tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/teacher-education-4981/articlesTeacher education – The Conversation2024-02-22T12:01:17Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2238672024-02-22T12:01:17Z2024-02-22T12:01:17ZLearning in two languages: lessons from francophone Africa on what works best<p>Children living in multilingual communities often learn in a language at school that does not match the language they speak at home. This mismatch makes it challenging for them to participate in classroom discussions and learn to read. In turn, this contributes to poor learning outcomes, grade repetition, and dropping out of school.</p>
<p>Bilingual education programmes that include mother tongue languages have become increasingly popular for improving learning outcomes. Bilingual education is associated with better <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728908003386">language and literacy skills</a>, reduced grade repetition and school dropout rates across the <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/10986/10331">globe</a>. Including mother tongue languages in education also places value on children’s cultural identities, improving confidence, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09500789808666737">self-esteem</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-012-9308-2">learning</a>. </p>
<p>But simply providing bilingual education does not guarantee better learning results. This is the conclusion of a recent <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2023.2290482">paper</a> we published in which we reviewed bilingual programmes in six francophone west African countries: Niger, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon. </p>
<p>We found mixed results, across and within countries and programmes.</p>
<p>We identified two sets of factors that constrain or contribute to the quality of bilingual education. These were: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>implementation factors, such as teacher training and classroom resources</p></li>
<li><p>socio-cultural factors, such as perceptions of mother tongue languages in education.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Our findings emphasise the need to consider the local context when applying bilingual education programmes. </p>
<h2>Bilingual education in francophone west Africa</h2>
<p>Our research team conducted research in Côte d’Ivoire from 2016 to 2018. We measured children’s language and reading skills in both their mother tongue and in French, and compared outcomes between children attending French-only or bilingual Projet École Intégrée schools. </p>
<p>Children in French-only schools outperformed their peers from bilingual schools on the language and reading <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000723">assessments</a>. Teachers revealed they had better teaching resources and felt better prepared in French-only schools. </p>
<p>We were interested in whether bilingual education programmes in other francophone countries in the region had had similar experiences. In 2022, we searched academic databases for literature in English and French that discussed programme implementation and measured learning and schooling outcomes within bilingual education programmes. We reviewed nine programmes from six countries: Niger, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, and Cameroon. </p>
<p>These countries are former French colonies or territories. French is the official or working language and often the language of instruction in school. However, these countries are highly multilingual. About 23 living <a href="https://www.ethnologue.com/">languages</a> are spoken in Niger, <a href="https://www.languagesoftheworld.info/geolinguistics/linguistic-diversity-in-africa-and-europe.html">39</a> in Senegal, <a href="https://www.languagesoftheworld.info/geolinguistics/linguistic-diversity-in-africa-and-europe.html">68</a> in Mali, <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1280625/number-of-living-languages-in-africa-by-country/">71</a> in Burkina Faso, <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1280625/number-of-living-languages-in-africa-by-country/">78</a> in Côte d’Ivoire and <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1280625/number-of-living-languages-in-africa-by-country/">277</a> in Cameroon. </p>
<p>Our review showed that children can benefit from learning in two languages. This is true whether they are two official languages like in Cameroon’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10993-019-09510-7">Dual Curriculum Bilingual Education</a> (French and English) schools, or in a mother tongue and French, like in Mali’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/447544">Community Schools</a>. Children can also benefit regardless of whether they are gradually introduced to a language throughout primary school or whether both languages are introduced at the same time.</p>
<p>But a lack of resources, and a failure to take into account local conditions, affected the outcomes. The programmes that resulted in positive schooling and learning outcomes recognised and targeted common school-related and community-related challenges.</p>
<h2>Teacher training and resources</h2>
<p>One common school-related challenge was teachers not having teaching materials in all languages of instruction.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000161121">Pédagogie Convergente</a> programme in Mali, for example, ensured teachers had materials in both French and the mother tongue. Children had better French and maths scores. </p>
<p>But some teachers from the same programme did not always have teaching <a href="https://books.google.ca/books/about/Patterns_of_French_literacy_development.html?id=MoNnAAAAMAAJ&hl=en&redir_esc=y">materials</a> in mother tongue languages. And some children struggled with literacy and writing skills. </p>
<p>Another common challenge was teachers not feeling prepared to teach in all languages, as teacher training often occurred in an official language, like French. The <a href="https://www.adeanet.org/clearinghouse/sites/default/files/docs/interieur_11_burkina_fre.pdf">Programme d’éducation bilingue</a> in Burkina Faso, for example, made an effort to train teachers in the mother tongue language so they felt confident following the bilingual curriculum. </p>
<p>Children in bilingual Burkina Faso schools had higher than average <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050802149275">pass rates</a> on the primary certificate exam, <a href="https://www.memoireonline.com/06/22/12997/m_Le-rapport-des-enseignants-aux-langues-nationales-en-tant-que-mdiums-et-matires-den.html">repeated grades less</a>, and stayed in school more than children in traditional French schools. </p>
<p>Both examples are in contrast to the bilingual schools in Côte d’Ivoire, where teachers lacked materials and training in mother tongue languages. In turn, children demonstrated worse language and reading skills compared to their peers in French-only schools.</p>
<h2>Socio-cultural factors</h2>
<p>We identified common community-related challenges, particularly related to community buy-in and perceptions of mother tongue instruction. </p>
<p>For example, families with higher socioeconomic status were worried that Niger’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050208667760">Ecole Experimentale</a> schools would hinder children’s French proficiency and compromise their entry into secondary school. </p>
<p>Programmes such as the <a href="https://ared-edu.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/DC-Senegal-Workshop-Findings_04.2019-FINAL-ENG.pdf">Support Program for Quality Education in Mother Tongues for Primary Schools</a> in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2020.1765968">Senegal</a> worked to combat negative perceptions by educating families about the benefits of bilingual education. Children in the Senegalese programme outperformed their peers in traditional French schools in all school subjects.</p>
<p>The same programmes sometimes experienced different outcomes depending on the community. For example, although children in Burkina Faso’s bilingual schooling showed favourable outcomes, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-021-09885-y">parents</a> felt that French programmes were better suited for continuing to secondary school. </p>
<h2>What does this mean for bilingual education?</h2>
<p>Efforts to provide teachers with the resources they needed, and efforts to foster community support, were both consistently linked with positive schooling and learning outcomes in our review. </p>
<p>However, these efforts might work better in some communities compared to others, due to different resource constraints and socio-cultural differences. Studies that found poorer outcomes also found common challenges present. Therefore, bilingual education has the potential to facilitate positive learning outcomes if efforts are made to overcome common challenges based on communities’ needs.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223867/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>Bilingual education can improve learning outcomes but it’s important to consider local context.Kaja Jasinska, Assistant Professor, Applied Psychology and Human Development, University of TorontoMary-Claire Ball, PhD student, Developmental Psychology and Education, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2145642023-10-08T19:27:01Z2023-10-08T19:27:01ZAustralia’s teacher workforce has a diversity problem. Here’s how we can fix it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/552218/original/file-20231005-15-wt1ybu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C59%2C4962%2C3166&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia’s teaching workforce does not reflect the diversity of the Australian community, a situation that has far-reaching implications for our education system. </p>
<p>As we outline in our <a href="https://education.unimelb.edu.au/mgse-industry-reports/report-7-seeing-ourselves-at-school">new research</a>, published today, teachers are predominantly Australian-born, female, and non-Indigenous.</p>
<p>Most hail from middle-class backgrounds with urban upbringings, and are less likely to have disabilities. </p>
<p>So why is this lack of diversity a problem? And what can be done to help overcome it?</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-has-a-plan-to-fix-its-school-teacher-shortage-will-it-work-196803">Australia has a plan to fix its school teacher shortage. Will it work?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Teacher shortages and student achievement</h2>
<p>Australia is in the midst of a <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-30/pandemic-exposed-australia-teacher-shortage-students-schools/101886452">teacher shortage</a>, which is affecting schools in unequal ways. </p>
<p>Schools in rural, remote areas, and those with higher levels of <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/school-agreement/report/school-agreement.pdf">disadvantage</a> have been shown to bear the brunt of this issue.</p>
<p>Our research suggests diversifying the teaching workforce can help address attaining and retaining teachers in schools and strengthen student outcomes across the board.</p>
<h2>Diversity makes a difference</h2>
<p><a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11115-021-00535-3">Research</a> shows teachers from minority groups, such as teachers of colour, can increase student achievement, especially for students from the same groups.</p>
<p><a href="https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=e064c83b3b8aefbb0e9b7d5d90c09faf96987df3">Evidence</a> also suggests teachers from minority groups often hold higher expectations for their minority students compared with <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2017-30813-012">majority teachers</a>. For example, Black teachers tend to have higher expectations than white teachers of Black students, and students respond to this with greater effort.</p>
<p>Teachers from minority groups can act as <a href="https://unimelbcloud-my.sharepoint.com/personal/agarner1_unimelb_edu_au/Documents/Jack%20Keating%20Policy%20paper%202023-/Conversation%20article/Griffin,%20A.%20(2018).%20Our%20stories,%20our%20struggles,%20our%20strengths.">role models</a> for people from similar backgrounds. </p>
