to be low, and is the reason why other processes are included for entry, within programs and at graduation.</p>
<p>There is <a href="https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/en/publications/predicting-the-academic-achievement-of-first-year-pre-service-tea">research</a> that indicates an ATAR of 70 supports successful outcomes. It found ATAR scores were significant, but scores on a scale which measured motivation and engagement were a much stronger predictor of first year marks results. This indicates students’ motivation and how they’re taught in their first year are more important than ATAR, but so is setting an appropriate benchmark for ATAR, for students who enter using this pathway. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235351/original/file-20180907-190662-170q4rc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/235351/original/file-20180907-190662-170q4rc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235351/original/file-20180907-190662-170q4rc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235351/original/file-20180907-190662-170q4rc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235351/original/file-20180907-190662-170q4rc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235351/original/file-20180907-190662-170q4rc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/235351/original/file-20180907-190662-170q4rc.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">Setting an ATAR benchmark is prudent, while also allowing for other entry pathways.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>UNE currently has an ATAR requirement of 77 for its education courses. Historically, competition for places in our teacher education programs has justified this level. This is higher than most NSW and interstate universities. </p>
<p>We are currently considering lowering this to 70 in line with confidence in our students’ results, the literature, and to open opportunities for teaching to a wider range of students and to compensate for pathways lost through changes such as removal of Principals’ recommendations of year 12 students considered to have the right attributes for teaching.</p>
<p>The Victorian state government currently requires an ATAR of 65 for teaching courses, which will be <a href="https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/raising-the-bar-top-30-per-cent-of-students-for-teaching/">raised to 70</a> in 2019. This will be done so teacher education students in Victoria are from the top 30% of year 12 graduates, but there are also opportunities in this policy for entrance pathways other than ATAR.</p>
<p>So, setting an appropriate ATAR benchmark is prudent, while also ensuring there are other entry pathways that uphold our commitment to equity of access. The programs we provide, and how we teach students are other critical factors in ensuring we prepare great teachers.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-get-quality-teachers-in-disadvantaged-schools-and-keep-them-there-71622">How to get quality teachers in disadvantaged schools – and keep them there</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<hr>
<h2>Tania Aspland</h2>
<p>I appreciate that we are both largely on the same page that the best research doesn’t supports the case for minimum ATARs. Setting minimum ATARs may make the public feel more confident, but that confidence stems largely from perceptions based on the narrow focus on ATARs by public figures. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/should-we-scrap-the-atar-what-are-the-alternative-options-experts-comment-55501">Should we scrap the ATAR? What are the alternative options? Experts comment</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>I also appreciate the valuable contributions made by the diverse range of great teachers who have have come into teacher education through different pathways and graduated with high professional academic standards. </p>
<h2>Anne-Marie Morgan</h2>
<p>We agree on the conclusion that the research to date does not support the obsession with ATARs as the only source for entry to an initial teacher education course. But it will be important to continue to collect data to demonstrate this conclusion, and to show how both other entry pathways <em>and</em> what happens during a student’s preparation to be a teacher influence their chances of success, and suitability to be a great teacher.</p>
<p>As Tania says, governments, communities, parents, teacher educators, and the wider community all want to attract and retain the best teachers. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/your-atar-isnt-the-only-thing-universities-are-looking-at-93353">Your ATAR isn't the only thing universities are looking at</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Our teachers are recognised as some of the best in the world. We should continue to provide opportunities for our teachers to come from diverse communities and backgrounds to work with children who are also diverse. We need to talk about the complexity of the profession and the needs of students in more nuanced terms.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/102841/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anne-Marie Morgan is the Immediate Past President of the Australian Federation of Modern Language Teachers Associations (AFMLTA) and consults for this association with government and education departments. She is also a member of ALEA, LCNAU and PETAA. Anne-Marie receives funding from the Western Australian Department of Education to develop an online Indonesian program and one from DFAT to work with Presidents of Philippines Normal (education) universities.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tania Aspland 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>Some universities accept students into their teaching degree programs with an ATAR as low as 35. Do we need to raise the bar, or are other factors more important than a high ATAR for teachers?Anne-Marie Morgan, Professor and Associate Dean, Teaching and Learning, Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, and Education, University of New EnglandTania Aspland, Professor in Teacher Education and Dean, Education Policy and Strategy, Australian Catholic UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/950742018-04-22T19:15:08Z2018-04-22T19:15:08ZWhy we need to review how we test for teacher quality<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215714/original/file-20180420-163978-1k4ms7r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There are now several new gate-keeping measures to test teacher quality introduced by universities in the last two to three years.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>With Australia falling further in the latest <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/pisa_19963777">Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) rankings</a>, new debates have emerged about why and who is to blame. Some have made links between the <a href="https://www.aitsl.edu.au/docs/default-source/apst-resources/australian_professional_standard_for_teachers_final.pdf">quality of teachers and student outcomes</a> in the rankings. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/documents/australian-government-response-teacher-education-ministerial-advisory-group-temag-report">response</a> to calls for teacher education reform, the government introduced the Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Teacher Education (<a href="https://teacheredtest.acer.edu.au/">LANTITE</a>) in 2016. It requires teacher education students to reach a certain level of literacy and numeracy before graduating. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-the-review-of-teacher-education-should-be-asking-27066">What the review of teacher education should be asking</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The <a href="https://teacheredtest.acer.edu.au/">LANTITE</a> is said to be <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/a-total-shambles-new-literacy-and-numeracy-test-for-teachers-frustrates-students-educators-20160901-gr6hi7.html">modelled on the year nine NAPLAN exam</a>. The <a href="https://www.acer.org/">Australian Council for Education Research</a> (ACER), a not-for-profit organisation, developed and administer the test. </p>
<p>The test is being implemented differently from university to university and there is currently no evidence to suggest this test will ensure Australian schools have high-quality teachers with strong literacy and numeracy skills. </p>
<p>With a world education expert calling the NAPLAN writing test <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/apr/09/bizarre-naplan-writing-test-measures-all-the-wrong-things-us-expert-says">“bizzare” and “testing all the wrong things”</a>, it’s timely to also discuss the LANTITE’s purpose and effectiveness as a measure of teacher quality.</p>
<h2>Teacher tests for quality</h2>
<p>The LANTITE, as a policy initiative, suggests that focusing on student selection into teacher education programs is the first step towards ensuring teacher quality. In contrast, others have argued that the problem is not with the selection of students, but with <a href="https://theconversation.com/in-the-atar-battle-one-thing-is-clear-teaching-needs-to-attract-better-recruits-55700">recruitment</a> into the teaching profession. </p>
<p>In other words, there needs to be a focus on making teaching more attractive as a profession in order to attract high-quality students (such as more opportunities for development, career advancement, and higher wages) as opposed to using gate-keeping tests in the hope this will identify suitable teacher candidates.</p>
<p>This is particularly important given a <a href="https://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=policyinsights">report</a> from the Australian Council for Education Research estimates 10-20% of students who graduate with an education degree never enter the profession. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/teachers-are-leaving-the-profession-heres-how-to-make-them-stay-52697">Teachers are leaving the profession – here's how to make them stay</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The LANTITE is currently the only federally-funded national initiative of its type. However, it’s just one of <a href="https://takecasper.com/aboutcasper/">several</a> new <a href="https://tcat.edu.au/">gate-keeping measures</a> that have been introduced by universities in the last two to three years. </p>
<p>In each case, the implementation of these screening processes has been left to individual universities. This allows universities to determine when students sit the test, as long as they pass it before graduation. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215716/original/file-20180420-163962-ilip48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215716/original/file-20180420-163962-ilip48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215716/original/file-20180420-163962-ilip48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215716/original/file-20180420-163962-ilip48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215716/original/file-20180420-163962-ilip48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215716/original/file-20180420-163962-ilip48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215716/original/file-20180420-163962-ilip48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It’s up to each university when they administer the test.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A review of entry criteria across Australian universities indicates no courses currently require students to have passed LANTITE as a condition for admission. Instead, enrolment is typically conditional and tied to a mid-course <a href="https://www.monash.edu/education/current-students/courses/literacy-and-numeracy-test">milestone</a>, such as having passed, or demonstrating you’re taking steps to pass, the test within your first year at university. </p>
<p>In NSW, the teacher accreditation authority has mandated students have to successfully completed the test <a href="http://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/teacher-accreditation/how-accreditation-works/your-accreditation/future-teachers/literacy-numeracy-tests">prior to their final practicum</a> in a school.</p>
<h2>Who pays for it?</h2>
<p>Although universities require students to sit the test as a condition to graduate, they do not receive any of the revenue raised from the test. Currently, each attempt <a href="https://teacheredtest.acer.edu.au/register/payment">costs</a> A$185, with each component (literacy/numeracy) being A$92.50. While usually paid for by the teaching student, some course providers, such as the University of Queensland, <a href="https://www.uq.edu.au/news/article/2016/03/uq-pay-teacher-test-fees-education-students-0">cover these fees</a>. </p>
<p>With such fees, it can be assumed that the LANTITE is at the very least cost-neutral to operate. However, with 20,000 students graduating from teacher education annually, it has the potential to generate up to <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/a-total-shambles-new-literacy-and-numeracy-test-for-teachers-frustrates-students-educators-20160901-gr6hi7.html">A$3.7 million in revenue</a> each year for ACER. </p>
<p>There is an assumption that ACER will reinvest any surplus into further test research and development. However, the decision of how this money is spent is neither in the hands of those who pay for the test (in most cases, students) or those working in teacher education (universities). </p>
<h2>Doubts about relevance</h2>
<p>In addition to the concerns surrounding who pays for this policy, its relevance has also been called into question. The LANTITE is pitched at a year nine level of literacy and numeracy yet students have three chances to pass. They may have more attempts, if provided with a letter of support from their teacher education course provider. </p>
<p>So it’s not surprising <a href="https://www.school-news.com.au/news/new-teachers-score-95-percent-in-skills-test/">almost 95%</a> of applicants pass LANTITE. With multiple opportunities to re-sit the test and an onslaught of commercially produced books, tutoring and courses available, students have a stronger chance of passing the test. With such a high pass rate, some have questioned whether the whole process is ultimately <a href="https://theconversation.com/testing-teachers-basic-literacy-and-numeracy-skills-is-pointless-51566">pointless</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/focusing-on-tests-and-invalid-assessments-is-the-wrong-way-to-measure-teacher-quality-63931">Focusing on tests and invalid assessments is the wrong way to measure teacher quality</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In a bid for quality assurance in schools, the LANTITE suggests universities are incapable of producing teachers with year nine literacy and numeracy skills without the help of a gate-keeper like LANTITE. As a result, education students who are entering into a profession with <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-16/seven-reasons-people-no-longer-want-to-be-teachers/9661878">poor salaries</a> are being asked to pay for a test most can pass. </p>
<p>Those advocating for LANTITE claim it provides an effective way to select and attract high-quality candidates to teacher education and into the profession. However, the relevance of the LANTITE needs to be further interrogated. Especially when the cost of this exam is placed primarily on the shoulders of those we’re attempting to recruit into teaching without any clear cost-benefit in return.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/95074/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>Australia’s decline in PISA rankings and criticisms of NAPLAN tell us we should also be looking at how we assess teacher quality.Melissa Barnes, Lecturer in the Faculty of Education, Monash UniversityRussell Cross, Associate Professor in the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/945802018-04-15T20:15:53Z2018-04-15T20:15:53ZSeven reasons people no longer want to be teachers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214648/original/file-20180413-566-kfik3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The programs are long and intense, the creativity and relationships aspect of the vocation has been eroded, there is pervasive negativity in the media, and comparatively poor salary and working conditions. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The oldest profession – teaching – is no longer attractive. The Queensland Deans of Education <a href="http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/universities-blame-a-new-requirement-of-fiveyear-study-for-drop-in-teacher-training-enrolment/news-story/730755780318b1eaa74373edb851270b">revealed</a> there have been alarming drops in first preference applications for this year’s teacher preparation courses. Queensland has experienced an overall 26% drop. Most alarmingly, UQ reported a 44% plunge. QUT saw a 19% drop.</p>
<p>These figures reflect a national trend. ACU’s is down 20% for campuses in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. This follows disappointing interest in 2017. VTAC reported <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/applications-for-graduate-teaching-courses-drop-40-per-cent-in-victoria-20170111-gtppgn.html">a 40% drop in 2017</a> compared to 2016. So why don’t people want to be teachers anymore? There are at least seven reasons people aren’t so keen.</p>
<h2>1. Teacher education competency fixation</h2>
<p>Our best teachers can inspire a student to achieve beyond their wildest expectations. They find the teachable moments and use humour to explain key concepts. They care for their students as individuals and go that extra mile to design their teaching to connect with them in meaningful ways. Their assessments are fair and they rejoice with students when they master important ideas. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/to-raise-status-of-teaching-australia-needs-to-lift-pay-and-cut-teacher-numbers-63518">To raise status of teaching, Australia needs to lift pay and cut teacher numbers</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>These professional attributes are the essence of good teaching. But accredited teacher education programs must be designed around 37 competencies as prescribed by <a href="https://www.aitsl.edu.au/">the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership</a> (AITSL). These competencies don’t address these personal attributes. </p>
<p>Having a competency framework is not so terrible. We need teachers to have observable capabilities to plan assessment, to know content and related ways to teach it. The skills are necessary, but not sufficient. We need the relationships dimension in the teacher education package. The types of things we value in our best teachers are conspicuous <a href="https://research.acer.edu.au/aer/15/">by their absence in program accreditation</a>. So why would someone aspire to teach if the interpersonal dimension is lost?</p>
<h2>2. Standardised testing obsession</h2>
<p>Standardised testing has become a national sport, with <a href="http://www.oecd.org/pisa/">PISA</a> and <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/detrimental-victoria-joins-the-push-for-a-review-of-naplan-20180411-p4z8x4.html">NAPLAN</a>. Much class time is spent preparing students to do well. The stakes are high for the teachers and their schools. While <a href="http://education-consumers.org/pdf/ECF_Messenger.pdf">teachers do need to test their students</a> to check on their progress, the national obsession is a problem. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214670/original/file-20180413-543-v2ay9n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/214670/original/file-20180413-543-v2ay9n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214670/original/file-20180413-543-v2ay9n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214670/original/file-20180413-543-v2ay9n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214670/original/file-20180413-543-v2ay9n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214670/original/file-20180413-543-v2ay9n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/214670/original/file-20180413-543-v2ay9n.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">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Standardised tests, like NAPLAN, contribute to lack of enthusiasm to take up teaching.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Teachers spend a great deal of time preparing students for these tests. Standardised tests <a href="https://www.education.com/reference/article/preparing-standardized-tests/">are a unique testing genre</a>, and teachers need to attend to this preparation without abandoning everything else they need to do. This is a challenge, and <a href="http://livingout.social/how-standardized-testing-kills-creativity-in-education">the first casualty is teacher creativity</a>. International <a href="http://teacherrenewal.wiki.westga.edu/file/view/Testing,%20Testing,%20Testing.pdf">reports</a> also argue this point. Where’s the fun in teaching if you don’t have scope to be creative?</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/naplan-only-tells-part-of-the-story-of-student-achievement-86144">NAPLAN only tells part of the story of student achievement</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>3. Lack of autonomy</h2>
<p>Finland enjoys attention for their successful education system. Finnish teachers <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/jan/07/pasi-sahlberg-finland-teach-australian-schools-education">have an open brief</a> to decide what to teach their students and how. In Australia we micromanage and control. The emphasis on play and the arts in Australian schools is lacking. </p>
<p>In Australia, departments of education provide explicit guidance for classes well ahead of time. This means the teaching approach and content is in place even before a teacher meets their students. This undermines the ability for teachers to be responsive and tailor teaching to learners’ needs. And so, the professional responsibility of Australian teachers is compromised - making the job seem rather unattractive.</p>