<p>Teachers from minority groups can also act as <a href="https://journal.spera.asn.au/index.php/AIJRE/article/view/194">cultural “bridges”</a> to parents and students from these groups, fostering a sense of belonging and facilitating cultural understanding among students and colleagues.</p>
<p>Teachers from minority groups are also more likely to stay in hard-to-staff schools impacted the most during a staffing crisis. </p>
<p>For example, teachers from ethnic minorities are <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0741932517733047?journalCode=rsed">more likely</a> to teach and stay in schools with many minority students, and teachers from rural areas are more likely to teach and remain in <a href="https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/ruraleducator/vol43/iss3/1/">rural schools</a>.</p>
<p>So, how can we increase the diversity of the teaching workforce?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/552219/original/file-20231005-22-vut37x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/552219/original/file-20231005-22-vut37x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/552219/original/file-20231005-22-vut37x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552219/original/file-20231005-22-vut37x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552219/original/file-20231005-22-vut37x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552219/original/file-20231005-22-vut37x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552219/original/file-20231005-22-vut37x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552219/original/file-20231005-22-vut37x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Scholarships can help meet the costs of studying to become a teacher.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Grow-your-own programs</h2>
<p>One approach we examined in our new report is known as a “grow-your-own program”, which focus on would-be teachers already working in schools. This is where would-be teachers are given financial assistance by governments, and other support such as a mentor or study groups. Upon finishing the program, they become fully qualified teachers in their local school. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED613183.pdf">research</a> shows grow-your-own programs can increase teacher diversity and address staffing shortages. They can support people already working in hard-to-staff schools, such as teacher aides, to undertake teaching qualifications. </p>
<p>By recruiting people who already have ongoing connections with the community, grow-your-own programs produce graduates likely to take up and retain teaching positions in these communities. </p>
<p>New South Wales is currently trialling a <a href="https://education.nsw.gov.au/teach-nsw/get-paid-to-study/grow-your-own/grow-your-own---teacher-training-program">similar program</a> targeting teacher aides. The Northern Territory and Queensland also have targeted grow-your-own programs for Indigenous people.</p>
<h2>Teacher residency programs</h2>
<p>Teacher residency programs bring candidates into schools from the beginning of their training, where they are closely mentored by experienced teachers. </p>
<p>Candidates teach actively from the start while completing their teaching qualification.</p>
<p>These programs are usually focused on increasing the supply of teachers, rather than increasing diversity. </p>
<p>But since they allow people to earn an income and train at the same time, they can remove <a href="https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA256-1.html">barriers</a>, such as the costs of full-time study, for those from minority groups.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/552220/original/file-20231005-15-2tfkbs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/552220/original/file-20231005-15-2tfkbs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/552220/original/file-20231005-15-2tfkbs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552220/original/file-20231005-15-2tfkbs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552220/original/file-20231005-15-2tfkbs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552220/original/file-20231005-15-2tfkbs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552220/original/file-20231005-15-2tfkbs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/552220/original/file-20231005-15-2tfkbs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Teacher residency programs bring candidates into schools from the beginning of their training.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Targeted scholarships for teacher trainees</h2>
<p>Scholarships can help meet the costs of studying to become a teacher, and have been used for decades, although mostly without an emphasis on teacher diversity. </p>
<p>Australian departments of education already offer scholarships targeted to Indigenous secondary and university students who want to become teachers, or who are in teacher training.</p>
<p>We know these scholarships <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/10/10/262">do work</a> to support people into teaching and could be targeted to other minority groups as well. </p>
<h2>Building bridges between VET and teacher training</h2>
<p>Vocational education and training (VET) courses can be easier and cheaper to access than university courses. </p>
<p>For some students they feel like less of a cultural and financial “leap” than going to university. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.publicservicedegrees.org/college-resources/increasing-teacher-diversity/">Building pathways</a> between VET and teacher education courses can help diversify the teaching workforce. <a href="https://www.vu.edu.au/courses/graduate-certificate-in-education-eted">Victoria University</a> and Charles Darwin University offer good examples in Australia.</p>
<h2>Overcoming barriers</h2>
<p>Those wishing to become teachers in Australia already face several barriers. </p>
<p>One is a test known as the Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Teacher Education (<a href="https://teacheredtest.acer.edu.au/">LANTITE</a>), which aspiring teachers must pass. </p>
<p>While it’s important our teachers have strong literacy and numeracy skills, some people from diverse backgrounds can find tests <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1996-12938-001">threatening</a> and underperform. We need to consider whether there are alternatives that are equally valid. </p>
<p>School context and culture is also important. Encouraging a person from a minority group into teaching won’t help if the structures and cultures in the workplace don’t support them and cater for diversity. </p>
<p>School leadership, parents and students need to recognise that staff diversity strengthens the school, and support minority staff appropriately.</p>
<p>We need to make sure schools are places where diverse teachers feel valued and can flourish. </p>
<p>Policymakers and schools must recognise teacher workforce diversity is a key component of school quality.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-teachtok-is-helping-teachers-connect-with-their-students-on-tiktok-202240">How 'TeachTok' is helping teachers connect with their students on TikTok</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214564/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Suzanne Rice received funding from the Jack Keating Scholarship Fund to complete this research. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alice Garner was affiliated with the Victorian Department of Education between 2014 and 2019 when employed as a secondary school teacher. During this period she was a member of the Australian Education Union. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lorraine Graham 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’s teachers are predominantly Australian-born, female, and non-Indigenous. Most hail from middle-class backgrounds with urban upbringings, and are less likely to have disabilities.Suzanne Rice, Senior Lecturer, Education Policy and Leadership, The University of MelbourneAlice Garner, Honorary Research Fellow, Melbourne Graduate School of Education, The University of MelbourneLorraine Graham, Professor of Learning Intervention, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2092232023-07-07T02:08:18Z2023-07-07T02:08:18ZTeaching degrees are set for a major overhaul, but this is not what the profession needs<p>Last August, the federal government set up an expert panel to look at teacher education in Australia.</p>
<p>In part, this was born out of <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-new-review-into-how-teachers-are-educated-should-acknowledge-they-learn-throughout-their-careers-not-just-at-the-start-202433">education ministers’ concerns</a> about the shortage of teachers around Australia and the need to “ensure graduating teachers are better prepared for the classroom”.</p>
<p>The panel, led by Sydney University vice-chancellor Mark Scott (who also <a href="https://theconversation.com/mark-scott-appointed-chair-of-the-conversation-media-group-199768">chairs The Conversation’s board</a>), released a discussion paper in March. The final report was released on Thursday night. </p>
<p>Education Minister Jason Clare supports teachers but says they need to be “better prepared” before they enter a classroom. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Teaching is a tough and complex job and this is all about making sure they are better prepared from day one.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Teachers certainly need more support to do their jobs. But this report recommends more oversight and regulation, which will not help the profession. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-new-review-into-how-teachers-are-educated-should-acknowledge-they-learn-throughout-their-careers-not-just-at-the-start-202433">A new review into how teachers are educated should acknowledge they learn throughout their careers (not just at the start)</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What’s in the report?</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/quality-initial-teacher-education-review/resources/strong-beginnings-report-teacher-education-expert-panel">Strong Beginnings</a> report makes 14 recommendations. These include establishing “core content” for teaching degrees, or “what every teacher should know”. Universities will have to include this content in their programs if they are to retain their accreditation. </p>
<p>It recommends a new “quality assurance board” to oversee the changes, and public reporting on who universities accept into their teaching programs, whether those students stick to their studies and whether they get a job afterwards. </p>
<p>The panel also proposes “modest financial incentives” to encourage universities to make “genuine and successful efforts” to improve their teacher education programs. </p>
<p>And it recommends more structure around practical experience, mentoring and support for those who decide to decide to swap careers to teaching. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1676861330819805184"}"></div></p>
<h2>We do need improvements</h2>
<p>The panel and I agree on one thing: improvements across the education sector are needed if we are to meet the goals of the 2019 <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/alice-springs-mparntwe-education-declaration">Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration</a>. Here, all Australian education ministers agreed on a vision “for a world class education system that encourages and supports every student to be the very best they can be”. </p>
<p>But this report falls short. It continues a decades-long focus on <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13540600802037777">external regulation and mandated content</a>, while disregarding the expertise of teacher educators. It also fails to address the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/teachers-the-fall-guys-for-a-failing-system-20220623-p5avxb.html">structural and systemic issues</a> - such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-new-report-proposes-full-public-funding-for-private-schools-but-theres-a-catch-203840">inequitable resourcing</a> of schools, <a href="https://theconversation.com/this-is-like-banging-our-heads-against-the-wall-why-a-move-to-outsource-lesson-planning-has-nsw-teachers-hopping-mad-188081">excessive administrative burden</a> on teachers, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/no-wonder-no-one-wants-to-be-a-teacher-world-first-study-looks-at-65-000-news-articles-about-australian-teachers-186210">devaluing</a> of the profession - which have led to teacher shortages and falling standards. </p>