<h2>4. Work intensification</h2>
<p>Work intensification refers to the increasing range of duties and responsibilities that have been attached to the role of teachers. Teachers <a href="https://aeunt.org.au/news/technology-and-workload/">report</a> the rewards of teaching are <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01425690095153">obscured by this, and the crowded curriculum</a>. They are stressed by the range of things they’re required to teach and the snowball effect that emerges from increased requirements. </p>
<p>Intensification is due to many factors, not least of which is the expansion of teacher responsibilities to include social skills development previously addressed at home. Teaching is well known to be hard work. Yet, hard work without appreciation or respect is a disincentive.</p>
<h2>5. Negative public image</h2>
<p>An audit of newspaper stories in Queensland over the past year shows a tendency to report negatively on teachers. In the 12 months examined, 11 months featured more negative stories.</p>
<hr>
<p><iframe id="gvXtC" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/gvXtC/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/teachers-who-feel-appreciated-are-less-likely-to-leave-the-profession-89864">Teachers who feel appreciated are less likely to leave the profession</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>6. Teacher bashing</h2>
<p>Teaching as a vocation is publicly scorned. This is commonly called ‘teacher bashing’. As a career, teaching is tolerated as a convenient backup pathway for people, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/apr/22/teacher-bashing-gove-performance-pay">but not endorsed as the main game</a>. There have even been reports of teachers being actually <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/education/teacher-bashings-by-angry-parents-and-students-on-the-rise/news-story/081cd9bd2c09f75774ee5f2245d77107">physically bashed</a>.</p>
<h2>7. Teachers’ salaries are poor</h2>
<p>The final nail in the coffin: poor salaries. A graduate dentist from a five year course <a href="https://www.livingin-australia.com/australian-dentist-salaries/">earns A$130,000</a>. The majority of secondary teachers have also completed a five year program, but <a href="http://sydney.edu.au/education_social_work/future_students/careers/teacher_salaries.shtml">the starting salary is A$65,486</a> reaching A$71,000 after 5-10 years. </p>
<h2>No wonder people don’t want to be teachers</h2>
<p>It’s not surprising, then, that numbers of applicants for teacher education programs have slumped. The programs are long and intense, the creativity and relationships aspect of the vocation has been eroded, there is pervasive negativity in the media, and comparatively poor salary and working conditions. </p>
<p>It’s hard to know where to start, but appealing to the vocational drive of those who love leading others to achieve by raising the profile of these additional attributes in teacher education programs might help. This would require <a href="https://research.acer.edu.au/aer/15/">a gentle review of the national program design and accreditation guidelines</a>. Or perhaps we need to be better at reporting teacher success in the mass media.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/94580/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nan Bahr received funding from ACER for a review of quality in teaching and teacher education.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jo-Anne Ferreira 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>There’s been a drop in the number of people enrolling in teacher preparation courses. This is due to problems such as pay, professional autonomy, and a national obsession with standardised testing.Professor Nan Bahr, Pro Vice Chancellor (Students)/ Dean of Education, Southern Cross UniversityJo-Anne Ferreira, Director, Teaching & Learning, Education, Southern Cross UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/912512018-02-11T08:16:45Z2018-02-11T08:16:45ZHow corrupt local officials kill decent education in Africa<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/205033/original/file-20180206-14064-6j14fw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Better local governance can make classrooms happier and more productive.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/un_photo/16080079069/in/photolist-quWBhz-8zsRZd-dYRuT7-bSQLse-dM69jk-dvm6hA-a3Dqz6-pZ4djj-8ZabG7-dYKMEv-hxgLmL-dScMXR-F7ZXGW-dYKMHR-65xNyr-4kJvcX-dYRuS1-dYRuSf-bYhYzu-37Pu4a-37PtGa-BUcjBK-CZfFyc-Ci8Jxd-asxZce-8q4U6A-i7d4i2-gbZuAN-bnGNHk-6P4LKw-aAGbmf-aADbm6-W31VEB-pQBnmt-7fii9v-gSpzw6-oJQoiS-VrR8fj-bPQxSR-bAWva9-bcbs6p-dUrWWB-dUxyBu-6NZfwr-W31VJz-dUxxKd-pvyEMx-9ebpzf-5sf9oL-cYTm3q">United Nations Photo/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There’s no disputing that many African countries’ education systems are in trouble. Despite <a href="http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/education.shtml">significant investment and some improvements</a> linked to the push to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, children in large parts of Africa are <a href="https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/4244Chapter%205%20Measuring%20progress2.pdf">simply not</a> being well taught or learning what is needed as they progress through the school system.</p>
<p>A lot of the discussion around this problem centres on resources: people argue that teachers must be trained better. More money must be spent. This is, of course, correct. </p>
<p>And governance is sometimes discussed, though mostly only as it relates to central governments and their responsibilities. But the quality of local governance matters, too. Local governments – those at a regional, provincial level, district or village level – are closer to communities. They are more likely to understand particular populations’ needs. At a practical level, they are often in charge of providing or distributing goods and services. In education this would mean textbooks, furniture and repairs to classrooms.</p>
<p>This suggests that local governance can have a real effect – positive or negative – on the quality of learning resources in a community and, by association, on how children perform?</p>
<p>I set out to explore this effect by using a series of surveys conducted by Afrobarometer in 33 African countries. This is an independent and non-partisan research network which conducts nationally representative surveys in Africa measuring public attitudes on economic, political and social matters. More than 50,000 citizens have been interviewed in the selected surveys I used for this study. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Publications/WPS_No_278_Education_resources_and_the_quality_of_local_governance_in_Africa__.pdf">My study</a> showed a strong link between the quality of local governance and the quality of the educational resources in Africa’s public schools. </p>
<p>In fact, I found that corrupt behaviour by local government councillors increased the likelihood that schools would lack textbooks, have poor facilities and overcrowded classrooms, have poor quality of teaching, and would record high levels of teacher absenteeism. This finding stands no matter how much money a particular country’s central government had invested in education. </p>
<p>If Africa is serious about improving its schooling systems (and meeting the Sustainable Development Goal related to education), it must tackle corruption among local councillors.</p>
<h2>What the data shows</h2>
<p>My research was based on survey data Afrobarometer collected between 2005 and 2013. Some of the questions related to education; others to people’s perceptions of their local government councillors’ performance and ability.</p>
<p>Among the questions about education, interviewees were asked whether they had encountered the following challenges in their local public schools: expensive school fees; lack of textbooks or other learning supplies; poor teaching; teacher absenteeism; overcrowded classrooms; and facilities that were in poor condition.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/205042/original/file-20180206-14064-3nyf4k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/205042/original/file-20180206-14064-3nyf4k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/205042/original/file-20180206-14064-3nyf4k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=198&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205042/original/file-20180206-14064-3nyf4k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=198&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205042/original/file-20180206-14064-3nyf4k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=198&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205042/original/file-20180206-14064-3nyf4k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=248&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205042/original/file-20180206-14064-3nyf4k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=248&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205042/original/file-20180206-14064-3nyf4k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=248&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Afrobarometer Round 5 (2011 - 2013)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For almost each of the items listed, more than 50% of the respondents had encountered the challenge in the question. </p>
<p>Most interviewees complained particularly about a lack of textbooks and teaching materials; poor teaching quality and teacher absenteeism. These are all key determinants of what students can achieve by the end of an academic year.</p>
<h2>A crisis of corruption</h2>
<p>Corruption, like low-quality education, is a real problem across Africa. In its <a href="http://s.mo.ibrahim.foundation/u/2017/11/21165610/2017-IIAG-Report.pdf?_ga=2.253668937.1942901850.1517602704-502629705.1517602704">2017 Ibrahim Index of African Governance</a>, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation warned that the level of corruption on the continent had risen between 2007 and 2016.</p>
<p>This is borne out by what interviewees told Afrobarometer in the surveys I studied. More than 80% of those surveyed on the subject said that at least some of their local government councillors were involved in corrupt activities. Less than 10% of those surveyed believed that their local councillors listened to their communities. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/205044/original/file-20180206-14093-ticrxq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/205044/original/file-20180206-14093-ticrxq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/205044/original/file-20180206-14093-ticrxq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=209&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205044/original/file-20180206-14093-ticrxq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=209&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205044/original/file-20180206-14093-ticrxq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=209&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205044/original/file-20180206-14093-ticrxq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=263&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205044/original/file-20180206-14093-ticrxq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=263&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205044/original/file-20180206-14093-ticrxq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=263&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Afrobarometer Round 5 (2011 - 2013)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The study shows that a 1% increase in the measure of local government corruption is associated with an increase of about 0.4% to 0.9% in the percentage of people who face poor human or physical school resources in local public schools. This statistical evidence suggests tackling issues in local governance can help education systems in Africa.</p>
<p>And it matters because good local governance can ensure that textbooks and learning materials are available and that they reach the students at public schools. The behaviours and attitudes of local government councillor’s may affect the way public sector employees, like teachers, are hired and treated. </p>
<p>The performance of teachers in public schools depends on many factors, and their degree of accountability depends also on the degree of accountability and responsiveness of those in charge of the management of the schools that include local government councillors.</p>
<h2>Taking action</h2>
<p>Improving the quality of education systems will have huge benefits for Africa’s present and future generations. Part of this improvement must involve tackling people’s negative perceptions about their local councillors, whether those relate to corruption, effectiveness or responsiveness. </p>
<p>Central governance remains important. It should be coupled with careful plans and actions to fix local governance, make councillors more accountable and ensure they’re providing the services schools need to thrive.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91251/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maty Konte 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>Local governance can have a real effect - positive or negative - on the quality of schooling.Maty Konte, Research Economist, United Nations UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/898642018-01-14T19:02:21Z2018-01-14T19:02:21ZTeachers who feel appreciated are less likely to leave the profession<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201603/original/file-20180111-60724-161urp2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">If teachers are aware of the positive influence they have on their students and colleagues they might have higher levels of self-efficacy and work satisfaction.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>We are fast approaching the end of summer holidays and many teachers are turning their attention to preparing for the start of the school year. Many of the teachers who started their careers in 2017 will not return to the classroom in 2018. In fact, <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10476210.2014.996746">over 40%</a> of teachers leave the profession within the first five years. Many of those who remain are left <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13664530.2014.945129">feeling burnt out, unsupported and undervalued</a> in their work.</p>
<hr>
<p><strong><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/teachers-are-leaving-the-profession-heres-how-to-make-them-stay-52697">Read more: Teachers are leaving the profession – here’s how to make them stay</a></em></strong></p>
<hr>
<p>Commentators have suggested learning from countries with better PISA results, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/jan/07/pasi-sahlberg-finland-teach-australian-schools-education">such as Finland</a>. They also suggest <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-30/teacher-training,-pay-and-performance-what-gets-results/9187926">increasing teacher pay</a> could improve the quality and status of teachers, and result in greater retention of teachers. </p>
<p>There is evidence to support these suggestions. If we look at Finland where teaching is a much higher status profession, this is likely contributed to by the fact all teachers hold Masters degrees. Having similar qualification requirements could be an option for Australia. </p>
<p>Additionally, the status of a profession <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Education_Employment_and_Workplace_Relations/Completed_inquiries/1996-99/teachers/report/index">is linked to the salaries it offers</a>. So, it could be argued increasing teacher pay could result in lifting the status of teaching profession. But it could also attract people for the wrong reasons. </p>
<p>These options could contribute to an improved status for the teaching profession, but they are unlikely to be quick fixes. Our teachers work in very different contexts to their Finnish counterparts. </p>
<p>Also, <a href="http://ecite.utas.edu.au/118694">research</a> tells us teachers don’t enter the profession for pay. They are intrinsically motivated to make a positive difference in children’s lives. We propose better recognition and acknowledgement of the positive impact teachers have in their students’ lives could result in less teachers leaving the profession.</p>
<h2>Positive portrayals of teachers</h2>
<p>Our recent <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322306673_Good_Teachers_Grow_Disrupting_negative_depictions_of_teachers_through_relational_artographic_inquiry">research</a> was prompted by the disappearance of a recently retired teacher in southern Tasmania, in October 2017. The <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-22/bushwalker-bruce-fairfax-wife-louise-final-memories/9066688">media attention</a> Bruce Fairfax’s disappearance attracted painted a picture of a teacher who was universally adored by the many staff and students who encountered him in the course of his teaching career of four decades. </p>
<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fsctvnews%2Fvideos%2F1612985868744222%2F&show_text=0&width=560" width="100%" height="475" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe>
<p>In contrast, media discourse about teachers is often negative and <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-18/how-our-schools-are-failing-kids-with-learning-difficulties/8817608">tends to attribute all manner of failures to schools and teachers</a>. The portrayals of Bruce held a narrative of gratitude and appreciation at their centre. People shared concrete ways he, as a teacher, had positively influenced their lives. This led us think about the degree to which Bruce had been aware of this gratitude during his lifetime, and how this might have contributed to his work satisfaction, success and longevity as a recently retired career teacher. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0013191032000118910">Research</a> in England and Norway has noted work satisfaction is crucial for teacher retention. In contrast, Australian <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1083371.pdf">research</a> suggests many teachers have become dissatisfied or disenchanted with their work. </p>
<p>If teachers are aware of the positive influence they have on their students and colleagues they might have higher levels of resilience and work satisfaction. They might then be better positioned to withstand the many challenges they encounter and continue in the teaching profession. So how can we better communicate gratitude to and for our teachers?</p>
<h2>Gratitude in education</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10476210.2011.638370">Research</a> into gratitude in education suggests it’s best expressed vocally or through demonstrating appreciation, active relationship building, and changes to attitude.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/more-than-words-saying-thank-you-does-make-a-difference-30920">More than words: saying 'thank you' does make a difference</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Appreciation can be expressed by giving genuine compliments and thanks for specific things you have been taught, challenged by or introduced to – be it subject content or broader life lessons. These simple but powerful acts can be done either verbally, or through notes or emails. </p>
<p>Other options could be speaking positively about your teacher to other students, teachers, parents and school leaders. Student-teacher relationships can be built through meeting each other in a space of mutual respect, making the effort to get to know each other as people. Engage teachers in conversations, identify common interests, and give them your full attention when they are talking to you. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201606/original/file-20180111-60735-rrykqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/201606/original/file-20180111-60735-rrykqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201606/original/file-20180111-60735-rrykqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201606/original/file-20180111-60735-rrykqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201606/original/file-20180111-60735-rrykqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201606/original/file-20180111-60735-rrykqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/201606/original/file-20180111-60735-rrykqu.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">When teachers feel valued and are made aware of the gratitude felt by students, staff and parents, they’re more likely to stick around.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We need to shift the status quo in societal perceptions where teachers and the teaching profession are disproportionately downtrodden. Gratitude for and celebration of the accomplishments of teachers is essential to keeping them motivated and engaged in the job for the long term. </p>
<p>Gratitude can be defined as <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0742051X14000468?via%3Dihub">an inner attitude best understood as the opposite of resentment or complaint</a>. Small actions such as greeting teachers warmly, smiling more, and offering to help pack up after a lesson can have a powerful positive influence on teachers and their work satisfaction. </p>
<p>Importantly, <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10476210.2011.638370">research</a> has shown when gratitude is expressed towards others there are mutual benefits for both people. Both experience the relationship is strengthened. In school settings this can lead to improved student-teacher relationships, increased positivity in the learning environment and increased student engagement. These are all potentially important contributors to improving student outcomes and reducing teacher attrition.</p>
<p>If we are to expect good work from teachers, they must be met with proportionate levels of support, value and appreciation to ensure they, like Bruce, can enjoy long and successful careers. We propose when teachers feel valued and are made aware of the gratitude felt by students, staff and parents, they’re more likely to stay in the profession.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/89864/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>Gratitude for and celebrating of the accomplishments of teachers is essential to keeping them motivated and engaged in the profession.Vaughan Cruickshank, Course Co-ordinator – Health and Physical Education, Maths/Science, Faculty of Education, University of TasmaniaAbbey MacDonald, Lecturer in Arts Education, University of TasmaniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/828752017-09-14T22:34:25Z2017-09-14T22:34:25ZThis is why most teachers need Indigenous coaches<p><em>“I hear a lot about this so-called ‘inequality’ when it comes to First Nations populations… The problem is the victim mentality… They have to stop seeing themselves as constantly being oppressed.”</em></p>
<p>As an educator, when I read this university student’s response — to an online discussion post about the existence of social inequality in Canada — I was taken aback.</p>
<p>Education, according to the final report of <a href="http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/File/2015/Findings/Exec_Summary_2015_05_31_web_o.pdf">The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC),</a> can foster renewed relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians. Educators, from elementary to post-secondary, have been called to action to support reconciliation — by <a href="https://www.kairoscanada.org/what-we-do/indigenous-rights/windsofchange-report-cards">incorporating Indigenous content into classroom learning</a>. </p>
<p>Our task is to ensure that students have a respectful understanding of Indigenous peoples and perspectives. To pass on knowledge of residential schools and legacies. When I first read the above student response, this responsibility became even clearer. </p>
<p>But, as teachers, how do we do this? Where do we go for support?</p>
<h2>What if we say the wrong thing?</h2>
<p>My research examines <a href="http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/iipj/vol8/iss3/2/">educator and parent perceptions</a> of the province of Ontario’s commitment to Indigenous student success. In 2007, Ontario developed a policy framework that calls for inclusion of Indigenous content in schooling curriculum. I interviewed 100 Indigenous (mainly Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe and Métis) and non-Indigenous parents and educators to find out what encouraged and limited implementation of this curricular policy.</p>
<p>I found that some non-Indigenous educators are unaware of Indigenous cultures and histories. Some are intimidated to say or do the wrong thing. Others have difficulty finding, interpreting and using <a href="https://www.ctf-fce.ca/Research-Library/CTF-Survey-Teachers-Perspectives-on-Aboriginal-Education-Summary-Report-web.pdf">Indigenous curricular resources</a>. </p>
<p>As a result, some students may complete high school and go on to post-secondary education <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/debunking-myth-canadian-schools-teach-indigenous-peoples-1.3376800">knowing very little about Indigenous peoples in Canada</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TFQHtkBs68I?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Teach Our Children: Education for Reconciliation, produced by KAIROS Canada.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As a non-Indigenous educator at the post-secondary level, I also question how best to incorporate Indigenous material into my classrooms. Informal conversations with colleagues suggest that others share similar concerns. For me, the solution has been to reach out and get involved with a community organization.</p>
<h2>Amiskwaciy Academy</h2>
<p>In September 2016 as I began my first year as an assistant professor at MacEwan University, a colleague invited me to attend a community feast hosted by <a href="http://amiskwaciy.epsb.ca/">amiskwaciy Academy</a>. Fred Hines, school principal, welcomed me into the school. Right away, I knew I wanted to be part of this community.</p>
<p>Amiskwaciy Academy is an Edmonton Public School program of choice that provides academic programming within an Indigenous context. The school has a large Indigenous population. It also has strong connections to local Indigenous communities and two full time Elders on staff. </p>
<p>I began volunteering weekly at the school, getting to know students individually and supporting classroom and school activities. I also facilitated opportunities for amiskwaciy students to visit and attend lectures at MacEwan University. And I supported MacEwan students to tutor and assist teachers in the classroom at amiskwaciy.</p>
<p>The time I have spent at amiskwaciy has benefited the students, the school and myself.</p>
<h2>Indigenous mentorship</h2>
<p>During this time, Fred Hines and the Elders have supported my learning of Indigenous cultures, traditions and ways of knowing and doing. I now consult with Fred on a regular basis. Fred has provided advice and guidance about how to incorporate Indigenous content into my teaching. He has also helped me better understand how to support Indigenous learners.</p>
<p>All experiences and knowledge gained from my time at amiskwaciy have directly informed my university teaching. The school provides similar support to a number of other elementary, secondary and post-secondary educators in the area as well as the broader community.</p>
<p>My experience at amiskwaciy parallels the <a href="http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/iipj/vol8/iss3/2/">successful professional development experiences</a> shared with me by non-Indigenous elementary and secondary educators in Ontario. These educators benefited from working one-on-one with an Indigenous coach in the classroom. Coaches had intimate knowledge of Indigenous cultures and worldviews. Through co-teaching and on the ground support, coaches helped educators to meaningfully and authentically incorporate Indigenous content into their regular teaching practice.</p>
<h2>Get out and get involved</h2>
<p>The TRC suggests that educators, at all levels of schooling, can play a role in reconciling the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians. It suggests they do that by raising students’ awareness of residential schools, treaties and Indigenous peoples and perspectives.</p>
<p>For example, on Sept. 30 — on <a href="http://www.orangeshirtday.org/origin.html">Orange Shirt Day</a> — school children across Canada will wear orange to honour survivors of residential schools and commit to the ongoing process of reconciliation. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"907668133443522561"}"></div></p>
<p>Much progress has been made over recent years to establish resources and professional development to support <a href="http://cdnsba.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Indigenous-Project-Final.pdf">elementary, secondary</a> and <a href="https://www.univcan.ca/media-room/media-releases/survey-shows-canadas-universities-advancing-reconciliation/">post-secondary educators</a> — to integrate Indigenous content into classrooms and to implement <a href="http://www.universityaffairs.ca/features/feature-article/indigenizing-the-academy/">Indigenous strategic plans and initiatives</a>.</p>
<p>But learning and professional development does not always have to come from top-down policies and initiatives. Any educator, anywhere, can take the initiative to connect with local Indigenous groups and organizations. Get out into the community and get involved. Volunteer time and attend public events. Reaching out to Indigenous centres at your own university or school board office is a great place to start. </p>
<p>My experience has been that by fostering mutually respectful relationships with a community organization, knowledge and understanding follows.</p>
<p>I have so much enjoyed my time with amiskwaciy Academy and admire the educators and staff for the work that they do. I look forward to being part of this school community for many years to come.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82875/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emily Milne 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>Many Canadian teachers worry about how to incorporate Indigenous content into the classroom. For one sociology professor, finding Indigenous mentorship was richly rewarding.Emily Milne, Assistant Professor of Sociology, MacEwan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/786602017-06-21T10:31:01Z2017-06-21T10:31:01ZChallenging the status quo in mathematics: Teaching for understanding<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174303/original/file-20170618-28772-1vhqkpw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How can we change math instruction to meet the needs of today's kids?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/97aGY8">World Bank Photo Collection / flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Despite decades of <a href="http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED372969.pdf">reform efforts</a>, mathematics teaching in the U.S. <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/20405948">has changed little</a> in the last century. As a result, it seems, American students have been left behind, now ranking <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2017/2017048.pdf#page=31">40th in the world</a> in math literacy. </p>
<p>Several state and national reform efforts have tried to improve things. The most recent <a href="http://www.corestandards.org/Math/">Common Core standards</a> had a great deal of promise with their focus on how to teach mathematics, but after several years, <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.3102/0013189X17711899">changes in teaching practices</a> have been minimal. </p>
<p><iframe id="Grc6N" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Grc6N/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>As an education researcher, I’ve observed teachers trying to implement reforms – often with limited success. They sometimes make changes that are more cosmetic than substantive (e.g., more student discussion and group activity), while failing to get at the heart of the matter: What does it truly mean to teach and learn mathematics?</p>
<h2>Traditional mathematics teaching</h2>
<p>Traditional middle or high school mathematics teaching in the U.S. <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/20405948">typically follows this pattern</a>: The teacher demonstrates a set of procedures that can be used to solve a particular kind of problem. A similar problem is then introduced for the class to solve together. Then, the students get a number of exercises to practice on their own.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174300/original/file-20170618-28759-1jyothn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174300/original/file-20170618-28759-1jyothn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=686&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174300/original/file-20170618-28759-1jyothn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=686&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174300/original/file-20170618-28759-1jyothn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=686&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174300/original/file-20170618-28759-1jyothn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=862&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174300/original/file-20170618-28759-1jyothn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=862&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174300/original/file-20170618-28759-1jyothn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=862&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The basics of math instruction have changed little since George Eaton taught at Phillips Academy (1880-1930).</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/jKrzFZ">Phillips Academy Archives and Special Collections / flickr</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For example, when students learn about the area of shapes, they’re given a set of formulas. They put numbers into the correct formula and compute a solution. More complex questions might give the students the area and have them work backwards to find a missing dimension. Students will often learn a different set of formulas each day: perhaps squares and rectangles one day, triangles the next. </p>
<p>Students in these kinds of lessons are learning to follow a rote process to arrive at a solution. This kind of instruction is so common that it’s seldom even questioned. After all, within a particular lesson, it makes the math seem easier, and students who are successful at getting the right answers find this kind of teaching to be very satisfying.</p>
<p>But it turns out that teaching mathematics this way can actually <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/3696735">hinder learning</a>. Children can become dependent on <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5951/teacchilmath.21.1.0018">tricks and rules</a> that don’t hold true in all situations, making it harder to adapt their knowledge to new situations.</p>
<p>For example, in traditional teaching, children learn that they should distribute a number by multiplying across parentheses and will practice doing so with numerous examples. When they begin learning how to solve equations, they often have trouble realizing that it’s not always needed. To illustrate, take the equation 3(x + 5) = 30. Children are likely to multiply the 3 across the parentheses to make 3x + 15 = 30. They might just as easily have divided both sides by 3 to make x + 5 = 10, but a child who learned the distribution method might have great difficulty recognizing the alternate method – or even that both procedures are equally correct.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174582/original/file-20170619-22075-1mmjc2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174582/original/file-20170619-22075-1mmjc2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174582/original/file-20170619-22075-1mmjc2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174582/original/file-20170619-22075-1mmjc2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174582/original/file-20170619-22075-1mmjc2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174582/original/file-20170619-22075-1mmjc2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174582/original/file-20170619-22075-1mmjc2g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students who learn by rote drilling often have trouble realizing that there are equally valid alternative methods for solving a problem.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kaitlyn Chantry</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>More than a right answer</h2>
<p>A key missing ingredient in these traditional lessons is conceptual understanding. </p>
<p>Concepts are ideas, meaning and relationships. It’s not just about knowing the procedure (like how to compute the area of a triangle) but also the significance behind the procedure (like what area means). How concepts and procedures are related is important as well, such as how the area of a triangle can be considered half the area of a rectangle and how that relationship can be seen in their area formulas. </p>
<p>Teaching for conceptual understanding has <a href="http://math.coe.uga.edu/Olive/EMAT3500f08/instrumental-relational.pdf">several benefits</a>. Less information has to be memorized, and students can translate their knowledge to new situations more easily. For example, understanding what area means and how areas of different shapes are related can help students understand the concept of volume better. And learning the relationship between area and volume can help students understand how to interpret what the volume means once it’s been calculated.</p>
<p>In short, building relationships between <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-015-9302-x">how to solve a problem and why it’s solved that way</a> helps students <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-0663.91.1.175">use what they already know</a> to solve new problems that they face. Students with a truly conceptual understanding can see how methods emerged from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.91.1.175">multiple interconnected ideas</a>; their relationship to the solution goes deeper than rote drilling.</p>
<p>Teaching this way is a critical first step if students are to begin recognizing mathematics as meaningful. Conceptual understanding is a key ingredient to helping people think mathematically and use mathematics outside of a classroom.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174193/original/file-20170616-537-p8ad2j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/174193/original/file-20170616-537-p8ad2j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174193/original/file-20170616-537-p8ad2j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174193/original/file-20170616-537-p8ad2j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174193/original/file-20170616-537-p8ad2j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174193/original/file-20170616-537-p8ad2j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/174193/original/file-20170616-537-p8ad2j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Procedural learning promotes memorization instead of critical thinking and problem solving.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/math-study-exam-set-book-pencil-250606378">m.jrn/shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The will to change</h2>
<p>Conceptual understanding in mathematics has been recognized as important for <a href="http://www.nctm.org/uploadedFiles/About/President,_Board_and_Committees/Board_Materials/MLarson-SF-NCTM-4-16.pdf">over a century</a> and widely discussed for decades. So why has it not been incorporated into the curriculum, and why does traditional teaching abound? </p>
<p>Learning conceptually can take longer and be more difficult than just presenting formulas. Teaching this way may require additional time commitments both in and outside the classroom. Students may have never been asked to think this way before.</p>
<p>There are systemic obstacles to face as well. A new teacher may face pressure from fellow teachers who teach in traditional ways. The <a href="https://www.thoughtco.com/high-stakes-testing-overtesting-in-americas-public-schools-3194591">culture of overtesting</a> in the last two decades means that students face more pressure than ever to get right answers on tests. </p>
<p>The results of these tests are also being <a href="https://tcta.org/node/13251-issues_with_test_based_value_added_models_of_teacher_assessment">tied to teacher evaluation systems</a>. Many teachers feel pressure to teach to the test, drilling students so that they can regurgitate information accurately.</p>
<p>If we really want to improve America’s mathematics education, we need to rethink both our education system and our teaching methods, and perhaps to <a href="http://www.nea.org/home/40991.htm">consider how other countries approach mathematics instruction</a>. Research has provided evidence that teaching conceptually has <a href="http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/feb04/vol61/num05/Improving-Mathematics-Teaching.aspx">benefits</a> not offered by traditional teaching. And students who learn conceptually typically do <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654310374880">as well or better</a> on achievement tests. </p>
<p>Renowned education expert <a href="https://pasisahlberg.com/">Pasi Sahlberg</a> is a former mathematics and physics teacher from Finland, which is renowned for its world-class education. He <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/why-are-finlands-schools-successful-49859555/">sums it up</a> well:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We prepare children to learn how to learn, not how to take a test.</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/78660/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher Rakes receives funding from the National Science Foundation. </span></em></p>Math instruction is stuck in the last century. How can we change teaching methods to move past rote memorization and help students develop a more meaningful understanding – and be better at math?Christopher Rakes, Assistant Professor of Mathematics Education, University of Maryland, Baltimore CountyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/631772016-10-05T14:15:47Z2016-10-05T14:15:47ZWant great teachers? There’s no one-size-fits-all solution<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140351/original/image-20161004-30459-q01jky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What is teacher quality?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeremywilburn/5428589423/in/photolist-9gGWvn-96MMau-Efunvv-5iDrbq-9FaqhG-7E8u9u-mYp9yX-ehQ5wy-e9JABd-fdkjRB-nfbus8-oo5zUt-ddVJ2M-d2myGu-qruMtV-duS9qC-FCLa4t-i2mzDe-5KTPV9-iodDyD-9qfUsc-4U2Kjd-5vgyTv-5JEedG-8sPJGT-c7GYYS-61AczZ-9qmLuW-cJd6N-7kfJGJ-5KTQrQ-GNnV2-9qiHdX-9qk9tT-5UvAaN-7kfJmW-pXf4NX-66PVgA-bdUL6e-apqLkd-dWKuSR-9qjLqt-8vX4ss-9qkhrv-fsAEq-gnsvcy-nLkST7-9qnnMm-39dCV-dLVbWj">Jeremy Wilburn</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Most of us know the difference a good teacher makes in the life of a child. Many global institutions working to improve access to education, such as the <a href="http://www.uis.unesco.org/Library/Documents/teachers06-en.pdf">United Nations</a>, the <a href="http://www.oecd.org/edu/school/48627229.pdf">Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development</a> and <a href="https://www.ei-ie.org/en/websections/content_detail/6212">Education International</a> agree that “teacher quality” is the critical element in whether or not an educational system succeeds. </p>