<h2>Some recommendations have merit</h2>
<p>Some recommendations have merit: boosting practical experience through system-wide placement agreements, increasing investment in practical experience, and giving professional recognition to teachers supervising education students. These proposals acknowledge graduates are shaped by the whole education system, not just content absorbed while studying.</p>
<p>Some recommendations are benign: improved mid-career pathways and flexible learning for post-graduate students from other fields makes sense, particularly given dire teacher shortages that are worsening attrition, not only among beginning teachers.</p>
<p>But the panel adopts the now all-too-familiar approach of increasing layers of regulation and telling teacher educators how to do their jobs.</p>
<h2>Mandated core content</h2>
<p>The first two recommendations mandate four areas of core content for universities to “add to” their initial teacher education programs:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>the brain and learning, or content that provides teachers with an understanding of why specific practices work</p></li>
<li><p>effective pedagogical (or teaching) practices</p></li>
<li><p>classroom management, or how to foster positive learning environments</p></li>
<li><p>responsive teaching, to ensure teachers teach in ways that are culturally and contextually appropriate.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>But this is a double up. This content is already required by the existing accreditation process. It’s also already examined by universities including through teaching performance assessments required of final year students. This was an outcome of <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/teaching-and-school-leadership/teacher-education-ministerial-advisory-group">a review of initial teacher education</a> in 2014.</p>
<p>How students learn, effective pedagogy, classroom management, and culturally and contextually responsive teaching are central to all teacher education programs in Australia.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1676770256679829505"}"></div></p>
<h2>A surprising level of detail</h2>
<p>What is most astonishing about the proposed core content is the level of detail provided by the panel, outlining what must be included in initial teacher education programs to meet new performance standards from the accreditation body, the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership. </p>
<p>Here we see a level of government input into teaching degrees which would never be tolerated for medical, nursing, law or engineering programs. The content proposed is not widely agreed in the sector, either. The emphasis on “brain science” <a href="https://www.etoncollege.com/blog/the-limits-of-the-science-of-learning/#:%7E:text=The%20greatest%20problem%20facing%20the,power%20or%20value%20of%20science">assumes a straightforward link</a> between laboratory-based scientific evidence and its practical application in the classroom.</p>
<p>The 115 submissions to the panel’s discussion paper have been made public for the first time on Friday morning. This has left little time to check the panel’s claim that “stakeholders broadly supported both the core content and formalising it [via accreditation]”. </p>
<p>However, the University of Sydney School of Education and Social Work <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/system/files/documents/submission-file/2023-07/TEEP_The%20University%20of%20Sydney%20School%20of%20Education%20and%20Social%20Work.pdf">submission</a> queries the reliability and trustworthiness of the evidence underpinning the proposed core content, expressing concern about “the way the evidence base itself was constructed”.</p>
<p>This specification of core content comes from the Australian Education Research Organisation (a government created, independent education evidence body). It has no particular expertise in research on teacher education. The approach taken is narrow and overlooks swathes of high quality research, as detailed in the University of Sydney submission.</p>
<p>What’s missed in education debates – which invariably pitch teaching practices against each other – is that what matters most is the underlying quality of the teaching. The report assumes new graduate teachers deliver poor teaching and their university education is to blame. This premise has been challenged by <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13384-023-00612-0">recent studies</a>, which show new teachers teach just as well as those with years of experience. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/our-study-found-new-teachers-perform-just-as-well-in-the-classroom-as-their-more-experienced-colleagues-200649">Our study found new teachers perform just as well in the classroom as their more experienced colleagues</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>We will need proper evaluation</h2>
<p>The new regulations recommended by the panel treat teacher educators as if they aren’t already motivated to improve the student experience and outcomes, understand and incorporate the latest educational research, or engage in good practice. The assumption seems to be that providers will not “improve” unless incentivised financially by the panel’s recommended “transition” and “excellence” funds. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1674571454023598080"}"></div></p>
<p>This is nonsense. Current systems of regulation and accountability mean providers are constantly required to demonstrate improvement. Teacher educators could in fact do more to refine their programs if not hamstrung by so much administration.</p>
<p>To be clear, I’m all for reform, having dedicated my academic career to improvements for teachers and students. But in the same way teachers need to be able to focus on teaching and learning (not paperwork), teacher educators need the time and space to do their jobs. And not be hampered by endless reviews and misguided regulation.</p>
<p>At a meeting on Thursday, state, territory and federal education ministers agreed in principle to all the report’s recommendations.</p>
<p>If this is the chosen path to improvement, then proper evaluation of these latest reform efforts is crucial. We can’t afford to arrive a few years down the track without being able to point to what did or didn’t work and why. Producing robust evidence on the impact of these reforms is essential in maintaining a focus on what really matters – better support for teachers and positive outcomes for all Australian students.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209223/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jenny Gore receives funding from the Australian Research Council, Paul Ramsay Foundation and Australian Government Department of Education. </span></em></p>A new review adopts a now all-too-familiar approach of increasing layers of regulation and telling teacher educators how to do their jobs.Jenny Gore, Laureate Professor of Education, Director Teachers and Teaching Research Centre, University of NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2059992023-05-25T20:00:40Z2023-05-25T20:00:40ZWorking with kids, being passionate about a subject, making a difference: what makes people switch careers to teaching?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527935/original/file-20230524-20-o9ad09.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C8%2C5973%2C3979&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Yan Krukau/Pexels</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Teacher shortages <a href="https://ministers.education.gov.au/clare/teacher-workforce-shortages-issues-paper">around Australia</a> mean there is an ongoing debate about how to <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-need-a-radical-rethink-of-how-to-attract-more-teachers-to-rural-schools-83298">attract</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/teachers-are-leaving-the-profession-heres-how-to-make-them-stay-52697">retain</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-new-review-into-how-teachers-are-educated-should-acknowledge-they-learn-throughout-their-careers-not-just-at-the-start-202433">educate</a> more teachers. </p>
<p>One part of the push to increase teacher numbers is encouraging people to swap their current career for a teaching role. </p>
<p>Mid-career or “career change” students are increasingly common in teacher education programs. The most recent Australian data shows as of 2017, one-third of new applicants were <a href="https://www.aitsl.edu.au/tools-resources/resource/ite-data-report-2019#Diversity-and-accessibility-of-ITE-programs-section">25 or older</a>.</p>
<p>We also know there are plenty of people interested. A 2022 <a href="https://behaviouraleconomics.pmc.gov.au/projects/incentivising-excellence-attracting-high-achieving-teaching-candidates">survey</a> by the federal government’s Behavioural Economics Team found one in three mid-career individuals was open to the idea of teaching.</p>
<p>Last August, the Albanese government set up an <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/quality-initial-teacher-education-review/teacher-education-expert-panel">expert panel</a> on teacher education, in part due to concerns about teacher shortages. Led by Sydney University vice-chancellor Mark Scott (who also <a href="https://theconversation.com/mark-scott-appointed-chair-of-the-conversation-media-group-199768">chairs The Conversation’s board</a>), the panel is due to submit a report next month. One of the key items it is looking at is how to “improve” teaching degrees to attract mid-career entrants. </p>
<p>What does the research tell us about the people who go into teaching mid-career? And what lessons does it hold for policymakers wanting them to stay in their new job? </p>
<h2>Our research</h2>
<p>Our new <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13540602.2023.2208051">research</a> reviewed studies on career-change teachers from the past two decades. </p>
<p>It examined 29 studies on career-change teachers, to identify who chooses to enter teaching, why they make the switch, and the barriers that can stop them changing careers. This international review explored the experiences of career-change teachers worldwide, including Australian, US, UK and New Zealand studies.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-new-review-into-how-teachers-are-educated-should-acknowledge-they-learn-throughout-their-careers-not-just-at-the-start-202433">A new review into how teachers are educated should acknowledge they learn throughout their careers (not just at the start)</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Who enters teaching?</h2>
<p>Career-change teachers come from many different backgrounds. We identified more than 140 prior careers. </p>
<p>There were former tradespeople, lawyers and scientists. Others had hospitality, administration or retail experience. </p>
<p>We also found people often chose teaching after experience in teacher-like roles. </p>
<p>Many previously worked in childcare, tutoring, volunteering in classrooms, coaching sports, or working with children in community organisations. Some mentioned work leadership roles such as staff training or mentoring. </p>
<p>These experiences helped career changers see they were suited to teaching. Many realised having skills such as effective communication, organisation, resilience, and being able to build relationships were useful for teaching. </p>
<p>Others chose teaching because they liked working with children or wanted to share expertise in a field they were passionate about, such as science. Several were inspired by role model teachers or had family who were teachers.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman sits with young children, experimenting with bells." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527937/original/file-20230524-19-u730x1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527937/original/file-20230524-19-u730x1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527937/original/file-20230524-19-u730x1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527937/original/file-20230524-19-u730x1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527937/original/file-20230524-19-u730x1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527937/original/file-20230524-19-u730x1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527937/original/file-20230524-19-u730x1.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">Some mid-career teachers switch becasue they have liked working with children in other jobs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ksenia Chernaya/Pexels</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What makes someone switch to teaching?</h2>
<p>Many had thought about becoming a teacher for a long time, calling it a longstanding interest or <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09589236.2019.1599502">“someday” career</a>. This desire often predated their first career choice, but life circumstances played a big role in choosing when to make the switch. </p>
<p>Some had become dissatisfied in their job because of boredom, long hours or poor conditions, or because they wanted a career that felt more meaningful. </p>
<p>Having children made teaching a more attractive option for many. Career changers felt the shorter working days, hours that aligned with children’s school, and regular holidays would allow them to better manage family responsibilities. </p>
<p>We also found global circumstances influenced the choice to teach. Some career changers chose this pathway when their jobs became unstable during industry declines, offshore outsourcing, or due to events such as the global financial crisis. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-wont-solve-the-teacher-shortage-until-we-answer-these-4-questions-203843">We won't solve the teacher shortage until we answer these 4 questions</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What does and does not support career changers?</h2>
<p>Our research also found career changers often faced challenges when choosing to teach. </p>
<p>Career-change teachers reported friends and family usually supported the idea of choosing teaching. However, in some cases when individuals were switching from high-status careers (as scientists or doctors), people questioned the change, seeing teaching as a drop. </p>
<p>Mature entrants sometimes struggled in teacher education programs, because of study costs and lack of financial support, especially during lengthy unpaid professional placements. </p>
<p>Others felt teacher education programs often lacked flexibility or didn’t recognise the unique needs, skills and experiences of mid-career students. </p>
<p>Supports such as scholarships, flexible timetables and mentoring helped them balance teaching studies with their existing life responsibilities.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-can-no-longer-justify-unpaid-labour-why-uni-students-need-to-be-paid-for-work-placements-203421">'We can no longer justify unpaid labour': why uni students need to be paid for work placements</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Expectations vs reality</h2>
<p>Once mid-career teachers made it into a job, their ideas about teaching did not always match reality. </p>
<p>Some were shocked by the high workloads, excessive administration demands, continual government-driven changes and lack of professional autonomy. </p>
<p>Indeed, many career-change teachers end up <a href="https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/the-challenge-to-retain-second-career-teachers">leaving the profession</a> early. An estimated 30-50% of all new Australian teachers leave the profession within the first five years, and for career-change teachers, this figure is estimated to be <a href="https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/the-challenge-to-retain-second-career-teachers">25% higher</a></p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A stack of paperwork in an in-tray" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527940/original/file-20230524-17-l4fgym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527940/original/file-20230524-17-l4fgym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527940/original/file-20230524-17-l4fgym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527940/original/file-20230524-17-l4fgym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527940/original/file-20230524-17-l4fgym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527940/original/file-20230524-17-l4fgym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527940/original/file-20230524-17-l4fgym.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">Mid-career teachers report being surprised by administrative work when they begin teaching.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What can we do differently?</h2>
<p>To encourage more mid-career entrants to join the teaching profession, we need to better appreciate the unique strengths and experiences they bring from their previous lives. Mid-career entrants come to schools with new ideas and enthusiasm to make a difference and share their real-world and industry experiences. </p>
<p>One option is to formally recognise extensive industry experiences or advanced subject area qualifications (such as a PhD in chemistry) these career changers bring to schools. This could be done with expedited career progression or <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0742051X19305827">specialist roles</a> within schools. </p>
<p>Schools could also offer increasingly flexible employment pathways (such as jobshare arrangements or innovative timetabling) for career changers who want to maintain industry connections. </p>
<p>This could allow for school-industry partnerships that benefit students, and let these teachers use their professional experiences to make a difference. In doing so, this crucial teaching workforce may feel they are making a positive contribution to their students and be more likely to stay.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/many-teachers-find-planning-with-colleagues-a-waste-of-time-heres-how-to-improve-it-203413">Many teachers find planning with colleagues a waste of time. Here's how to improve it</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205999/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Reece Mills receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Theresa Bourke receives funding from the ARC. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Erin Siostrom 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>Research shows plenty of people think about becoming teachers. We also know mid-career teachers’ expectations don’t match reality once they make it to the classroom.Erin Siostrom, Associate Lecturer in Science Education, University of the Sunshine CoastReece Mills, Senior Lecturer, Queensland University of TechnologyTheresa Bourke, Associate Professor and Academic Lead Research, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2034132023-04-19T20:08:29Z2023-04-19T20:08:29ZMany teachers find planning with colleagues a waste of time. Here’s how to improve it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521734/original/file-20230418-28-rpo8ir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C15%2C5184%2C3430&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Creating protected time for teachers to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00940771.2013.11461877">collaborate with colleagues</a> provides – in theory – an opportunity for teachers to improve teaching, and reduces the time they have to spend in the evenings and on weekends preparing for class. </p>
<p>Teachers now report spending an average of <a href="https://www.aitsl.edu.au/docs/default-source/atwd/national-teacher-workforce-char-report.pdf?sfvrsn=9b7fa03c_4">four hours a week</a> collaborating with colleagues.</p>
<p>But the unfortunate reality is many Australian teachers find collaborative planning a frustrating waste of time.</p>
<p>That’s a disturbing finding from two recent Grattan Institute surveys of more than 7,000 Australian principals and teachers on <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Making-time-for-great-teaching-survey-results.pdf">teacher workload</a> and <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Ending-the-lesson-lottery-Survey-Results.pdf">curriculum planning</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521205/original/file-20230417-14-x6w4qk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C17%2C5673%2C3776&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two teachers discuss work together." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521205/original/file-20230417-14-x6w4qk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C17%2C5673%2C3776&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521205/original/file-20230417-14-x6w4qk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521205/original/file-20230417-14-x6w4qk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521205/original/file-20230417-14-x6w4qk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521205/original/file-20230417-14-x6w4qk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521205/original/file-20230417-14-x6w4qk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521205/original/file-20230417-14-x6w4qk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In theory, creating protected time for teachers to collaborate with colleagues provides an opportunity to improve teaching.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/chalmers-has-a-70-billion-a-year-budget-hole-here-are-13-ways-to-fill-it-203331">Chalmers has a $70 billion a year budget hole: here are 13 ways to fill it</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What teachers told us</h2>
<p>In Grattan’s <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Making-time-for-great-teaching-how-better-government-policy-can-help-Grattan-Report.pdf">2021 survey</a> on teacher workload, nearly half of teachers (49%) said collaborative planning meetings at their school were a barrier to having enough time for effective classroom preparation.</p>
<p>These findings were replicated across the country, and were apparent in both government and non-government schools.</p>
<p>And while nine in ten teachers in Grattan’s <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Ending-the-lesson-lottery-Grattan-Report.pdf">2022 survey</a> wanted access to curriculum materials they could share with their colleagues, a majority had significant concerns about the extent to which collaborative planning time is used effectively to support this goal.</p>
<p>Teachers told us that time for collaborative planning is often derailed by other issues. </p>
<p>Fifty-five percent said they usually or always end up discussing non-instructional matters during collaborative planning meetings. </p>
<p>Only about a third said that in these meetings they “usually” or “always” consider how to revise or improve instructional materials, or discuss how to use instructional materials effectively in the classroom.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521209/original/file-20230417-14-eydi6e.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521209/original/file-20230417-14-eydi6e.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521209/original/file-20230417-14-eydi6e.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521209/original/file-20230417-14-eydi6e.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521209/original/file-20230417-14-eydi6e.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521209/original/file-20230417-14-eydi6e.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521209/original/file-20230417-14-eydi6e.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521209/original/file-20230417-14-eydi6e.PNG?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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sample size ranged from 1,129 to 1,132 because not all teachers responded to each statement. Response options included ‘never true’, ‘rarely true’, ‘sometimes true’, ‘usually true’, ‘always true’, and ‘not applicable’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">2022 Grattan survey on curriculum planning and resources.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>One secondary school teacher said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>For the dedicated and hard-working teachers, collaborative planning time simply increases their workload […] The ‘spin’ around the benefits of collaborative planning all too often does not reflect the experience.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Three-quarters of the teachers we surveyed <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Ending-the-lesson-lottery-Survey-Results.pdf">identified</a> a lack of effective leadership as a barrier to establishing shared curriculum materials at their school.</p>