<p>The United Nations has even <a href="http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=47034#.V_I2ZJN96qA">called for</a> </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“allocating the best teachers to the most challenging parts of a country; and providing teachers with the right mix of government incentives to remain in the profession and ensure all children are learning, regardless of their circumstances.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It is clear we need good teachers, but just what makes for “teacher quality”? And can quality be systematically improved by public policy? </p>
<p>For 30 years I have been studying cultural expectations for what makes a good teacher, beginning with field work in a Tibetan refugee school and an ethnographic study of <a href="http://yalebooks.com/book/9780300084382/learning-be-adolescent">Japanese and American public schools</a> conducted some years later. More recently, my colleague <a href="http://coe.lehigh.edu/faculty/awiseman">Alex Wiseman</a> and I have been working on what researchers from around the world <a href="http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/book/10.1108/S1479-3679201527">consider to be “teacher quality.”</a> </p>
<p>The consensus is that teacher quality entails much more than just the way teachers deliver lessons in the classroom. Teacher quality is strongly affected by a teacher’s working conditions. Teachers working long hours, with low pay, in crowded schools cannot give each individual student the attention they need.</p>
<p>Simply raising the requirements for teacher certification, based on what has worked in some high-performing countries, is not effective. An <a href="http://store.tcpress.com/0807749885.shtml">effective policy requires</a> changes at the level of teacher recruitment, teacher education and long-term support for professional development.</p>
<h2>Quality is more than certification</h2>
<p>Around the world, more than a dozen nations have recently engaged in efforts <a href="http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/book/10.1108/S1479-3679(2013)19">to rapidly reform</a> their teacher education and certification systems. The United States, along with nations as diverse as France, India, Japan and Mexico, has sought to improve its educational system by reforming teacher certification or teacher education.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140352/original/image-20161004-20230-1gay4h2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140352/original/image-20161004-20230-1gay4h2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140352/original/image-20161004-20230-1gay4h2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140352/original/image-20161004-20230-1gay4h2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140352/original/image-20161004-20230-1gay4h2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140352/original/image-20161004-20230-1gay4h2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140352/original/image-20161004-20230-1gay4h2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Borrowing from other models is not effective.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/worldbank/2760560588/in/photolist-5cWAud-fCTNDF-cz6BD3-cdzUd5-3itE3u-9qiNQK-639rw-oRaNA8-Yym25-4zjnt1-4EFgr9-gf7ht-qB5chG-kfqWCX-6Kvv7z-kfsBa5-4FsLJw-o1VnZF-nnx9KQ-arEDkg-a7tAAT-7mVAQY-4m6rjd-dwT1z2-nRTp2J-5vzyee-p3fyUd-zrxXC-aNtArP-c2XYoC-oMBSYP-dLrhCw-cZnEEq-6erhQc-c2Y26d-c9BzhN-dgeyLL-C1N8fb-c2XZJu-cbHPQW-6Fxvvi-pXsrwX-5iJcp1-bUmBCt-dnxskW-3Af86-88eSnq-i2kzaH-5MD5Ws-arEJTx">World Bank Photo Collection</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Usually, governments try to do this by passing laws that <a href="http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/book/10.1108/S1479-3679(2013)19">list more requirements</a> for teachers to get their teaching certificate or license. Often they look for models in countries that score well on international achievement tests like <a href="http://timss.bc.edu/">Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)</a> or <a href="https://www.oecd.org/pisa/">Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)</a> such as <a href="http://store.tcpress.com/0807752576.shtml">Finland</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-singapores-school-system-so-successful-and-is-it-a-model-for-the-west-22917">Singapore</a> or South Korea. </p>
<p>It is true that a teacher’s qualifications, experience, personality and instructional skills <a href="https://www.ets.org/Media/Research/pdf/PICTEAMAT.pdf">all play a role</a> in contributing to “quality.” Teacher quality covers what teachers do outside the classroom: how responsive they are to parents and how much time they put into planning lessons or grading papers. <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/books_teacher_quality_execsum_intro/">Teaching certificates</a> can make a difference toward ensuring <a href="http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/index.php/epaa/article/view/392">teacher quality</a>.</p>
<p>But that does not make for an effective policy. And here’s the problem: One, merely focusing on standards like certification is not enough. Two, the effect <a href="http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/rest.89.1.134#.V_IsEZN968U">can vary</a> by grade level or because of student background – so borrowing models from other countries is not the best strategy. </p>
<p>In the U.S., for example, a key part of the important legislation <a href="http://www2.ed.gov/nclb/landing.jhtml">No Child Left Behind (NCLB)</a> <a href="https://edpolicy.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/publications/addressing-inequitable-distribution-teachers-what-it-will-take-get-qualified-effective-teachers-all-_1.pdf">was to put a “qualified teacher” in every classroom</a>. The law emphasized certification, a college degree and content specialization, <a href="http://epa.sagepub.com/content/27/1/75.short">but failed</a> to identify teachers who knew how to implement reforms and who promoted critical thinking skills in their classrooms. </p>
<p>The most recent law addressing teacher quality, the <a href="http://www.ed.gov/essa">Every Student Succeeds Act</a>, had to roll back these requirements <a href="http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/01/06/essa-loosens-reins-on-teacher-evaluations-qualifications.html">allowing each state in the U.S. to experiment</a> with different ways to identify quality teaching. </p>
<p>The law allows states to experiment with different types of teacher training academies and with measures of student progress other than just standardized tests.</p>
<h2>Goal of American teachers different from Japanese</h2>
<p>Moreover, teacher quality is context-dependent: What works in one country may not work in another, or even for another group of students.</p>
<p>Let’s take preschool or early elementary teachers as an example. At this age, many parents would look for teachers who are warm, caring and understand child development. But this, as we know, would change for high school students.</p>
<p>In high school, especially in college preparation courses, students and parents would expect teachers to focus on the lesson. The quality of their teaching would be judged by how well their students score on tests, not how well they are developing socially or emotionally.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140353/original/image-20161004-27269-13mwoxs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140353/original/image-20161004-27269-13mwoxs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140353/original/image-20161004-27269-13mwoxs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140353/original/image-20161004-27269-13mwoxs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140353/original/image-20161004-27269-13mwoxs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140353/original/image-20161004-27269-13mwoxs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140353/original/image-20161004-27269-13mwoxs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Classroom goals vary: First grade English class in session in Japan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/colinryder/9098099018/in/photolist-eRY8Sb-eRLHAv-pf8m7B-eRY9r7-56FqAS-jm5tXf-oDyXLg-9N3HNz-eipCVT-6sSfkw-x69t-777FW7-838YMR-8DBHrC-e1KWo1-eRY9yb-jasPSj-92KDud-fnRnR7-777CUh-dvcxsQ-773LEv-2nJZs9-83962x-773G3H-83caBd-82t8Ku-8JTmnj-83c9sE-3XUXY-fnRo27-fnRn2E-e1EhLT-jm4Yie-e1EhTM-e1EhRB-4sJbR-jL118-e1KW75-e1EhPx-e1KVP7-jaoky2-fnBaya-niEV94-773HGg-jaqykQ-83c7zj-773NHz-9N1ei6-9NuKFS">Colin Ryder</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Other than the age of the student, goals of the educational system would matter too. For example, American, Chinese and Japanese teachers take very different approaches to caring for small children and helping them learn basic academic skills. In their book, <a href="http://yalebooks.com/book/9780300048124/preschool-three-cultures">“Preschool in Three Cultures</a>,” educational anthropologist <a href="http://joetobin.net/">Joe Tobin</a> and others showed that Japanese preschool teachers are comfortable with classes of 20 students, and tend to tolerate noise and disorder that most American teachers would find uncomfortable. </p>
<p>By contrast, American teachers place great emphasis on one-on-one interactions between children and adults, especially in helping children learn to express their feelings. It is possible that a competent, “high-quality” teacher from Japan would likely feel incompetent and confused in a U.S. school, even if she was fluent in English.</p>
<h2>Countries have their own challenges</h2>
<p>That’s not all. National conditions impact teacher quality. In some nations, it is a struggle to <a href="http://store.tcpress.com/0807749885.shtml">retain good teachers</a> and distribute them evenly. </p>
<p>For example, many low-income countries face challenges related to poverty, illness and labor shortages that <a href="http://www.uis.unesco.org/Library/Documents/teachers06-en.pdf">create teacher shortages.</a> Peter Wallet, a researcher at <a href="http://www.uis.unesco.org/aboutuis/pages/contacts.aspx">UNESCO’s Institute for Statistics</a>, shows that in many countries, national governments <a href="http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/S1479-367920140000027002">struggle to find</a> enough teachers to staff their schools. He writes: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“The impact of HIV and AIDS in Tanzania for example meant that in 2006 an estimated 45,000 additional teachers were needed to make up for those who had died or left work because of illness.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The loss of so many teachers places many children at risk of having no access to quality teachers. This basic lack of qualified teachers has been identified by UNESCO as the <a href="http://www.uis.unesco.org/Library/Documents/gmr-2013-14-teaching-and-learning-education-for-all-2014-en.pdf">major barrier</a> to providing access to quality education for all the world’s children. </p>
<p>Even in wealthy nations, sometimes the most qualified teachers are <a href="http://edr.sagepub.com/content/36/7/369.abstract">concentrated</a> at certain schools. For example, in the U.S. <a href="http://edr.sagepub.com/content/36/7/369.abstract">there is a very unequal distribution</a> of teachers between high- and low-income school districts. Scholar <a href="https://edpolicy.stanford.edu/node/46">Linda Darling-Hammond</a> sees this unequal access to teachers as one of the <a href="http://search.proquest.com/openview/9850a3f0f244c110e9c0a7445207c484/1?pq-origsite=gscholar">greatest challenges facing the U.S.</a></p>
<h2>The point is not to borrow</h2>
<p>The fact is that teaching is complex work. Teachers must build trust, increase motivation, research new methods of teaching, engage parents or caregivers and be adept at the social engineering of the classroom so that learning is not disrupted. </p>
<p>Effective teacher policy has to have <a href="https://www.ei-ie.org/en/websections/content_detail/6212">at least three levels</a>: It must provide clear goals for teacher education and skill development, it must provide “support to local institutions for the education of teachers” and it must address national demands for high quality education. </p>
<p>And in order to develop teacher quality, nations need to do far more that “borrow” policies from high-scoring nations. Nations can learn from one another, but this requires a systematic exchange of information about sets of policies, not just identifying one promising approach. </p>
<p><a href="http://www2.ed.gov/about/inits/ed/internationaled/teaching-summit.html">The International Summit on the Teaching Profession</a>, an annual event that began in New York in 2011, is one example of this kind of global exchange that brings together governments and teacher unions for a dialogue.</p>
<p>To be effective, reforms need to have the support and input of teachers themselves. And, national and global leaders need to create more ways for teachers to provide suggestions, or criticism, of proposed reforms.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63177/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gerald K LeTendre receives funding from the Fulbright Foundation. </span></em></p>On the occasion of World Teacher’s Day, on Oct. 5, a scholar explains why borrowing teacher quality models from high-scoring countries such as Finland, South Korea or Singapore is not effective.Gerald K. LeTendre, Professor of Education, Penn StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/635182016-09-01T20:18:39Z2016-09-01T20:18:39ZTo raise status of teaching, Australia needs to lift pay and cut teacher numbers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135722/original/image-20160829-17872-1s9d8es.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Do we need to make teacher education more selective in Australia?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>In our series, <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/better-teachers-30749">Better Teachers</a>, we’ll explore how to improve teacher education in Australia. We’ll look at what the evidence says on a range of themes including how to raise the status of the profession and measure and improve teacher quality.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>There are <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/opinion/raise-status-of-teachers-add-some-authority-and-watch-our-students-blossom/story-e6frgd0x-1226287574078">many calls</a> to raise the status of teaching, but few concrete proposals of how it might be done. There are two strategies that could work, given the way they work with other professions.</p>
<p>One is to make entry to initial teacher education more selective. The other is to make membership of the teaching profession more selective.</p>
<p>The reputations of university courses are substantially influenced by the quality of students admitted and, in particular, the minimum Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) with which a student can gain entry. </p>
<p>But the minimum entry scores to many Australian teacher education programs are low. The percentage of offers for courses in teacher education to students with an ATAR above 70 has been dropping significantly, down to <a href="https://www.teachermagazine.com.au/geoff-masters/article/raising-the-professional-status-of-teaching">42% in 2015</a>.</p>
<p>At the University of Jyväskylä in Finland there are around 2,000 applicants for fewer than 100 places in teacher education, and there are similar selection ratios in other Finnish universities. </p>
<p>Finland links supply of teacher education places to demand for graduates. And with demand for places in teacher education substantially outstripping the places available, it has produced a highly selective entry. In Finland, it is more difficult to gain a place in teacher education than medicine.</p>
<h2>Cut teacher numbers</h2>
<p>In Australia, selection is much less stringent, and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-are-the-main-challenges-facing-teacher-education-in-australia-63658">position has become worse</a> since the federal government uncapped university places. Some universities increased teacher education places in programs in which places are cheap to provide.</p>
<p>Australia could make teacher education more selective if it reduced the oversupply of graduates for the present market. The New South Wales Minister for Education, Adrian Piccoli, has been trying to do this. He has no direct control over universities’ enrolment policies but he is <a href="http://www.nswteachers.nsw.edu.au/future-returning-teachers/become-a-teacher/primary-school/">setting entry requirements</a> into teacher education as employment criteria for new graduates in government schools in an effort to <a href="http://www.nswteachers.nsw.edu.au/future-returning-teachers/become-a-teacher/primary-school/">influence enrolment policies</a>. </p>
<p>The Victorian government is now seeking to pursue a <a href="http://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/workingtogether.pdf">similar strategy</a>.</p>
<h2>Reshape role of paraprofessionals</h2>
<p>We could go much further in reducing the number of teachers required by restructuring the workforce in schools. We could do this by increasing the number of paraprofessionals who could undertake work that teachers currently do, but for which their professional skills are not required. </p>
<p>Training courses would need to be developed to prepare the paraprofessionals, with pathways through further study available for those who might later seek to become teachers. </p>
<p>The teaching workforce would then be differentiated much as the nursing workforce has been in recent decades. </p>
<p>Some of the work that nurses used to do is now delegated to nurses aides and other categories of paraprofessionals in nursing. At the top end, university trained professional nurses can undertake some tasks that were once the exclusive province of doctors.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.eduweb.vic.gov.au/edulibrary/public/teachlearn/innovation/widerworkforce/teachingexcellence.pdf">England made such a change</a> in the workforce in schools. It did it during the Blair administration at a time when overall staffing levels in schools were growing, so existing teaching positions were not cut. </p>
<p>Teacher numbers grew more slowly than they would have without the change. The result is that there are now more paraprofessionals than teachers in English primary schools.</p>
<p>The impact of this development in England has been mixed, as a <a href="http://education.unimelb.edu.au/news_and_activities/events/upcoming_events/past/2016/dean_lecture_series/maximising-the-impact-of-teaching-assistants-lessons-from-the-uk">five-year evaluation of the changes has shown</a>.</p>
<p>The evaluation revealed that the presence of paraprofessionals often led to worse outcomes for students, though they did reduce workload and stress and improve job satisfaction for teachers. </p>
<p>The research showed that the lack of benefit for students was a consequence of teachers often giving the paraprofessionals responsibility for individual instruction of the students most in need of support. </p>
<p>The paraprofessionals generally did not have the content knowledge or pedagogical skills for the work assigned to them. Teachers had also not been trained in how best to have paraprofessionals fill a supplemental role. Instead the paraprofessionals were given a replacement role they were not equipped to fill.</p>
<p>The researchers did not propose that paraprofessionals be withdrawn. Instead they drew on their research to write two key books: one to help teachers learn how best to deploy paraprofessionals, <a href="http://maximisingtas.co.uk/resources.php">Maximising the Impact of Teaching Assistants</a>, and the other to help paraprofessionals learn how best to fill their role, <a href="http://www.readings.com.au/products/19763005/the-teaching-assistants-guide-to-effective-interaction-how-to-maximise-your-practice">The Teaching Assistant’s Guide to Effective Interaction</a>.</p>
<p>A <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/berj.3157/abstract">randomised control study</a> published in 2014 provided more encouraging evidence of effective use of paraprofessionals. </p>
<p>It showed that a ten-week literacy intervention program with poor readers delivered on a one-to-one basis by trained teaching assistants produced gains equivalent to three months’ additional progress over a year compared with students in the control group who did not receive the intervention.</p>
<h2>Better pay</h2>
<p>Australian teachers have a relatively good starting salary, the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/888933286182">fourth highest</a> (in $US equivalent purchasing power parity) among the 28 countries for which data is available. It also compares relatively well with <a href="http://www.graduatecareers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Graduate_Salaries_Report_2014_FINAL.PDF">starting salaries</a> for other graduates. </p>
<p>But they reach the top of the statutory salary scales in less than 15 years, and the top of the scale is only 1.4 times the starting salary. </p>
<p>We need to have fewer teachers, and to pay them more on scales differentiated by skill and role into “graduate”, “proficient”, “highly accomplished” and “lead” as the Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leadership <a href="http://www.aitsl.edu.au/australian-professional-standards-for-teachers/standards/list">has proposed</a>. We also need to have more restricted entry into teacher education programs. </p>
<p>The result will be a more skilled and higher status teaching profession and an overall greater impact from the same cost or even a reduction in cost.</p>
<p><em>• <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/better-teachers-30749">Read more</a> articles in the series</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63518/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Barry McGaw receives funding from Victorian, Queensland, New South Wales and Australian governments for past work.</span></em></p>We need to have fewer teachers, to pay them more on scales differentiated by skill, and to have more restricted entry into teacher education programs.Barry McGaw, Vice-Chancellor's Fellow, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/636582016-08-30T20:15:05Z2016-08-30T20:15:05ZWhat are the main challenges facing teacher education in Australia?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135836/original/image-20160830-17859-1a4gyqs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">By investing wisely in the best evidence-based teacher education programs, the government can foster quality teaching without increasing total funding.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Paul Miller/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>In our series, <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/better-teachers-30749">Better Teachers</a>, we’ll explore how to improve teacher education in Australia. We’ll look at what the evidence says on a range of themes including how to raise the status of the profession and measure and improve teacher quality.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Top-performing international education systems value expert teaching and recognise that highly effective teaching improves student outcomes.</p>
<p>While there are some reforms in development, further work is required in Australia to lift the quality of teaching by attracting the brightest candidates into the profession and ensuring they receive the best preparation and ongoing support.</p>
<p>The federal government’s <a href="https://www.studentsfirst.gov.au/teacher-quality">new requirement</a> for teacher education students to be in the <a href="http://www.aitsl.edu.au/docs/default-source/initial-teacher-education-resources/ite-standards-literacy-numeracy-vic.pdf?sfvrsn=6">top 30%</a> for literacy and numeracy is important. However, an effective teacher has more attributes that this.</p>
<p>Of the <a href="http://www.senatorbirmingham.com.au/Media-Centre/Media-Releases/ID/3154/Back-to-Basics-Teacher-test-to-lift-literacy-and-numeracy-outcomes-for-students">almost 4,000</a> teaching students who undertook the literacy and numeracy test in May-June this year, 95.4% met the literacy standard and 93.1% met the numeracy standard. So this measure’s impact is minimal.</p>
<p>This was only one recommendation of the <a href="https://www.studentsfirst.gov.au/teacher-education-ministerial-advisory-group">Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group</a> (TEMAG). There are 38 others still in the process of being implemented.</p>
<p>With key recommendations around tougher accreditation standards, TEMAG’s framework challenges initial teacher education providers to develop high-quality programs that can be rigorously assessed. </p>
<p>Universities will need to be able to demonstrate the positive impact they have on their graduates and that their graduates have on student learning. The latter is the mark of effective teaching.</p>
<p>TEMAG’s recommendations are not window-dressing. A paradigm shift, deep program reform and university support will be required to tackle current problems in teaching quality.</p>
<h2>Too many teachers</h2>
<p>Poor workforce planning by governments is further exacerbating concerns about teaching quality in Australia: supply is not well matched to demand.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/uncapping-of-university-places-achieved-what-it-set-out-to-do-so-why-is-it-dubbed-a-policy-failure-61082">uncapping of undergraduate places</a> in 2012 led some universities to exploit the fact that they receive funding for as many students as they can enrol. This has been a factor in the <a href="http://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=policyinsights">oversupply</a>, giving the impression universities use teaching courses as a “cash cow”.</p>
<p>The largest education department, New South Wales, <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/teacher-glut-hits-university-graduates-job-hopes/news-story/531d3103012f68aaaff1d167c517ed5c">hired just 6%</a> of the state’s graduates on full-time contracts last year. Education Minister Adrian Piccoli made the point that universities:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… have doubled entrants in the last ten years … They should take fewer and do a better job [of training them].</p>
</blockquote>
<p>By investing wisely in the best evidence-based teacher education programs, the federal government can foster quality teaching without increasing total funding. This would also overcome the ethical issue of preparing teachers who have little chance of being employed.</p>
<h2>Undersupply of specialist teachers</h2>
<p>Despite general oversupply, Australia is experiencing <a href="https://www.teachermagazine.com.au/geoff-masters/article/planning-a-stronger-teacher-workforce">a significant undersupply</a> of language, geography, computing and history teachers, as well as secondary maths, physics and chemistry teachers, and qualified teachers in some regional areas.</p>
<p>As a result, more than 20% of secondary mathematics and 17% of secondary science teachers are unqualified in their field. Without even year 12 training in these fields, many <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-it-so-hard-to-recruit-good-maths-and-science-teachers-55697">science and maths teachers lack the ability to spark enthusiasm</a> for these subjects in their students. This is why TEMAG recommended the introduction of specialist maths and science primary teachers.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135854/original/image-20160830-17872-14h5hcs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135854/original/image-20160830-17872-14h5hcs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=780&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135854/original/image-20160830-17872-14h5hcs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=780&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135854/original/image-20160830-17872-14h5hcs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=780&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135854/original/image-20160830-17872-14h5hcs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=980&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135854/original/image-20160830-17872-14h5hcs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=980&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135854/original/image-20160830-17872-14h5hcs.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=980&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://research.acer.edu.au/policyinsights/2/">The Conversation/ACER</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<h2>Undervalued profession</h2>
<p>To attract the highest-quality entrants, we also need to hold teachers in high esteem.</p>
<p>Teaching is arguably the most challenging profession of all, yet unlike Finland – where teachers accrue similar respect to doctors – we don’t recognise that teaching deserves the same respect and trust as the medical profession. Finland also demands graduate teaching qualifications.</p>
<p>Graduate students bring real-world experience, including deep disciplinary knowledge, analytical thinking and personal maturity. These are more powerful attributes for selection than the year 12 Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR).</p>
<p>The Victorian government flagged the prospect of graduate-only entry into teaching courses in a recently released discussion paper. </p>
<p>This would follow in the footsteps of the <a href="http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/all-new-south-australian-teachers-will-need-master-degrees-in-shakeup-of-education-standards/story-fni6uo1m-1226768270969">South Australia government</a>, which intends to require all teachers to have completed a graduate-level teaching degree. The state will also require government schools <a href="http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/sa-government-abandons-policy-for-new-teachers-to-have-masters-degrees-by-2020/news-story/85429ed93e85c506acd1534665126c47">to preference</a> the employment of graduates with master’s or double-degree teaching qualifications.</p>
<p>To attract the best candidates, prospective teachers need to see a career progression. Using the current lead teacher and accomplished teacher categories but linked with an appropriate pay level progression would be a good start.</p>
<p>Teachers have a crucial role in improving student outcomes. We need not only to lift course and graduate standards, but also to ensure teachers are well supported so they can contribute fully as highly developed experts in a widely respected profession.</p>
<p><em>• <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/better-teachers-30749">Read more</a> articles in the series</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63658/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Field Rickards 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>We have an oversupply of teachers, a lack of specialist teachers and an undervalued profession.Field Rickards, Dean of Education, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/500842015-11-19T04:24:56Z2015-11-19T04:24:56ZTop lecturers share their teaching secrets: passion, focus and flexibility<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/101236/original/image-20151109-7504-xn80fs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What sets brilliant university lecturers apart from their more average peers?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Omar Faruk/Reuters</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>What makes a great teacher? Globally, university teaching is often dismissed by academics as being <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/11851642/University-lecturers-more-worried-about-research-than-teaching-minister-warns.html">secondary to research</a>. But, for the 2015 winners of South Africa’s <a href="http://heltasa.org.za/">National Excellence in Teaching and Learning Awards</a>, teaching comes first. </p>
<p>I was a member of the selection committee for the 2015 awards and sat down with the winners to find out what makes them tick as teachers.</p>
<h2>Enjoyment factor</h2>
<p><strong><em>What makes teaching so central to your own academic identity and what parts of your teaching bring you the most enjoyment?</em></strong></p>
<p><strong>Tania Hanekom</strong>: Having the privilege to shape and support the future of the intellectual youth of our country and in this way help to build a better future for all far outweighs any conventional incentives [such as financial rewards for research output].</p>
<p><strong>Andri Prozesky</strong>: Being an astronomer, my research is far removed from human experience and immediate benefit to society. Teaching bridges this disconnect and gives me an opportunity to connect with people. All teachers are in a position where even small gestures can have a substantial effect on students’ confidence, outlook and thinking. Most people will easily be able to recall specific teachers in their lives who, usually unknowingly, had this effect on them. </p>
<p><strong>Marianne McKay</strong>: Even during my own undergraduate experience 30 years ago, the lecturer who took charge of teaching the first and second years in Chemistry was “only” a doctor. He was quietly chortled at by the rest of the department, although none of them would ever have agreed to take on his enormous workload. I would say the majority of my current colleagues probably view teaching as a necessary chore, too. </p>
<p>From an intensely personal viewpoint, when I’m with a class I’m completely present. Everything else disappears. There is no space for anything except the learning. I have to find ways to do, describe, discuss, present, that haven’t been done before. Every single time, even with the same material, it is different. </p>
<p>The other part, of course, is that if I succeed in helping them to learn the students will become professionals and go out and achieve even more. I have contributed to the foundation of a person’s career, and helped them – a little – to build a life and a future. That is a great feeling.</p>
<p><strong>Mike Savage</strong>: Teaching is an essential part of the fabric of academic life. The young minds of today are the researchers of tomorrow. Without good teaching, the future of research is not sustainable. </p>
<p><strong>Carolyn McGibbon, Gwamaka Mwalemba and Elsje Scott</strong>: Teaching is the mirror that reflects the research done to inform one’s teaching practice. The one cannot exist without the other. Teaching is the joy of planting a seed and seeing it flourish. It is the excitement of accepting the challenge to unlock boundless potential.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tv2fCWk4-ZI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Members of the 2014 awards panel reflect on what ‘good teaching’ is.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Excellence</h2>
<p><strong><em>What does excellence in teaching mean for you in your context?</em></strong></p>
<p><strong>Andri:</strong> At its heart, I think excellence is about not accepting the status quo, but actively deconstructing, interrogating and improving it. In the teaching environment excellence is necessarily closely related to outcomes. But by its nature this concept is very hard to quantify in a meaningful way. It would be short-sighted to measure excellence purely on things like pass rates, student numbers and student experience. I think excellent teaching means to be inclusive, while at the same time having high expectations of your students. </p>
<p><strong>Marianne:</strong> I teach oenology, which is the chemistry and science behind wine making. The wine industry is, of course, far bigger than wine making and encompasses everything from soil science and water management to being able to manage exports, sell your product at trade fairs and deal with people from all sorts of situations and circumstances. It is impossible for an undergraduate academic programme to address everything.</p>
<p>So for me, excellent teaching in oenology will involve providing as many opportunities as possible for all our students to become well-rounded professionals who can make an excellent range of products, but can also solve problems, manage, innovate and empathise. I imagine this definition could encompass contexts other than oenology?</p>
<p><strong>Mike:</strong> Excellence in teaching means connecting – very quickly – with students. With passion. This involves understanding the students’ learning difficulties – working, talking, and communicating with students using a very empathetic approach in lecturing and at the same time imparting more than just knowledge. </p>
<p><strong>Carolyn, Gwamaka and Elsje:</strong> Excellence in teaching incorporates passion and courage to take both the teacher and students though a journey on learning and sense making that involves engaging various complex challenges facing our communities. These kinds of teaching and learning challenges also empower scholars. It encourages the kind of thinking, practice and innovation that is meaningful, socially embedded and relevant to address challenges as well as enforcing the values embraced within society.</p>
<h2>Society</h2>
<p><em><strong>How do you think your own teaching approaches and curriculum content attend to the concerns raised in 2015 by student movements?</strong></em></p>
<p><strong>Tania:</strong> Transformation to me means to destroy the grounds for biases by empowering everyone to contribute to the building of our country, including those seeking a career in higher education. Being a woman in engineering I find it degrading to even consider that I might be appointed because of my gender or just for the sake of transformation; being a woman is coincidental. I want to be recognised for my abilities and the contribution I can make. </p>
<p>My mission is thus to prepare all my students, whoever they may be, to be recognised for their effective, high-quality skills. Only then can there be equality and only then can real transformation take place.</p>
<p><strong>Andri:</strong> South African universities are increasingly run as businesses and financial sustainability informs almost all their decisions. In our recovering society, the social impact of universities should be prioritised and they should be leaders of change. </p>
<p>In my teaching, I emphasise critical thought and the construction of valid arguments based on evidence. In a democratic society, solutions necessarily start with informed debate. Our graduates should be engaged thinkers who can struggle with complex issues, appreciate larger context and ultimately bring about positive change</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/101237/original/image-20151109-7528-1uezd9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/101237/original/image-20151109-7528-1uezd9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/101237/original/image-20151109-7528-1uezd9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/101237/original/image-20151109-7528-1uezd9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/101237/original/image-20151109-7528-1uezd9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/101237/original/image-20151109-7528-1uezd9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/101237/original/image-20151109-7528-1uezd9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Great lecturers give their students time and attention.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/Reuters</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>Marianne:</strong> I have started to make space for social justice issues in my modules. Regular changes to the curriculum are an excellent opportunity to adopt and adapt, too. But it really is a tough call to raise what are seen as “social” issues of transformation in a technical or scientific context. It is possible, but takes some creative thinking and careful de- and re-construction of curriculum content to find the right space to do it without it appearing tacked-on and affected.</p>
<p>We don’t have a choice, though. To use a scientific analogy, not transforming is like defiantly sticking to only Newtonian physics, while the world outside the classroom is being rebuilt using quantum concepts. </p>
<p><strong>Mike:</strong> Most of my students have a mother tongue other than English. Many of the terms we use in lectures do not exist in their language. I call this language stagnation. We have approached scientific societies with a proposal that a technical glossary of terms for isiZulu and isiXhosa for the Atmospheric Sciences be created – but we need help.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>More information about the awards and how the winners were selected is <a href="http://heltasa.org.za/awards/2015-call-for-applications/">available</a> on the Higher Education Learning and Teaching Association of Southern Africa’s website.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/50084/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sioux McKenna 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>Teaching often comes second to research in universities. A group of award winning lecturers explains why teaching is the best part of their work.Sioux McKenna, Professor and Higher Education Studies PhD Co-ordinator, Rhodes UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/324502014-10-03T09:30:24Z2014-10-03T09:30:24ZYou wouldn’t want an unqualified doctor or lawyer … so why are untrained teachers ok?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/60679/original/bwrkfz6d-1412264216.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sit tight while I look that up. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-116552776/stock-photo-portrait-of-teacher-and-blackboard-background.html?src=9YYix6L8kOOz_9iaEyzPNw-2-49">Teacher via gualtiero boffi/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In many ways it’s incredible that in 2014 there is still a debate about whether teachers should be qualified or not. Imagine deliberating similar issues about your lawyer, your doctor or your surgeon? </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2012/jul/27/gove-academies-unqualified-teaching-staff">announcement in 2012</a> by Michael Gove, the former secretary of state for education, that academies and free schools should be allowed to employ unqualified teachers sent waves of incredulity across the profession. Now his successor Nicky Morgan is coming under considerable pressure <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/sep/28/labour-nicky-morgan-unqualified-teachers">from Labour</a> and the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/house-of-commons-28211319">Liberal Democrats</a> to reverse the decision. </p>
<p>But why are we even having this debate? Particularly when a <a href="http://www.teachers.org.uk/node/16317">poll conducted by the National Union of Teachers (NUT)</a> in anticipation of the policy change found that 89% of parents want their child to have a qualified teacher, with just 1% saying they are “comfortable about those without the teaching qualification taking charge of a class”. </p>
<p>As a great deal of current education policy is premised on the ideals of parental choice and the parent as customer, it seems bizarre to say that in this – one of the most important elements of education policy – we appear to be ignoring parental views.</p>
<h2>Freedom and flexibility</h2>