<p>One teacher told us their collaborative planning meetings were unproductive because there was “nobody moderating different perspectives to ensure a middle ground is reached”. </p>
<p>Another said, “everyone has their own thoughts and there’s little vision to guide everyone in the same direction”. </p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521210/original/file-20230417-16-gtvbnn.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521210/original/file-20230417-16-gtvbnn.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521210/original/file-20230417-16-gtvbnn.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521210/original/file-20230417-16-gtvbnn.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521210/original/file-20230417-16-gtvbnn.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521210/original/file-20230417-16-gtvbnn.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521210/original/file-20230417-16-gtvbnn.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521210/original/file-20230417-16-gtvbnn.PNG?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"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Total sample size ranged from 1,168 to 1,178. Teachers were asked the question in relation to either the first lesson in their timetable, the first lesson after recess, or the first lesson after lunch.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">2022 Grattan survey on curriculum planning and resources.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<h2>How to improve things</h2>
<p>Grattan Institute’s research on curriculum planning in schools points to two concrete strategies to increase the value of collaborative planning time.</p>
<p>First, use this time to select, establish or refine shared curriculum materials as part of a whole-school approach to teaching and learning.</p>
<p>This is <a href="https://d2tic4wvo1iusb.cloudfront.net/documents/projects/Mathematical_Reasoning.pdf?v=1630926416">good for student learning</a>: well-planned curriculum materials improve opportunities for students to create deeper knowledge and stronger skills across year levels and subjects.</p>
<p>The Grattan Institute’s <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/ending-the-lesson-lottery-how-to-improve-curriculum-planning-in-schools/">research</a> suggests shared school-wide curriculum materials are also associated with increased professional agreement between teachers about what to teach and how to teach it.</p>
<p>Once established, shared curriculum materials can <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Ending-the-lesson-lottery-Survey-Results.pdf">provide</a> a stronger “common language” for teachers to engage in effective forms of professional development and deliver higher levels of teacher satisfaction with planning processes in their school.</p>
<p>Second, strengthen the leadership capacity and curriculum expertise of middle leaders, so that collaborative planning meetings are led more effectively. Without effective leadership, collaborative planning meetings often flounder.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1646483460897271808"}"></div></p>
<h2>Putting collaborative planning time to work</h2>
<p>Grattan Institute’s latest <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/how-to-implement-a-whole-school-curriculum-approach/">Guide for Principals</a> profiles five schools across Australia which are making the most of this precious time.</p>
<p>At one of the case study schools, Ballarat Clarendon College in regional Victoria, teachers have worked together to develop shared, high-quality curriculum materials across all subjects and year levels. </p>
<p>With this strong foundation in place, teaching teams collaborate in regular “phase two” meetings, which are set up to identify and share great teaching practices.</p>
<p>In the maths department, for example, teaching teams come together roughly once a fortnight to examine student results from recent assessments. If one teacher’s class has excelled, the teacher demonstrates to the group how they taught that specific point to help identify whether a particular approach – such as how they unpacked a worked example – contributed to better learning.</p>
<p>As the teaching teams identify effective strategies, the strategies are noted in the curriculum materials for the benefit of future teachers and students. </p>
<p>These are often small instructional details, such as the best questions for teachers to ask students, the specific words used to describe a process, or common student misconceptions to address.</p>
<p>As one teacher explained</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The point is to get the best teaching practice possible. When someone explains in a phase two meeting what they did, we put it in the slides for next year.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The lesson is clear. </p>
<p>Simply setting aside time for collaboration doesn’t always lead to better outcomes for teachers or students. </p>
<p>Effective collaboration requires skilful leadership and a common language. </p>
<p>A whole-school commitment to shared curriculum materials can bring these elements together and create a strong foundation for teachers to work collaboratively on what matters most: great teaching in the classroom that sets students up for learning success.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/super-has-become-a-taxpayer-funded-inheritance-scheme-for-the-rich-heres-how-to-fix-it-and-save-billions-202948">Super has become a taxpayer-funded inheritance scheme for the rich. Here's how to fix it – and save billions</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203413/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jordana Hunter is the Director of the Education Program at the Grattan Institute. The Grattan Institute has been supported in its work by government, corporates, and philanthropic gifts. A full list of supporting organisations is published at <a href="http://www.grattan.edu.au">www.grattan.edu.au</a>.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nick is an Associate at the Grattan Institute and is currently training to be a teacher at the Melbourne University's Graduate School of Education.</span></em></p>Simply setting aside time for collaboration doesn’t always lead to better outcomes for teachers or students. Effective collaboration requires skilful leadership and a common language.Jordana Hunter, School Education Program Director, Grattan InstituteNick Parkinson, Associate, Grattan InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2024332023-03-24T05:51:09Z2023-03-24T05:51:09ZA new review into how teachers are educated should acknowledge they learn throughout their careers (not just at the start)<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517323/original/file-20230324-28-bbt4nk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C5483%2C3639&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Last August, the federal government set up an expert panel to look at the continuous improvement agenda in teacher education in Australia. </p>
<p>The panel, led by Sydney University vice-chancellor Mark Scott (who also <a href="https://theconversation.com/mark-scott-appointed-chair-of-the-conversation-media-group-199768">chairs The Conversation’s board</a>), has just released a <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/quality-initial-teacher-education-review/resources/teacher-education-expert-panel-discussion-paper">discussion paper</a> that is open for consultation until April 21, ahead of a final report due in June 2023. </p>
<h2>Remind me, why does teacher education need another review?</h2>
<p>There has been a <a href="https://theconversation.com/our-study-found-new-teachers-perform-just-as-well-in-the-classroom-as-their-more-experienced-colleagues-200649">constant stream of reviews</a> into teacher education in Australia. The most recent was finalised in February 2022. Led by former federal education department secretary Lisa Paul, the review recommended an “ambitious reform agenda” to attract “high quality” students and ensure teacher education was “evidence-based and practical”. </p>
<p>The Paul review recommended “strengthening the link” between performance and funding of teaching degrees.</p>
<p>The expert panel was, in part, borne out of the Paul review as well as national concerns about teacher shortages. A key issue raised at a federal government roundtable on teacher shortages in August 2022 was the need to “ensure graduating teachers are better prepared for the classroom”. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1638668167273918464"}"></div></p>
<h2>What does the 2023 discussion paper say?</h2>
<p>The discussion paper seeks advice on four key areas: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>how to strengthen undergraduate and postgraduate “initial teacher education” programs to deliver “confident, effective, classroom-ready graduates”</p></li>
<li><p>linking the funding of graduate outcomes with the funding for higher education providers </p></li>
<li><p>improving professional experience placements in teaching degrees </p></li>
<li><p>helping more mid-career entrants into postgraduate teaching degrees.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Each section of the discussion paper is relatively comprehensive, with useful case studies and a set of discussion questions. </p>
<p>However, the four areas are considered in isolation from one another and without due regard for how they interrelate. Also missing from the review is an appreciation of how initial teacher education degrees are one part of a teacher’s professional learning journey. </p>
<p>All the elements of reform are placed at risk when the sum of the parts don’t equal a whole. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/our-study-found-new-teachers-perform-just-as-well-in-the-classroom-as-their-more-experienced-colleagues-200649">Our study found new teachers perform just as well in the classroom as their more experienced colleagues</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>We need a reality check</h2>
<p>There is significant ongoing concern about teacher shortages and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/too-many-people-drop-out-of-teaching-degrees-here-are-4-ways-to-keep-them-studying-189233">number of graduates from teaching degrees</a>. As Scott <a href="https://ministers.education.gov.au/clare/release-teacher-education-expert-panel-discussion-paper">said on Thursday</a>, “teaching is a tough job and it is increasingly demanding”. Education Minister Jason Clare has also highlighted the need to “increase [course] completion rates and deliver more classroom-ready graduates”. </p>
<p>At the same time, the <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/quality-initial-teacher-education-review">Paul review</a> found graduate teachers felt underprepared to teach reading, support diverse learners, manage challenging behaviour, work in regional settings, and engage with parents/carers. It’s important to remember these are all exceedingly complex aspects of classroom teaching – even for seasoned teachers and accomplished school leaders. </p>
<p>We need to have realistic expectations about what initial study can provide to graduate teachers. It can teach fundamental theories and provide professional experience, but teachers will need to keep adapting their skills and expanding their knowledge once they are in the classroom. </p>
<p>What works in one context with one set of participants may be less effective in another context because of another set of underlying factors. </p>