<p>Yet there are many people working in schools who are unqualified but often put in front of a class, as was revealed in <a href="https://www.teachers.org.uk/node/10116">another NUT survey</a>. There has been an overall <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/apr/10/rise-number-unqualified-teachers-state-funded-schools-england">rise in the number of unqualified teaching</a> staff at academies and free schools, with 6% of full-time teaching staff lacking teaching qualification in 2013.</p>
<p>Gove <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2012/jul/27/gove-academies-unqualified-teaching-staff">justified his position </a> by arguing that the move would offer academies and free schools more freedom and flexibility. He said that it would make up the shortfalls in subjects such as computer science, engineering and languages bringing them more in line with private schools where “qualified teacher status” is often desirable but not mandatory. </p>
<p>New <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/359483/DFE-RR286_-_Are_free_schools_using_innovative_approaches.pdf">statistics released</a> by the Department for Education show that in a survey of 74 free schools, 24 had appointed staff without qualified teacher status (QTS). Of these, the most popular single subjects to be taught by non-qualified teachers were physical education with 29%, and maths, art and design and music, each with 21%. </p>
<p>As an former teacher educator in higher education, I worked with teachers – many of whom had been practising without any teacher training. In some cases these teachers had a genuine wish to improve their teaching by achieving the qualification, but in many cases they saw it as “jumping through the hoop” of organisational requirements.</p>
<h2>Stuck with one way of teaching</h2>
<p>For many, the work turned out to be fascinating, not least in terms of what studying for the qualification actually brought to their day-to-day practices. People who had been teaching or training for years were often rarely observed in their work and had become “stuck” in their habits – unable to progress due to a lack of understanding of strategies that could move them on.</p>
<p>In the absence of any initial training, most admitted to modelling their teaching on teachers that they had been taught by in the past. This strategy varied in its success. </p>
<p>They were not armed with a range of strategies to draw on when the going became tough. Because they largely modelled their teaching on one style – often the style that appealed to them as learners – they found it incredibly difficult to think outside of this box. </p>
<p>Even in the case of good and dedicated teachers, studying for a qualification offered them the ability to try new approaches with their students and empowered them to take risks. Crucially, it allowed them some one-to-one time with an observer who was not involved in the politics of their workplace or appraising them for their next pay increment.</p>
<h2>Good continuous training</h2>
<p>This is not just an argument for the primacy of initial teacher training but equally emphasises the need for good and <a href="https://theconversation.com/teachers-need-quality-time-set-aside-to-keep-learning-28412">continuing professional development</a>. This is a point well made in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s 2013 <a href="http://www.oecd.org/edu/school/talis-2013-results.htm">Teaching and Learning International Survey</a>: countries earmarked for their successful education systems gave teachers time to develop as well as to learn. </p>
<p>It is this time to develop that unqualified teachers don’t have. If you learn on the job with no time to explore your work outside of its daily demands, there is a far greater likelihood that feelings of professional isolation and lack of capacity to change will lead to greater levels of attrition and <a href="http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/A_Passion_for_Teaching.html?id=A7kOf7tEiy0C&redir_esc=y">disillusionment with the profession</a>. </p>
<p>Good quality teacher training arms teachers with a deeper understanding not only of how to teach, but more importantly how students learn and what motivates them. It provides the basis for a <a href="http://www.tlrp.org/themes/seminar/gewirtz/papers/bibliography.pdf">sound professional identity</a>. That’s one of the <a href="http://www.tlrp.org/pub/documents/Day_RB_20_FINAL.pdf">pre-requisites for professional resilience</a> – carrying on when the going gets tough. </p>
<h2>‘Naïve’ policy</h2>
<p>It is vital that this naïve policy is reversed sooner rather than later. Enthusiasm and experience are great but they will never replace a thorough professional training. </p>
<p>In four long years have we really forgotten the 2010 white paper <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/175429/CM-7980.pdf">The Importance of Teaching</a> in which it was stated: “the best education systems in the world train their teachers rigorously and effectively.” </p>
<p>Unless we ensure that all of our teachers have the knowledge and skills that good basic and ongoing training provides then it is likely that academies and free schools will be staffed in the future by people who can talk the talk but lack the deeper knowledge and professional resilience that is the hallmark and foundation of all respected professions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/32450/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
In many ways it’s incredible that in 2014 there is still a debate about whether teachers should be qualified or not. Imagine deliberating similar issues about your lawyer, your doctor or your surgeon…Jacqueline Baxter, Lecturer in Social Policy, The Open UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/290142014-07-23T06:44:55Z2014-07-23T06:44:55ZTests used to select people who make good doctors could work for teachers too<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54543/original/99w2hwwn-1406028474.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Great at the job: can we test for that?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-59277925/stock-photo-female-primary-school-pupil-and-teacher-working-at-desk-in-classroom.html?src=pp-photo-206280154-2">Primary teacher via Shutterstock/oliveromg</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Television documentaries such as <a href="http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCIQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk%2Fprogrammes%2Fb03plzvt&ei=nUbOU5XjFoW70QWawoE4&usg=AFQjCNFKsjUkDxqFq3QfU3gFuyOexuq7vQ&bvm=bv.71198958,d.d2k">Tough Young Teachers</a> and <a href="http://www.channel4.com/programmes/educating-yorkshire/4od">Educating Yorkshire</a> have shown how a teacher’s “soft skills” are key for success in the classroom – both for novices and veterans. Audiences followed teachers who struggled, coped, and sometimes failed at their job, not primarily because of how well they knew their subject, but because of the personal attributes they brought with them into the classroom. </p>
<p>The department for education’s current <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/education-28263223">Troops to Teachers programme</a>, where former service personnel are encouraged to train as teachers, is built on the notion that “non-cognitive attributes” such as interpersonal skills and resilience are necessary for effective teaching.</p>
<p>One way of trying to hit upon which applicants to teacher training courses might have these skills is to emulate the way doctors are selected for medical training. Our <a href="http://www.teacherselect.org/">research is showing</a> that the kinds of tests used to assess whether a person would make a good doctor can work for teacher training too. </p>
<p>At the moment, teacher application processes do try and assess whether potential teachers have the non-cognitive attributes associated with successful teaching, usually through interviews and personality tests. But current methods may not be <a href="http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmeduc/524/524.pdf">good enough</a>. </p>
<p>Although the “soft skills” of novice teachers may improve with training and experience, teaching effectiveness varies within cohorts of new teachers, and effectiveness <a href="http://www0.gsb.columbia.edu/faculty/jrockoff/papers/rockoff_speroni_april_2010.pdf">remains reasonably stable</a> over time. Research at the US Calder Center has found that the most and least effective new teachers tend to stay in the same position relative to their peers even after several years of <a href="http://www.caldercenter.org/publications/upload/wp90.pdf">teaching</a>. </p>
<p>A rigorous process that includes assessment of “suitability to teach” is one of the selection criteria listed by the UK’s <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/279344/ITT_criteria.pdf">National College for Teaching & Leadership</a>. But most of the available non-cognitive tests are based on personality models that are only <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1747938X14000153">weakly related to teaching effectiveness</a>.</p>
<h2>The medical way</h2>
<p>But assessing whether a person is suitable to teach is a challenging task, and has only received limited attention from researchers. In sharp contrast, the selection process for medical training has been the subject of <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2178872">a lot of research</a>, and enjoys a robust evidence base that may be useful for developing selection processes for teacher training. </p>
<p>In selection processes for potential doctors, applicants are tested for their interpersonal skills. This is important because the quality of doctor-patient relationships has been found to <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/hea/12/2/93/">influence patients’ adherence to medical treatments</a>. </p>
<p>For entry into most medical schools in the UK, applicants complete a situational judgement test (SJT) that assesses non-cognitive aptitudes such as empathy, integrity, teamwork, and resilience. Scores from SJTs are often better predictors of success in medical training and subsequent practice as a doctor than scores on <a href="https://www.aamc.org/download/347724/data/patterson2012.pdf">cognitive tests</a>. </p>
<p>These tests use scenarios to assess <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/apl/95/2/321/">implicit traits</a> – the spontaneous evaluation of a situation – in a workplace setting. The tests present applicants with a situation accompanied by possible responses to choose from. <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21480685">For example</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>You are reviewing a routine drug chart for a patient with arthritis during an overnight shift. You notice that your consultant has inappropriately prescribed a drug daily instead of weekly. Rank in order the following actions: (a) Tell the patient, (b) phone the consultant at home… </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The tests measure judgement and <a href="http://users.ugent.be/%7Eflievens/Stems.pdf">“general domain knowledge”</a>, or the internal rules people have about how to behave in a situation. The rules originate from personal dispositions and past interactions with parents and peers. </p>
<p>Research using SJTs for selection into medical training show that the tests are reliable and <a href="http://bjgp.org/content/63/616/e734.short">valid predictors</a> of aptitude for being a doctor. Longitudinal research carried out over a number of years shows that non-cognitive attributes measured using these tests predict subsequent work performance nearly a decade after initial entry into <a href="http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/73202692/validity-interpersonal-skills-assessment-via-situational-judgment-tests-predicting-academic-success-job-performance">training</a>. For example, they could predict whether a person would get higher ratings from a supervisor for technical and interpersonal skills. </p>
<h2>Designing a test for teachers</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.teacherselect.org/">Our own research</a> conducted over the last two years has focused on developing tests to identify the non-cognitive attributes of <a href="http://www.hipatiapress.com/hpjournals/index.php/ijep/article/view/1093">prospective teachers</a>. Guided by a thorough <a href="http://www.elearningworkpsychology.com/rcoa/downloads/Using%20job%20analysis%20to%20identify%20core%20and%20specific%20competencies.pdf">job analysis</a>, our work has identified three relevant competencies necessary for being a teacher. These were “empathy and communication”, “organisation and planning” and “resilience and adaptability”. </p>
<p>We have developed our own pilot SJT consisting of <a href="http://www.hipatiapress.com/hpjournals/index.php/ijep/article/view/1093">more than 30 scenarios</a> generated from critical incidents that teachers might face in the classroom. Experienced teachers helped us to design the scenarios.</p>
<p>Early results show our pilot test is statistically reliable and positively correlated with interview criteria. This means that the test may be useful for initial screening of personal attributes. <a href="http://www.hipatiapress.com/hpjournals/index.php/ijep/article/view/1093">Most candidates agreed</a> that the test was clearly relevant to those applying for teacher training. Initial results demonstrate the feasibility of the approach and provide a robust rationale for extending the work on a wider platform.</p>
<h2>Other tests in the pipeline</h2>
<p>The research has now been extended to Australia, Canada, and Finland, with a number of teacher-training providers and education authorities involved in development of locally-relevant content. </p>
<p>Other researchers in education and applied psychology are addressing the selection of prospective teachers. In Australia, John Hattie and his team at the University of Melbourne are <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-winning-formula-how-to-pick-the-best-teachers-20721">designing selection instruments</a> based on Five Factor personality models. The results from their instrument can also be used to help prospective teachers identify areas that might need further work.</p>
<p>The advantages of using tests like SJTs as part of the selection process for teacher training include more accurate predictions of who will be successful, cost efficiencies and more reliability in application decisions. There is clearly more work needed, but a close look at approaches used in other fields, like medicine, may help improve the selection of prospective teachers. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29014/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rob Klassen receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fiona Patterson 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>Television documentaries such as Tough Young Teachers and Educating Yorkshire have shown how a teacher’s “soft skills” are key for success in the classroom – both for novices and veterans. Audiences followed…Rob Klassen, Professor and Chair, Psychology in Education Research Centre, University of YorkFiona Patterson, Principal Researcher, University of CambridgeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/292042014-07-20T20:27:00Z2014-07-20T20:27:00ZWhy we don’t have the world’s best, or most respected, teachers<p>Barely a day goes by when people aren’t bemoaning the state of teacher education in Australia. Australian students’ results are declining, entry requirements for teachers aren’t high enough, teaching courses don’t focus on the right things. </p>
<p>So whose fault is it? And how do we rectify the situation? It’s true that teacher education providers select too many students who would never have gained entry to teacher education in the past, but this is merely a symptom of a deeper problem. </p>
<p>The problem lies in the status and salary prospects of teachers, and the quality of teacher education providers. Countries where student achievement is highest have a heavy focus on recruitment and entry standards of teachers, accreditation standards and registration standards. Australia is weak in all three of these areas.</p>
<h2>Recruitment and entry standards</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.education.gov.au/higher-education-statistics">Only 21.5% of students</a> offered a teaching place this year had an ATAR above 80, compared with an average of well over 50% across all other university programs (and nearly 70% for science and engineering). </p>
<p>High-achieving countries <a href="http://www.iea.nl/fileadmin/user_upload/Publications/Electronic_versions/TEDS-M_Findings.pdf">make sure that salaries</a> and conditions attract sufficient future teachers from the top 20-30% of secondary school graduates. Australia is not doing enough to assure similarly high-quality recruitment.</p>
<p><a href="http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/153070173?versionId=166821671">Student surveys clearly show</a> that long-term salary prospects and status are the main reasons that many more able students do not choose teaching, even though they regard it as an important profession.</p>
<p>Academic ability is important since high-quality teaching is intellectually demanding. <a href="http://naeducation.org/NAED_080456.htm">Research shows</a> that verbal ability and scores on scholastic aptitude tests relate to eventual teaching effectiveness. Candidates with strong academic qualifications are more likely to be effective teachers, as measured by growth in students’ test scores. The ability to apply effective teaching methods depends on deep understanding of what is being taught.</p>
<p>Salaries matter. <a href="http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ988701">Recent research</a> shows that it is the salaries of experienced teachers relative to other professions that distinguish countries with higher student achievement.</p>
<p>An Australian teacher’s salary at the top of the scale is 1.30 times the GDP per capita, making it <a href="http://www.ncee.org/programs-affiliates/center-on-international-education-benchmarking/top-performing-countries/australia-overview/australia-teacher-and-principal-quality/">among the lowest in OECD countries</a>, where the average is 1.65. <a href="http://www.oecd.org/edu/eag2013%20%28eng%29--FINAL%2020%20June%202013.pdf">Teachers in South Korea</a> are paid at the 78th percentile in their country’s wage distribution, and rise to well over two-and-a-half times the starting salary. Those in Australia are paid around the 50th percentile and rise to less than one-and-a-half times starting salaries.</p>
<p>Whereas maximum teacher salaries in Australia are about 20% below the OECD average, salaries in Canada are about 20% higher. Salaries for experienced teachers in Singapore <a href="http://www.ncee.org/programs-affiliates/center-on-international-education-benchmarking/top-performing-countries/singapore-overview/singapore-teacher-and-principal-quality/">rise to nearly double</a> the OECD average.</p>
<p>A realistic goal for Australia would be to lift salaries for proven accomplished teachers to at least the OECD average. Australia will not match the quality of teacher education graduates in high-achieving countries unless concerted policies are in place to enable teaching to compete with other professions and attract most entrants from the top third of the age cohort.</p>
<h2>Accreditation: who trains teachers?</h2>
<p>High-achieving countries are very fussy about who gets to train teachers. They usually have a single national agency responsible for assessing and accrediting teacher education programs. England has <a href="http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/initial-teacher-education-inspection-handbook">one strong agency</a> focusing on a range of program outcomes.</p>
<p>Australia has eight accreditation bodies, several of which are only responsible for one provider. Like most other professions, teaching should have one independent expert body.</p>
<p>Australia undoubtedly has teacher education programs equal to the best internationally. However, the current accreditation system is weak. It lacks the capacity to conduct valid and independent evaluations of Australia’s 400 programs, meaning we don’t have enough information about the effectiveness of them.</p>
<p>We lack information on the knowledge graduates have about the subjects they will be expected to teach, whether they are aware of the latest research in teaching methods, and what core teaching skills they have mastered.</p>
<h2>Registration: who gains full entry to the profession?</h2>
<p>Graduation is an important step. However, for most professions, registration is also a critical quality assurance measure. High-achieving countries require a mentored induction for teachers coupled with rigorous assessments of readiness before full entry to the profession. </p>
<p>The rigour of current procedures varies widely across Australian states and territories. Australia needs to build a rigorous and nationally consistent registration system for assuring the quality of entrants to the teaching profession.</p>
<p>The present situation where our brightest students shun teaching for higher-paid and more-respected careers is one we have brought upon ourselves. Unlike high-achieving countries, Australia has no specific policies in place to lift the status of teaching and ensure that it is as attractive a career option for our ablest students as other professions.</p>