<p>This is why tailored <a href="https://www.aitsl.edu.au/docs/default-source/national-policy-framework/graduate-to-proficient.pdf?sfvrsn=e27fff3c_6">induction programs</a> and ongoing mentorship every time an early career teacher starts at a new school is crucial. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, workplace induction programs are usually only offered to teachers in full-time permanent jobs, and rarely to the army of graduate teachers who change schools on a regular basis because they are working as temporary or contract staff. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/if-australian-schools-want-to-improve-student-discipline-they-need-to-address-these-5-issues-187993">If Australian schools want to improve student discipline, they need to address these 5 issues</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Entry requirements should not shut out aspiring teachers</h2>
<p>The discussion paper focuses on increasing the numbers of First Nations students, as well as those from regional and remote communities, and low socio-economic backgrounds who become teachers – and rightly so. These groups of people are underrepresented in teaching degrees and each hold great potential to make significant contributions to the profession and to the lives of children and the community. </p>
<p>We need to be realistic about the number of prerequisites for education degrees. </p>
<p>The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership develops <a href="https://www.aitsl.edu.au/docs/default-source/national-policy-framework/accreditation-of-initial-teacher-education-programs-in-australia.pdf?sfvrsn=e87cff3c_48">accreditation standards</a> for teacher education programs. State-based regulators, such as the Queensland College of Teachers, can also add their own requirements. </p>
<p>Meeting all these components add extra burdens to aspiring teachers, and there is no evidence to suggest additional entry requirements directly impact graduate teaching quality. For example, in <a href="https://teach.qld.gov.au/become-a-teacher/steps-to-become-a-teacher/prerequisites-to-study-teaching">Queensland</a>, aspiring teachers must have successfully completed Year 12 English, mathematics and science before they can start a primary teacher education degree. </p>
<p>This is an issue given the primary teacher workforce is predominantly female, yet <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/publications/advancing-women-stem-strategy/snapshot-disparity-stem">boys outnumber girls</a> in Year 12 physics and advanced maths. This means many aspiring teachers need to do an extra science course before they start their primary teacher education degree. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A teacher and a student sitting at a desk, smiling." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517324/original/file-20230324-18-nr74wu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517324/original/file-20230324-18-nr74wu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517324/original/file-20230324-18-nr74wu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517324/original/file-20230324-18-nr74wu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517324/original/file-20230324-18-nr74wu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517324/original/file-20230324-18-nr74wu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517324/original/file-20230324-18-nr74wu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The teaching workforce needs to be more diverse, to be able to teach diverse students and communities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What about linking funding to performance?</h2>
<p>The discussion paper canvasses linking government funding for teaching degrees to a set of performance measures such as higher education providers’ capacity to attract high quality candidates from a range of backgrounds, retain those students until graduation, student satisfaction and their employment outcomes.</p>
<p>It suggests publicly reporting data about these measures and providing financial incentives. </p>
<p>We need to be very careful about any changes here and any unintended consequences such as disincentivising higher education providers from offering teacher education degrees. </p>
<p>Given there is a <a href="https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/world-teachers-day-unesco-sounds-alarm-global-teacher-shortage-crisis">worldwide shortage of teachers</a>, now is not the time to suggest a punitive response to matters of quality in initial teacher education, or to provide a multi-tier funding structure. Rather, we need more understanding of the funding and resources required to support preservice teachers to be the best they can be before they enter the classroom.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202433/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Beryl Exley works for the School of Education and Professional Studies at Griffith University. She has been the receipent of research grants to study teachers' work and teacher education. She is a director on a school board. </span></em></p>An expert panel has just released a discussion paper on reform in initial teacher education, ahead of a final report in June 2023.Beryl Exley, Professor, Griffith Institute for Educational Research, Griffith University, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2006492023-03-06T19:03:38Z2023-03-06T19:03:38ZOur study found new teachers perform just as well in the classroom as their more experienced colleagues<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512824/original/file-20230301-22-8o67ft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=81%2C11%2C7637%2C5137&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">ThisisEngineering RAEng/Unsplash </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The past four decades have seen an endless stream of reviews into teacher education. Australia has clocked up <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13540600802037777?journalCode=ctat20">more than 100 since 1979</a>. This comes amid constant concerns teachers are not adequately prepared for the classroom. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13384-023-00612-0">latest research</a>, published in the Australian Education Researcher, provides a powerful counternarrative to concerns about teacher education and early-career teachers. </p>
<p>We analysed data from two major studies over the past decade and found it did not matter if teachers had less than one year of teaching experience or had spent 25 years in the classroom – they delivered the same quality of teaching. </p>
<p>These results indicate teaching degrees are preparing new teachers to deliver quality teaching and have a positive impact in their classrooms right away. </p>
<h2>Recent reviews into teacher education</h2>
<p>The most <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/quality-initial-teacher-education-review/resources/next-steps-report-quality-initial-teacher-education-review">recent review</a> into teacher education was finalised in February 2022. Led by former federal education department secretary Lisa Paul, the review found an “ambitious reform agenda” was needed to attract “high quality” students and make sure teacher education was “evidence-based and practical”. </p>
<p>Sydney University vice-chancellor Mark Scott (who also <a href="https://theconversation.com/mark-scott-appointed-chair-of-the-conversation-media-group-199768">chairs The Conversation’s board</a>) is now leading <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/quality-initial-teacher-education-review/teacher-education-expert-panel-0">another expert panel</a>, partly in response to Paul’s review and partly due to concerns about teacher shortages. It is looking at how to “strengthen” teacher education. It is also looking at developing a “quality measure” for teaching degrees and whether funding for universities should be tied to quality. </p>
<p>In among this, we have already seen an emphasis on attracting the “<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13384-016-0221-8">best and brightest</a>” into teaching degrees and <a href="https://www.aitsl.edu.au/deliver-ite-programs/teaching-performance-assessment">increasing requirements to graduate</a>. To enter a classroom, teachers now need to have passed extra literacy and numeracy tests <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13540602.2020.1832061">on top of their degrees</a>. </p>
<p>The underlying assumption in all this government messaging and accompanying <a href="https://theconversation.com/no-wonder-no-one-wants-to-be-a-teacher-world-first-study-looks-at-65-000-news-articles-about-australian-teachers-186210">media commentary</a> is that failings in education are those of teachers and teacher educators (the academics who teach teachers). </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/no-wonder-no-one-wants-to-be-a-teacher-world-first-study-looks-at-65-000-news-articles-about-australian-teachers-186210">No wonder no one wants to be a teacher: world-first study looks at 65,000 news articles about Australian teachers</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Our research</h2>
<p>Our research used direct observation of 990 entire lessons to investigate the relationship between years of teaching experience and the quality of teaching. </p>
<p>We analysed the teaching of 512 Year 3 and 4 teachers from 260 New South Wales public schools in separate studies conducted over <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0742051X17304225?via%3Dihub">2014-15</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0742051X21000214?via%3Dihub">2019-21</a>. </p>
<p>The schools involved in the study were representative of schools across Australia, and the lessons observed included a range of subjects, with the majority in English and mathematics. Most of the teachers observed had between one and 15 years of experience, although almost a quarter of the observations were of lessons taught by teachers with 16 years’ experience or more. </p>
<h2>How we assess quality teaching</h2>
<p>We used the <a href="https://qtacademy.edu.au/what-is-the-qt-model/">Quality Teaching Model</a> as the basis for the observations. The model was developed by education academic James Ladwig and me for the NSW Department of Education in 2003. It has been the department’s <a href="https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/professional-learning/quality-teaching-rounds">framework for high-quality teaching</a> since. </p>
<p>It is based on research into the types of teaching practice that make a difference to student learning and centres on three dimensions: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>“intellectual quality” – developing deep understanding of important knowledge</p></li>
<li><p>“a quality learning environment” – ensuring positive classrooms that boost student learning, and</p></li>
<li><p>“significance” – connecting learning to students’ lives and the wider world.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Under these three dimensions are 18 elements of teaching practice that enable detailed analysis of lesson quality. Researchers coded the lessons they observed, with more than one researcher coding many of the lessons to ensure a high level of reliability.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/it-hurt-my-heart-and-my-wallet-the-unnecessary-test-stressing-teachers-before-they-even-make-it-to-the-classroom-187860">'It hurt my heart and my wallet': the unnecessary test stressing teachers before they even make it to the classroom</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Our findings</h2>
<p>We found no statistically significant differences in average teaching quality across the years of experience categories. </p>
<p>Even when we broke down the experience categories in different ways to test for accuracy, we continued to find that years of experience did not equate to differences in the quality of teaching delivered.</p>
<p>On the graph below, each dot represents the average Quality Teaching score of an observed lesson. These have been grouped in a line based on how experienced a teacher is. </p>