<p>Although Australia has been spending more money on education, it has not been investing in what matters long term: making teaching more attractive to our ablest graduates, using more rigorous methods to assess teacher education programs and setting a high bar for entrance to the profession.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29204/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lawrence Ingvarson 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>Barely a day goes by when people aren’t bemoaning the state of teacher education in Australia. Australian students’ results are declining, entry requirements for teachers aren’t high enough, teaching courses…Lawrence Ingvarson, Principal Research Fellow, Australian Council for Educational ResearchLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/288502014-07-10T20:07:20Z2014-07-10T20:07:20ZUniversity teaching must be more accountable under new fee model<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53360/original/sz3v5p3j-1404871179.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">With students paying more than ever for university, don't they deserve quality teaching?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/birkbeckmediaservices/10576001346">Flickr/Birkbeckmediasevices</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australian taxpayers currently give universities about <a href="http://www.ncoa.gov.au/report/appendix-vol-1/9-13-higher-education.html">$11 billion a year in grants</a> and have taken on $22 billion in outstanding student debts. About <a href="http://www.ncoa.gov.au/report/appendix-vol-1/9-13-higher-education.html">one-fifth of the debts will never be repaid</a> on current trends. This is taxpayer support for a university degree that increases the graduate’s lifetime earnings by $1 million, <a href="http://www.budget.gov.au/2014-%2015/content/glossy/education/download/Budget_Glossy_education_web.pdf">according to some estimates.</a></p>
<p>Universities will soon be able to charge whatever fees they like if the relevant bill is passed in the Senate. Student loans, supported by taxpayers, will balloon because universities will have significant pricing power. This means taxpayer subsidies will rise alongside uni fees and a greater proportion of student debt will remain unpaid, having to be absorbed by taxpayers.</p>
<p>Given students will be paying higher fees, and taxpayers will be sharing this burden, universities should be more accountable. This is particularly so in terms of teaching performance.</p>
<h2>Make course evaluations public</h2>
<p>Course evaluations by students should be routinely published on the university’s intranet. These should be accessible by students and include the name of the academic instructor. Written comments, within reason, should also be published. </p>
<p>Universities often talk about “closing the loop” when collecting data on student learning outcomes. This means addressing feedback from students about the course. But the loop is not properly closed because the students who provide the data are not allowed to see it.</p>
<p>Currently, if students want to see this information, they have to apply for course evaluation data under the Freedom of Information Act. A fee is charged and the waiting times are significant. </p>
<p>The data should also be routinely reported to government on behalf of taxpayers. Government should use the data as a performance indicator to inform the distribution of grants to universities.</p>
<p>Until teaching performance is better measured and more widely reported it won’t be properly funded, by either government or students. It’s what economists call an “<a href="http://www.economicshelp.org/blog/glossary/adverse-selection/">adverse selection</a>” problem. If you can’t discern the quality of something offered for sale, you will offer a price that reflects average quality.</p>
<p>The result is that sellers of the higher-quality, and often higher-cost, product are driven out of the market. Hence you are left with an “adverse selection” of the lower-quality products. This has been the fate of teaching – we under-achieve in teaching because of information and incentive problems.</p>
<p>The usual arguments against reporting data from student evaluations of courses and teaching often boil down to various biases: evaluations can be “bought” with higher grades, which leads to grade inflation; students may reward teaching style over substance and conflate their “experience” with learning; and true learning can only be gauged after considerable time. </p>
<p>These arguments are exaggerated. <a href="http://ideaedu.org/sites/default/files/idea-paper_50.pdf">A comprehensive survey</a> of the many published studies found that student evaluations of teaching are “relatively valid against a variety of indicators of effective teaching”. Granted, course evaluations and teaching evaluations are not the same but they share common questions about teaching effectiveness.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53474/original/dfr855zv-1404953451.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53474/original/dfr855zv-1404953451.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53474/original/dfr855zv-1404953451.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53474/original/dfr855zv-1404953451.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53474/original/dfr855zv-1404953451.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53474/original/dfr855zv-1404953451.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53474/original/dfr855zv-1404953451.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/53474/original/dfr855zv-1404953451.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People argue teacher surveys can be “bought” with high grades.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/inju/4274463847">Flickr/Kevin Lim</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Professionalise teaching</h2>
<p>The Grattan Institute report “<a href="http://grattan.edu.au/publications/reports/post/taking-university-teaching-seriously/">Taking University Teaching Seriously</a>” came up with some useful recommendations for professionalising teaching, including hiring 2,500 teaching-focused staff across 12 universities. However, it baulked at the one recommendation that everyone outside of higher education finds so obvious: the need for accreditation of teaching academics. </p>
<p>Why do hairdressers, real estate agents, nurses, builders, financial planners and just about every profession or trade other than university teachers require some form of minimum qualification and/or accreditation? </p>
<p>The job ticket for university teaching is a research degree (PhD) on the flimsy argument that good teaching must be informed by research. The literature, cited in the Grattan report, has shown the research-teaching nexus to be a myth, at least for most undergraduate teaching. </p>
<p>To correct this, government funding should be conditional on the degree to which a university has professionalised teaching, by requiring newly appointed teaching academics to undergo professional training in pedagogy and education more broadly. A <a href="http://www.lhmartininstitute.edu.au/news-updates/latest-news-updates/84-new-study-the-real-academic-revolution">2010 report by the LH Martin Institute</a> advocated creating more teaching-focused positions. </p>
<p>Given students <a href="https://theconversation.com/hecs-upon-you-natsem-models-the-real-impact-of-higher-uni-fees-27808">could be paying up to double</a> for their undergraduate degrees, they deserve effective and qualified teachers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/28850/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ross Guest has received funding from the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching. The opinions expressed here are entirely his own.</span></em></p>Australian taxpayers currently give universities about $11 billion a year in grants and have taken on $22 billion in outstanding student debts. About one-fifth of the debts will never be repaid on current…Ross Guest, Professor of Economics and National Senior Teaching Fellow, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/257752014-04-23T11:33:08Z2014-04-23T11:33:08ZPerformance-related pay won’t motivate teachers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/46825/original/y23sr3q9-1398166206.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Govebusters vs teacher pay reforms. Who will win?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rui Vieira/PA</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>This Easter Monday, members of the National Union of Teachers <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-27100733">voted in favour</a> of a motion for strike action this summer. The threat of industrial action reflects <a href="https://theconversation.com/are-the-tables-turning-in-michael-goves-war-on-teacher-unions-25417">an ever deepening rift</a> between teachers and Michael Gove, the secretary of state for education, against a backdrop of <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/what-is-it-about-michael-gove-that-makes-people-hate-him-so-much-7628063.html">unpopular reforms</a> and <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26008962">name calling</a>. </p>
<p>Among the most ostracised of these reforms is the dismantling of traditional experience-to-salary structures – to be replaced with performance-related-pay. <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-advice-to-help-schools-set-performance-related-pay">Guidance</a> on the changes was introduced in September 2013, with the first pay rises based on performance starting in September 2014. In defence of his reform, Gove argues a link between performance and pay will “<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/9799356/Michael-Gove-to-confirm-plans-for-performance-related-pay-in-schools.html">make teaching a more attractive career and a more rewarding job</a>.”</p>
<p>Yet Gove, perhaps because he is an avid free marketeer, misses the point. Teachers are not bankers or stockbrokers (or Times editors). They are not seduced by the carrot of ever-increasing financial gain. </p>
<p>Financial gain, on its own, is a self-centred motivator and serves no purpose beyond the temporary gratification that money confers. Teaching, on the other hand, is a mutually rewarding occupation that serves the ongoing interests of both teachers and their students. By imposing economic sanctions on this precious relationship, we corrode the very meaning of teaching itself.</p>
<h2>A bad idea</h2>
<p>To understand why this is the case, it is important to understand how humans are motivated. We engage in certain activities not only for their tangible outcomes, but also for their implicit satisfaction. Harry Harlow, a primitive psychologist, <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/xge/40/2/228/">demonstrated</a> this over half a century ago when he observed that the satisfaction monkeys derived from mastering a maze task was so strong that they would even forgo food to do so. </p>
<p>This is where neoliberal ideology and human motivation begin to conflict. Motivation is not a commodity to be traded for the highest price. It originates from within and necessarily antagonises with any outside influence. Just ask teachers why they teach, they will tell you that they value the benefits and personal satisfaction that the job confers – it isn’t all about the money.</p>
<p>This, intrinsic motivation, is particularly important for teachers. It’s the motivational force that <a href="http://intrinsicmotivation.net/SDT/documents/2005_IsenReeve_MO.pdf">sustains their enjoyment</a> in the face of external pressure and underpins their <a href="http://www.ww.selfdeterminationtheory.org/SDT/documents/2008_Grant_JAP_ProsocialMotivation.pdf">extra-curricular</a> support for students. More than this, though, intrinsic motivation gives teachers impetus to engage in energetic and creative thought processes that enhance the quality of their teaching provision. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/46826/original/p5qndhpr-1398166426.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/46826/original/p5qndhpr-1398166426.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46826/original/p5qndhpr-1398166426.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46826/original/p5qndhpr-1398166426.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46826/original/p5qndhpr-1398166426.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46826/original/p5qndhpr-1398166426.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/46826/original/p5qndhpr-1398166426.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">It won’t work on teachers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">nist6dh</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Research from other professions shows us that teachers who teach from a place of personal satisfaction are likely to be <a href="http://www.ww.selfdeterminationtheory.org/SDT/documents/2007_OtisPelletier_JASP.pdf">healthier</a>, <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2002.tb02065.x/abstract">more satisfied, less inclined to burnout</a> and, importantly, <a href="http://m.selfdeterminationtheory.org/SDT/documents/2004_BaardDeciRyan.pdf">perform better</a> than those who do not. Why, then, would we want to discourage teachers from harnessing their own motivational resources? </p>
<p>This is the most pernicious of Gove’s criticisms. He assumes that when self-interest is propelled upon people it would act in the same way markets do – by motivating. Yet, inconveniently, contemporary research supports the seminal work of Harlow and suggests that this ideology is only correct when <a href="http://www.bos.frb.org/economic/wp/wp2005/wp0511.pdf">tasks require little cognition</a>, or <a href="http://www.oecd.org/pisa/50328990.pdf">are poorly paid in the first place</a>. </p>
<p>When tasks require more than a small degree of cognitive activation, and pay is perceived as equitable relative to living costs, rewards are in fact demotivating. In a <a href="http://www.rug.nl/gmw/psychology/research/onderzoek_summerschool/firststep/content/papers/4.4.pdf">synthesis</a> of 128 controlled experiments, consistent negative effects of rewards were reported on intrinsic motivation. These observations may not be intuitive to a society inculcated by economic discourse, but are in line with modern approaches to motivation which emphasise the salutogenic role of self-determination.</p>
<h2>Impacts on students</h2>
<p>And it isn’t only teachers that are harmed by performance-related pay. Children’s learning and development in school may also suffer.</p>
<p>It is well documented that when teachers feel pressured to produce certain outcomes the reaction is, typically, to pass along that pressure to their students in the form of control – to elicit short-term achievement. This may seem a somewhat controversial hypothesis, but it is supported by <a href="http://www.selfdeterminationtheory.org/SDT/documents/2002_PelletierLevesqueLegault_JESP.pdf">evidence</a>. </p>
<p>Worryingly, there is also evidence to suggest children’s learning is not helped by teaching practises that emphasise pressure to achieve. In an exemplary American <a href="http://selfdeterminationtheory.org/SDT/documents/1984_BenwareDeci.pdf">study</a>, researchers had college students study science material with either the aim of teaching it to somebody else or with the expectation of being tested on it. Results revealed that those who learnt the material to teach, relative to those who learnt to take a test, demonstrated higher creative thought and better conceptual learning. </p>
<p>Yet it isn’t only children’s learning strategies that are undermined by pressure – their tendency to engage in school work is also weakened. Researchers in Israel, for instance, <a href="http://selfdeterminationtheory.org/SDT/documents/2002_AssorKaplanRoth_BJEP.pdf">found</a> that pressuring behaviours by teachers made children less likely to persist with a task in the face of adversity. Hence, pressure is a double edged sword that instigates short-term effort at the expense of perseverance.</p>
<p>Now, here’s the rub: attempting to commoditise motivation treads a dangerous path. It replaces the high-quality intrinsic motivation that teachers bring to the classroom with poorer quality extrinsic motives that, as we have seen, create conflict and pressure. </p>
<p>In this way, performance related pay for otherwise intrinsically motivated occupations, such as teaching, is an unnecessary and counterproductive initiative. It gambles on the utility of self-interest for improving standards, in the face of mounting evidence to the contrary. This isn’t a liberal conspiracy, Mr Gove, its a simple case of the evidence disagreeing with your deep-set ideology.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/25775/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thomas Curran 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>This Easter Monday, members of the National Union of Teachers voted in favour of a motion for strike action this summer. The threat of industrial action reflects an ever deepening rift between teachers…Thomas Curran, Research Fellow in Sport, Exercise and Well-Being, University of GloucestershireLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/238052014-03-04T06:06:23Z2014-03-04T06:06:23ZIs teaching still a profession?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42969/original/wn7qqs9h-1393848696.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Even teachers need to learn something new every day.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/csd-stl/8803690296/sizes/l/"> Education Plus</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>We assume that digital technology can improve education and that the challenge is how to bring innovative technology and educational professionals together. But <a href="http://www.nesta.org.uk/publications/decoding-learning">the evidence shows</a> that despite massive investment, digital technology has not resulted in significant improvements in learning experiences or attainment in education.</p>
<p>Many of the barriers to the effective implementation of digital technology to enhance education are well understood, and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/42792354">relate to human factors</a> rather than technological ones. It has been argued that <a href="http://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/docs/00/19/04/41/PDF/osborne-j-2003-r6.pdf">no amount of technology</a> will transform education <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/New-Meaning-Educational-Change/dp/0415439574">because it is people</a> who bring about change.</p>
<p>That is why <a href="http://educationandtechnology.co.uk/agenda">I argue</a> for the importance of continuous professional development (CPD) for teachers.</p>
<p>We know a great deal about <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260069403">what effective CPD looks like</a>, both in general and specifically in relation to using digital technology to enhance learning. Implicit within the term CPD is the notion that teaching is a profession.</p>
<p>Bob Burstow <a href="https://theconversation.com/would-you-admit-to-being-a-teacher-today-22413">recently questioned</a> whether this was the case, and I have to admit that I no longer think that teaching, at least in England, is a profession. Let me explain.</p>
<h2>What makes a professional</h2>
<p>We would all recognise the following traits as being key features of a profession. Knowledge of the underpinning principles and theories in your field. A requirement for regular updating and/or re-accreditation. Being the creators and curators of knowledge within your field. Not working a fixed number of hours. Having a degree of autonomy, within the constraints of appropriate professional standards, to decide what you do and how you do it. Having an independent professional body that sets and maintains those standards.</p>
<p>But since the late 1980s all of these things have been eroded or totally missing for teaching in England.</p>
<p>In 1987, teachers’ <a href="http://www.deni.gov.uk/dc1987-30.pdf">terms and conditions were changed</a> to specify the number of hours a year that they should work (1,265 hours over 195 days per year). This was a shift away from an expectation that they should work the hours that were necessary. </p>
<p>In 1988, the national curriculum was introduced. This took away teachers’ autonomy to decide what to teach. Then in the late 1990s the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-national-strategies-1997-to-2011">National Strategies</a> on learning were introduced after New Labour came to power. These undermined teachers’ autonomy for deciding how to teach. While the National Strategies were discontinued in 2011 they impacted on the culture of teaching – undermining teachers’ perceptions of their autonomy and authority. </p>
<p>Alongside these developments were changes to the curriculum for initial teacher education, which are reflected in this now being referred to as initial teacher training. These involved reducing time spent on understanding how children learn (learning theory) and thinking about what school is for (educational philosophy). This was done in order to make room for training on how to structure teaching – such as the three part lesson – and how to deliver specific approaches such as synthetic phonics. However, it undermined teachers’ understanding of education’s underpinning principles and theories.</p>
<p>There is no requirement for teachers in England to undergo professional updating or re-accreditation. They are not expected to engage with, let alone carry out, educational research. And up until now they have not had an independent professional body.</p>
<p>Of course there are many individual teachers who are professionals and who recognise the need for teaching to be a profession. That is why there is such strong support for the formation of <a href="http://www.princes-ti.org.uk/CollegeofTeaching/">the College of Teaching</a>. This is a critical step towards re-professionalising teaching. </p>
<p>However, it would be foolish to think that it will be able to redress the <a href="https://theconversation.com/backlash-against-computing-curriculum-misses-the-point-22380">problems inherent in the revised national curriculum</a>, or even help teachers prepare to deliver the new computing curriculum from September this year.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/23805/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Twining has received funding from Becta and the Department for Education. He is a member of the Educational Technology Action Group.</span></em></p>We assume that digital technology can improve education and that the challenge is how to bring innovative technology and educational professionals together. But the evidence shows that despite massive…Peter Twining, Professor of Education (Futures), The Open UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/234662014-02-21T01:17:10Z2014-02-21T01:17:10ZPyne’s Review Panel: Will it help improve teacher quality?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42109/original/s2mrp87y-1392939296.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Do teachers still see teaching as their "life calling"?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/poisoncontrol/2604415285/sizes/z/in/photolist-4Y9iVP-5w5UDU-5Cp6ur-hLcTL5-fLB4XC-fa3ne4-9UXwVC-7Dz7mM-8od2R3-iKbrQg-8Jm9LN-dsXMNJ-9AF7pc-aNcFBP-aNcGyr-aNcEU6-aNcEbV-aNcF7R-aNcFNz-aNcFgr-aNcH5v-aNcEr2-aNcGNT-8z5xMf-ahktz9-8EBfGo-dWg1jM-fb4SdE-fevA3a-bJn6uD-bJn6d2-abhtGe-9jJWPL-bvsjgh-8nh1Ut-8nh29n-8nkaK5-8nk8QE-9An7Xf-jE5dgg-e2LHC1-aNcGg8-aNcFq8-aNcEGK-eAemxb-eoL2AL-ege7Z2-e7fHuH/">Newton/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>“The educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living from the dead.” While Aristotle’s axiom is purposefully exaggerated for dramatic effect, modern research confirms that there is indeed an exponential difference between students who encounter passionate, learned and committed educators and those who do not. Eric Hanushek of the Hoover Institution has estimated that the difference between a good and bad teacher can be as much as a full year’s worth of learning.</p>
<p>The New South Wales Department of Education has produced similar findings. These suggest that students with poor teachers suffer a similar disadvantage to refugees for whom English is not their first language. With the 2012 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report showing that <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-03/australian-students-slipping-behind-in-maths-reading/5132526">Australian students are falling behind in world rankings</a> for basic competency in reading, mathematics and science, it should come as no surprise that teacher quality is a topic of fierce debate.</p>
<p>The announcement by the federal education minister, Christopher Pyne, that Australian Catholic University vice-chancellor Greg Craven will chair an extensive review of teaching training has attracted stiff criticism, <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/education-union-criticises-appointment-of-greg-craven-to-chair-coalitions-teacher-training-review-20140219-33018.html">especially from the Australian Education Union (AEU)</a>. While state and territory education ministers have been discussing plans to raise the required ATAR for teaching degrees to 70, Professor Craven has been a vocal opponent of minimum entry scores. He has claimed that they are “<a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/education-union-criticises-appointment-of-greg-craven-to-chair-coalitions-teacher-training-review-20140219-33018.html">as easy to rig as a bush picnic race meeting</a>”. Pyne has backed Craven, describing ATAR scores as <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/19/pyne-rejects-higher-atar-student-teachers">“a blunt instrument”.</a></p>
<p>Craven’s university enrols students in teaching courses with ATAR scores as low as 50, some of the lowest in the country. This has earned the ire of AEU president Angelo Gavrielatos, who described Craven as “<a href="http://the-scan.com/2014/02/20/teacher-education-needs-a-lick-of-paint-craven/">part of the problem, not the solution</a>”. An <a href="http://medianet.com.au/releases/release-details?id=795657">AEU statement</a> lambasted the review as “fatally flawed”, claiming that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Minister Pyne says his agenda is teacher quality, but in fact he is undermining standards. He wants to make it easier, not harder to get into teaching degrees.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>An entrance score should not define a person or be a permanent barrier to a chosen career. That said, a teacher who achieved low academic results themselves will necessarily find it difficult to nurture high achievers.</p>
<p>While most people can learn how to teach from a textbook, it is very difficult to guide the best students to achieve top results if you have never achieved them yourself. More importantly, to be truly effective a teacher must have an infectious passion for their subject. If they did not excel themselves, it is less likely they will inspire others to excel.</p>
<p>The heart of this debate, however, is not about ATAR scores but the ideology behind the thinking about what makes a quality teacher. </p>
<p>Pyne takes an openly neo-liberal approach to education and has been a vocal critic of the public system. The Abbott government has sought to implement a more market-driven system and has actively encouraged public schools to turn independent. </p>
<p>Craven has also used economic rationalist language to justify his position. <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/education-union-criticises-appointment-of-greg-craven-to-chair-coalitions-teacher-training-review-20140219-33018.html">Responding to AEU criticisms</a>, he said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I would say to the unions: if they succeed in restricting entry to teaching amid a high number of retirements then they are advocating a shortage of teachers and massively increased class sizes.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>William Arthur Ward once said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>To ensure Australian students encounter high-quality, passionate teachers, education must be seen not as a profession but a vocation. The best teachers do more than prepare students for tests. They inspire them to grow, encourage them to explore and ignite a passion for learning. </p>
<p>A 1999 report from Leeds University suggested <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/student/postgraduate/mbas-guide/teaching-is-a-job-not-a-vocation-739500.html">few teachers still see education this way</a>. If Pyne’s review panel does reduce or abandon entry requirements, it is likely more teachers will see their career as an “easy job” rather than a life calling.</p>
<p>A neo-liberal teacher market will doubtless reduce short-term costs for the government and Pyne has used Australia’s slip in world rankings to argue that “<a href="http://www.pyneonline.com.au/media/media-releases/pisa-results-show-more-work-to-be-done">more funding does not equate to better outcomes</a>”. Craven has indicated he will not recommend large changes or funding increases, insisting the education system needs only a new coat of paint.</p>
<p>Craven <a href="http://www.pyneonline.com.au/media/transcripts/announcement-of-teacher-education-ministerial-advisory-group">said</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I don’t think it needs a broom to go through it. I think it’s like any house. You can always improve the painting in the bathroom.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Australia does have world-class, passionate educators but sadly many leave due to lack of resources and support. Studies suggest between <a href="http://prijipati.library.usyd.edu.au/bitstream/2123/4529/1/Vol8No1Article1.pdf">25% and 40% of teachers leave within five years</a>. Philip Riley of Monash University <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/national/education/more-teachers-but-fewer-staying-the-course-20110304-1bhuv.html">has said</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>High early-career attrition in teaching is costing Australia billions of dollars in wasted talent, money and training.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>If teachers with desire and passion are supported and encouraged to stay in the industry, it could not only improve the quality of the learning experience but ultimately prove more cost-effective too.</p>
<p>The goal of the review board should be to attract the best and brightest into education and to secure the best possible outcome for Australian students. This can only happen if the prestige and respect once associated with teaching is restored along with the resources and support needed to achieve outstanding results. </p>
<p>An economic rationalist position that compromises academic rigour will never achieve this. If Craven’s panel follows base supply-and-demand principles and accepts even the most mediocre teaching candidates, then the derogatory maxim will be proved true: those who can’t do, teach.</p>
<p>Australian students deserve better and can have better but it will require a determined effort to raise, not lower, the quality of our teachers. A neo-liberal teacher market that seeks to lower expectations rather than raise conditions will not achieve the best educational outcomes.</p>
<p>Just over five years ago the noble goals of the <a href="http://www.mceecdya.edu.au/verve/_resources/national_declaration_on_the_educational_goals_for_young_australians.pdf">Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians</a> were unveiled. Investing in quality teachers who are passionate about their subject and see education as their calling - and supporting them to stay in the industry – is the only way to ensure Australian students get the best possible learning experience.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/23466/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Benjamin T. Jones 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>“The educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living from the dead.” While Aristotle’s axiom is purposefully exaggerated for dramatic effect, modern research confirms that there is indeed an…Benjamin T. Jones, Historian, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/234702014-02-20T19:18:45Z2014-02-20T19:18:45ZMinister Pyne announces… yet another education review<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42032/original/d4ywkg8v-1392864544.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Does Australia need another education review? </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://multimedia.aapnewswire.com.au/Search.aspx?search=chris+pyne">AAP</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia has on average had one review of teacher education every year for the past 30 years. As I have <a href="http://theconversation.edu.au/standards-will-slide-while-teacher-education-is-used-as-a-cash-cow-11677">noted previously</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Each inquiry reaches much the same conclusions and makes much the same recommendations, yet little changes.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Federal education minister Christopher Pyne’s <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/christopher-pyne-turns-spotlight-on-teacher-training-20140218-32ykx.html">recently announced review</a> is thus the latest in a long line of such reviews. Whether it can deliver real change is moot at this stage. What then are the seemingly intractable issues that other reviews have either failed to address or rectify?</p>
<p>It is widely agreed that we need to attract high-quality people to teaching. Teaching is an intellectually demanding profession. We must insist that those who practise in the profession have high academic credentials and suitability for teaching.</p>
<p>All our students, including the best and brightest, need access to high-quality teachers and teaching. A quality teacher in every classroom is the biggest equity issue in Australian education. Effective teaching is the best means we have of overcoming the effects of disadvantage for young Australians.</p>
<p>Concern has been expressed at the widening gap between the entry standards required for undergraduate teacher education courses with new entrants to the field including colleges and schools. The concerns could be obviated to some extent if teacher education courses were configured as exclusively graduate entry. Completion of an undergraduate degree plus additional life experience will prepare candidates more effectively for initial teacher education and for teaching itself.</p>
<p>Just as teacher quality varies, not all teacher education courses are equally effective, despite claims to the contrary. We need to ensure that all teacher education courses have a strong evidence base and can demonstrate their impact on teacher effectiveness and student learning. </p>
<p>All teacher education courses claim to be effective. We need data to support such claims. This requires effective and suitably rigorous processes for the initial and ongoing accreditation of such courses rather than the present practice of assessment of course accreditation documents. </p>
<p>All existing practices in teacher education and in teaching generally need to be questioned from a position of evidence. It is a given that teachers want their students to learn. Anything that promises to aid in the achievement of this end is therefore attractive.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, education is subject to the same sorts of fads and fashions as the rest of society. In the case of teaching, real harm can come from adopting an untested and even damaging strategy. There are too many people trying to sell teacher educators, teachers and schools shiny products that are untested in the workplace. Strict protocols control the introduction of any new drug or treatment in medicine yet educators happily experiment on students - a situation where lives are also at stake - with unproven (or even disproved) methods.</p>
<p>Ineffective teacher education and ineffective teaching represent a significant social and economic cost and loss to the nation. Australia’s performance on various measures of national and international student achievement indicates worrying trends. Effective teacher education, both initial and ongoing professional development, represents the best means we have of reversing such decline.</p>
<p>A particular concern lies with the teaching of mathematics and science. It is an indictment of Australian education that up to a third of secondary students are being taught mathematics and <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/116651/schools-workforce.pdf">up to one quarter are being taught science by an out-of-field teacher</a>. This is most severe in country, regional and low socio-economic status settings.</p>
<p>We also need primary teachers to be better equipped to teach these subjects. This is something my own university is addressing – with La Trobe, Deakin and Monash universities - through an Office for Learning and Teaching project that includes, among many initiatives designed to improve the teaching of mathematics and science, the attraction and preparation of primary teachers with majors in maths or science teaching.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42033/original/x3zqhxfv-1392865297.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42033/original/x3zqhxfv-1392865297.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42033/original/x3zqhxfv-1392865297.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42033/original/x3zqhxfv-1392865297.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42033/original/x3zqhxfv-1392865297.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42033/original/x3zqhxfv-1392865297.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42033/original/x3zqhxfv-1392865297.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australia is suffering from a severe lack of maths and science teachers, but an over-supply of primary school teachers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-136097621/stock-photo-portrait-of-woman-teacher-and-blackboard-background.html?src=XjrcuRhUixzRCtaUslhtHQ-1-33">www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Australia urgently needs better teacher workforce planning. This should target areas of undersupply such as mathematics, science, languages and special education, while reducing the number of teachers being trained in fields with little prospect of employment. </p>
<p>The oversupply of primary teachers is particularly of concern. The uncapping of undergraduate Commonwealth Supported Places, coupled with the entry to teacher education of various colleges and schools, may well create a pool of teachers who will never teach.</p>
<p>It is timely that teacher education is (once more) put under the spotlight but it must be hoped that the present review committee can engage more meaningfully and powerfully with some of these issues. Its findings and recommendations need to be strongly based upon evidence, just as teacher education needs to be.</p>
<p>The debate is being influenced by too much misinformation. There has been too much blaming teachers for things outside their control, coupled with simplistic measures purported to improve the quality of teachers and the quality of teaching through testing, judging, “fixing” or removing “underperforming” teachers. All teacher education has been painted with the same brush and uniformly criticised.</p>
<p>Effective evidence-based pre-service and in-service teacher professional learning is the key, coupled with developmental teacher feedback and appraisal processes. This is the way to ensure that all teachers improve their effectiveness from initial teacher education and throughout their career and that they are recognised and rewarded.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/23470/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Dinham 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>Australia has on average had one review of teacher education every year for the past 30 years. As I have noted previously: Each inquiry reaches much the same conclusions and makes much the same recommendations…Stephen Dinham, National President of The Australian College of Educators, and Chair of Teacher Education and Director of Learning and Teaching, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/224892014-01-31T02:24:02Z2014-01-31T02:24:02ZIn Conversation: Maxine McKew and Linda Darling-Hammond<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40247/original/3nxvksp3-1391120230.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Simply standing in front of a class and telling children how we are used to doing things 'just won’t work', according to leading American education expert Linda Darling-Hammond.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Dan Peled</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Watch the video of Maxine McKew interviewing Stanford professor Linda Darling-Hammond below.</em></p>
<p>Australian schoolkids are scoring higher than their US counterparts in maths, science and literacy, but a visiting expert has warned that economically disadvantaged children are falling further behind.</p>
<p><a href="https://ed.stanford.edu/faculty/ldh">Professor Linda Darling-Hammond</a> is a world-leading authority on education and teacher training. She is faculty director of the Stanford Centre for Opportunity Policy in Education, and a Miegunyah visiting fellow at the University of Melbourne.</p>
<p>Her main research areas are educational equity, teaching quality and school reform, and she served on US president Barack Obama’s policy transition team in 2008.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fD96nseocEw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Darling-Hammond warns that inequity is becoming a real problem for Australian children and, while the situation is still far better here than in the US, the government needs to act soon.</p>
<p>She compares the opportunities that economically disadvantaged children have in the US and Australia. Describing the changes Obama’s policies have undergone during his time as president, Darling-Hammond expresses disappointment at the lack of real change that they have effected.</p>
<p>National testing schemes draw criticism from Darling-Hammond – in particular Australia’s NAPLAN system, which she says “dumbs down” student assessment.</p>
<p>NAPLAN’s multiple-choice format “tests students’ ability to sit tests”, she says, and is ineffective at measuring their ability to learn. That is the most important skill teachers should be imparting in a world of unceasing technological advancement.</p>
<p>“In the period between 1999 and 2003, there was more new knowledge created than there had been in our entire history,” she explains.</p>
<p>Simply standing in front of a class and telling children how we are used to doing things “just won’t work”, because in their lifetimes they will constantly need to learn to use new pieces of technology.</p>
<p>“Our children need to learn how to acquire knowledge. The ‘transmission’ system (of teaching) doesn’t work.”</p>
<p>Another strong focus for Darling-Hammond is on methods of evaluating teacher performance and on the importance of mentoring by already experienced professionals.</p>
<p>“There should be evaluation of beginning teachers before they enter, like you would think of a bar exam or a medical licensing exam,” she says.</p>
<p>“You can’t wait until people get into the occupation and say, ‘Now we’ll sort out whether you know what to do’.”</p>
<p>Teacher assessment and development was the focus of Darling-Hammond’s Miegunyah Dean’s Lecture at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, where she stressed the need for a shift in perception of the teaching profession.</p>
<p>“We need to change that awful old adage – ‘Those who can’t, teach’ – and we need to turn it into ‘Those who can teach, and those who can’t – go into a less significant line of work’,” she said.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/22489/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maxine McKew is a former Labor MP.</span></em></p>Watch the video of Maxine McKew interviewing Stanford professor Linda Darling-Hammond below. Australian schoolkids are scoring higher than their US counterparts in maths, science and literacy, but a visiting…Maxine McKew, Vice-Chancellor's Fellow, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.