<p>The average lesson quality in each experience category is represented by the large black dot and the horizontal lines represent the margin of error. The average Quality Teaching score across all the experience categories falls within the same margin of error range illustrating no statistically significant difference. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Graph showing Quality Teaching (mean of 18 elements) on Y axis and categories of teaching experience from less than 1 year to more than 24 years along the X axis." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513073/original/file-20230302-16-kk77mi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513073/original/file-20230302-16-kk77mi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513073/original/file-20230302-16-kk77mi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513073/original/file-20230302-16-kk77mi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513073/original/file-20230302-16-kk77mi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513073/original/file-20230302-16-kk77mi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513073/original/file-20230302-16-kk77mi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This graph shows a teacher’s Quality Teaching score (the mean of 18 elements), compared to their experience.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why does experience appear to make no difference?</h2>
<p>Teaching quality is consistently described as the <a href="https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/support-for-schools/school-planning-support/1-high-quality-teaching">most important in-school factor</a> affecting student outcomes.</p>
<p>Our finding that newly graduated teachers deliver teaching of a similar quality to that of their more experienced peers is surprising and somewhat counterintuitive. There are at least two possible explanations for this result.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="A young woman stands in front of a whiteboard." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512825/original/file-20230301-22-mw7jgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512825/original/file-20230301-22-mw7jgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512825/original/file-20230301-22-mw7jgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512825/original/file-20230301-22-mw7jgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512825/original/file-20230301-22-mw7jgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1129&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512825/original/file-20230301-22-mw7jgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1129&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512825/original/file-20230301-22-mw7jgt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1129&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Graduate teachers may be starting their jobs more ‘classroom ready’ than policymakers assume.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Christina @ wocintechchat.com/Unsplash</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>First, the result suggests graduate teachers are entering the profession “classroom ready” because initial teacher education programs are performing far better than is typically assumed in policy and the media. </p>
<p>That is not to say improvements in teaching degrees aren’t possible or warranted, or that graduate teachers don’t face difficulties. We know <a href="https://theconversation.com/six-ways-to-support-new-teachers-to-stay-in-the-profession-106934">attrition among teachers</a> in their first five years is high and is a major contributor to teacher shortages.</p>
<p>Second, on-the-job experience is insufficient on its own to raise teaching quality. While experienced teachers make many valuable contributions through leadership and mentoring, it could be that much of the professional development they do over the course of their careers makes little difference to the quality of their teaching practice. </p>
<p>Teachers need professional development that <a href="https://d288jieqo2x7eq.cloudfront.net/e4l-guidance-reports/effective-professional-development/Effective-professional-development_Considering-a-balanced-design.pdf?v=1664331481">builds knowledge</a>, motivates them, develops their teaching techniques and helps them make ongoing changes in their classroom practice. It should be backed by rigorous evidence of a positive impact on <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0742051X17304225?via%3Dihub">teaching quality</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0742051X21000214?via%3Dihub">student outcomes</a>. </p>
<h2>Teachers and teaching</h2>
<p>Part of the problem in debates about schools and education is the relentless use of “<em>teacher</em> quality” as a proxy for understanding “<em>teaching</em> quality”. This focuses on the person rather than the practice.</p>
<p>This discourse sees teachers blamed for student performance on <a href="https://www.4bc.com.au/naplan-reveals-serious-decline-of-writing-skills-in-australian-schools/">NAPLAN</a> and <a href="https://www.acer.org/au/pisa">PISA</a> tests, rather than taking into account the systems and conditions in which they work. </p>
<p>While teaching quality might be the greatest in school factor affecting student outcomes, it’s hardly the greatest factor overall. As Education Minister Jason Clare <a href="https://ministers.education.gov.au/clare/interview-patricia-karvelas-abc-rn-breakfast">said last month</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I don’t want us to be a country where your chances in life depend on who your parents are or where you live or the colour of your skin.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>We know <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/disadvantaged-year-9-students-have-the-academic-level-of-a-year-5-child-20221111-p5bxdx.html">disadvantage</a> plays a significant role in educational outcomes. University education departments are an easy target for both governments and media. </p>
<p>Blaming them means governments do not have to try and rectify the larger <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13384-021-00460-w">societal and systemic problems</a> at play.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200649/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>Analysing two major studies, researchers found it did not matter if teachers had less than one year of experience or had spent 25 years in the classroom – they delivered the same quality of teaching.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/1892332022-08-29T20:02:52Z2022-08-29T20:02:52ZToo many people drop out of teaching degrees – here are 4 ways to keep them studying<p>Australia’s state and federal education ministers recently agreed to work on a plan to <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-great-education-ministers-agree-the-teacher-shortage-is-a-problem-but-their-new-plan-ignores-the-root-causes-188660">fix the country’s teacher shortage</a>. </p>
<p>The plan is due in December and one of <a href="https://www.jasonclare.com.au/media/portfolio-media-releases/5170-national-action-plan-on-teacher-shortage">five priority areas</a> is “strengthening initial teacher education”.</p>
<p>Initial teacher education is the university degree students undertake to become registered classroom teachers. Worried that too many students are <a href="https://www.jasonclare.com.au/media/transcripts/5167-radio-interview-with-patricia-karvelas-rn-breakfast-friday-12-august-2022">not completing</a> their teaching degrees, federal Education Minister Jason Clare has asked Sydney University vice-chancellor Professor Mark Scott to report back on the issue by the end of the year. </p>
<p>We draw on our experience as teacher educators and educational researchers to suggest four ways to help increase the pace and rate of students completing their teaching degrees. </p>
<h2>But first: what is the problem?</h2>
<p>It looks like there is no shortage of people wanting to be a teacher – at least to begin with. </p>
<p>Figures from the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership <a href="https://www.aitsl.edu.au/research/australian-teacher-workforce-data/key-metrics-dashboard">show</a> there is actually a modest increase in students signing up to initial teacher education courses. Between 2005 and 2019, numbers rose from 24,285 students to 28,694. </p>
<p>Even accounting for some natural attrition, these numbers are enough to sustain the teaching workforce. But the figures for program completion are significantly lower. </p>
<p>In 2005, 16,526 teachers graduated and in 2019 it was 16,644. We also know that while the number of students graduating from all fields of study at university <a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/quality-initial-teacher-education-review/resources/next-steps-report-quality-initial-teacher-education-review">increased</a> by 40% from 2009 to 2019, the number of students graduating from teacher education declined by 5%. </p>
<p>Why might this be so? </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1544670790775279616"}"></div></p>
<h2>1. Unreasonable testing demands</h2>
<p>LANTITE is the national Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Teacher Education. It’s a two-hour literacy test and a two-hour numeracy test, undertaken in formal exam-like conditions. All student teachers must pass both components in order to graduate. </p>
<p>There are logistical challenges with undertaking LANTITE. Opportunities to sit the test are limited to four testing windows a year, with in-person testing centres in a relatively small number of locations. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/it-hurt-my-heart-and-my-wallet-the-unnecessary-test-stressing-teachers-before-they-even-make-it-to-the-classroom-187860">'It hurt my heart and my wallet': the unnecessary test stressing teachers before they even make it to the classroom</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This forces student teachers from regional and rural areas who prefer to attend a physical test centre to bear the extra effort associated with time away from home, including travel and accommodation costs. </p>
<p>The test is in addition to other university courses and costs A$196 per attempt. Research has <a href="https://theconversation.com/it-hurt-my-heart-and-my-wallet-the-unnecessary-test-stressing-teachers-before-they-even-make-it-to-the-classroom-187860">found</a> the test is not only highly stressful, but also expensive and not an accurate indicator of teacher quality. </p>
<p>It’s time to find more convenient and less costly ways to assess student teachers’ literacy and numeracy skills. </p>
<h2>2. Costs of getting qualified</h2>
<p>Student teachers must undertake uninterrupted blocks of professional experience in schools in each year of their degree. While this is a critical part of the degree, it comes at great personal cost. </p>
<p>The intensity of the professional placement, including full days in schools and time spent in the evenings gathering resources, planning lessons and marking students’ work, means student teachers can’t do other paid work.</p>
<p>It may mean they can’t earn an income for up to six weeks at a time. On top of this, there are also travel expenses to get to school each day. They may also need to buy stationery and resources to use in their lessons. </p>
<p>A guaranteed stipend that takes into account the real costs of undertaking a teaching placement is essential.</p>
<h2>3. No guarantee of a permanent job</h2>
<p>Despite the media talk about the teacher shortage, many student teachers are unable to secure permanent employment in their preferred subjects, especially in city areas. The greatest need for teachers, and the greatest opportunity for permanent employment, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-02-25/rural-teacher-shortage-hits-new-lows/100861556">is in rural and remote areas</a>. However, it is not possible for all graduates to relocate for work.</p>
<p>Many new teachers seeking a job close to home are forced to cobble together a series of part time or short-term contracts, across a range of schools, year levels and subjects. Teaching out of their field of expertise is not unusual. </p>
<p>This means student teachers face uncertainty around their careers and the links between their studies and job prospects. High-performing student teachers need to know at the outset that there will be fair and reasonable opportunities to get a secure job close to home in their areas of expertise. </p>
<h2>4. Declining status</h2>
<p>In March 2022, when he was acting federal education minister, Stuart Robert <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/education-minister-blames-dud-teachers-for-declining-education-results-20220317-p5a5k6.html">blamed </a>
“dud public school teachers” for the decline of academic results of Australian students. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/no-wonder-no-one-wants-to-be-a-teacher-world-first-study-looks-at-65-000-news-articles-about-australian-teachers-186210">No wonder no one wants to be a teacher: world-first study looks at 65,000 news articles about Australian teachers</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Recent <a href="https://theconversation.com/no-wonder-no-one-wants-to-be-a-teacher-world-first-study-looks-at-65-000-news-articles-about-australian-teachers-186210">research</a> that looked at media reporting on teachers in Australia for the past 25 years also found “teacher bashing” to be the norm. The media also made out that teachers’ work was simple, and easy. </p>
<p>This reporting devalues the profession and weighs heavily on students when they are considering their commitment to their teaching studies (which are already costly and don’t guarantee a job close to home and in their area of expertise). </p>
<p>We need to make sure student teachers know they are doing important and complex work and that it is valued by the schools and communities where they teach.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189233/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Beryl Exley is an AITSL Accreditation Panel Chair and interstate panellist. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Donna Pendergast is a Director of AITSL and Chair of the Queensland Council of Deans of Education.</span></em></p>Two teacher educators look at how we can keep students in teaching degrees. Reimbursing them for professional placements in schools would be a start.Beryl Exley, Professor, Griffith Institute for Educational Research, Griffith University, Griffith UniversityDonna Pendergast, Professor, Griffith Institute for Educational Research, Griffith University, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1881892022-08-21T13:09:25Z2022-08-21T13:09:25ZIf I could change one thing in education: Community-school partnerships would be top priority<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479730/original/file-20220817-8128-s4twhd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C22%2C3529%2C1856&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">'Parent council meetings' need a name change to represent the wider spectrum of families and kinship invested in children and youth. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Students thrive in environments where they are seen and valued as contributing members of classroom communities. </p>
<p>A major aspect of social development in education is <a href="https://www.edutopia.org/blog/creating-an-identity-safe-classroom-becki-cohn-vargas-dorothy-steele">students’ identity formation</a>. At a very early age, students are asked <a href="https://www.dcp.edu.gov.on.ca/en/program-planning/considerations-for-program-planning/instructional-approaches">to make connections between</a> what they are learning, their lives and the world around them.</p>
<p>This is about more than just their sense of self. In classrooms, they seek to foster a <a href="http://studentexperiencenetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Structures-for-Belonging.pdf">sense of belonging</a> and acceptance within their school and community, and learn how to negotiate their place in society. </p>
<p>But what happens when learners <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-curb-anti-black-racism-in-canadian-schools-150489">don’t see themselves reflected in what is being taught or don’t feel a sense of belonging</a>? Very early on, there is disengagement and disconnection. Both can have a lasting negative impact on student achievement and well-being. </p>
<p>I am a researcher focused on African, Afro-Caribbean and Black youth and families’ schooling experiences. If I could do one thing to change elementary education in Canada, I would appeal to school staff to understand the importance of the school-family-community partnership to improve the outcomes of all students. </p>
<h2>Go together</h2>
<p>There is an African proverb that states <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/07/30/487925796/it-takes-a-village-to-determine-the-origins-of-an-african-proverb">if you want to go fast, go alone and if you want to go far, go together</a>. How a community, including a school community, prioritizes the needs of students is critical for their success. </p>
<p>When schools, families, and communities work together as partners, students benefit. <a href="http://dropoutprevention.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Family_Involvement_Makes_a_Difference_20100914.pdf">The benefits</a> include safer school environments, strengthening parenting skills, encouraging community service, improving academic skills and achieving other desired goals that benefit students.</p>
<p>So, how do we do this partnership? </p>
<h2>Learn</h2>
<p>As the late cultural theorist and educator bell hooks tells us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“When teachers teach with love, combining care, commitment, knowledge, responsibility, respect and trust, we are often <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Teaching-Community-A-Pedagogy-of-Hope/hooks/p/book/9780415968188">able to enter the classroom and go straight to the heart of the matter</a>, which is knowing what to do on any given day to create the best climate for learning.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Teachers are also learners. How effectively they learn is deeply influenced by everyday interactions between their students and themselves. </p>
<p>By taking time to learn about the students in classrooms, teachers gain a greater sense of students’ strengths and areas of need. It also means identifying any barriers that may hinder learning and participation. </p>
<p>Teachers have the opportunity to find out students’ interests, what excites them, and what is important to them and their families. <a href="https://www.edutopia.org/article/3-keys-evolving-lifelong-learner">Teachers who are lifelong learners</a> understand that <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED569110.pdf">family and community are critical</a> for the growth and development of students. </p>
<h2>Affirm student identities</h2>
<p><a href="https://etfovoice.ca/feature/culturally-relevant-and-responsive-pedagogy-early-years-its-never-too-early">Culturally relevant and responsive teaching</a> provides the framework to build learning environments that are inclusive and honour the lived experiences of learners and their families. </p>
<p>The idea of an inclusive education begins with affirming students’ identity <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-intersectionality-all-of-who-i-am-105639">and intersectionalities</a> — the whole of who they are and all facets of their lives. It centres on being concerned with what and how students learn. This simple yet transformative approach can help teachers rethink engaging students. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479742/original/file-20220817-26-k2bynl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Students standing and waiting for a bus outside." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479742/original/file-20220817-26-k2bynl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479742/original/file-20220817-26-k2bynl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479742/original/file-20220817-26-k2bynl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479742/original/file-20220817-26-k2bynl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479742/original/file-20220817-26-k2bynl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479742/original/file-20220817-26-k2bynl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479742/original/file-20220817-26-k2bynl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Teachers have the opportunity to find out what excites students, and what is important to them and their families.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Brittainy Newman)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Knowledge holders are out there</h2>
<p>All families and communities are filled with resources and knowledge holders who could support classroom learning.</p>
<p>Their contributions not only build school capacity but respond to the needs of students — especially families of Black, Indigenous and racialized students. Schools can do this by establishing rapport, integrating families’ interests into the classroom and the curriculum <a href="https://teaching.betterlesson.com/strategy/146/creating-and-implementing-a-family-partnership-plan">and then taking action with them to solve problems together</a>. </p>
<p>When teachers and school staff consider the “family” as participants in a child’s education, they must think about how definitions of family vary across time and cultural contexts. This includes recognizing caregivers such as siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and even community members as kin who often step in to care for children. </p>
<h2>Building relationships</h2>
<p>Families want to be involved and partner with school staff to ensure success for children and youth. That requires reciprocity and teachers co-ordinating relationships to build a bridge between home and school cultures. Developing such a relationship relies on interdependence, understanding and shared decision-making.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.panoramaed.com/blog/5-family-engagement-strategies">Collaborations with families</a> — especially people that are frequently positioned as passive or absent — will foster supportive and trusting relationships.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two moms seen at a table with their little boy." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479880/original/file-20220818-342-9bmlln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/479880/original/file-20220818-342-9bmlln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479880/original/file-20220818-342-9bmlln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479880/original/file-20220818-342-9bmlln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479880/original/file-20220818-342-9bmlln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479880/original/file-20220818-342-9bmlln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/479880/original/file-20220818-342-9bmlln.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">Engaging families only in one way assumes a limited picture of their realities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Reduce the barriers</h2>
<p>Families do not show up in schools the same way. Engaging them only in one way assumes a limited picture of their realities. For example, <a href="https://www.edcan.ca/articles/overcoming-barriers/">2SLGBTQ+ families</a> and <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1238333.pdf">newcomers</a> encounter barriers and discrimination. </p>
<p>How might schools make “parent council meetings” more accessible and inclusive?
Start with a name change to make these more inclusive to represent the wider spectrum of families and kinship in real-world communities. </p>
<p>Such spaces are where community members might gain a deeper understanding of what is happening within the school. Yet “parent council” meetings are often poorly attended, for various reasons — time, lack of child care, limited <a href="https://kappanonline.org/race-power-minority-parent-participation-lee/">connection to the school community, dealing with racism and discrimination, and so on</a>. </p>
<h2>Invest in outreach</h2>
<p>Learn what days, times, and methods of communication are preferred. The pandemic opened our eyes to many possibilities and creative ways to communicate. Learn what strategies work best. Schools should be willing to change. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/5-ways-school-boards-can-address-racial-injustice-181994">5 ways school boards can address racial injustice</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Ask questions and actively listen. Discuss values and develop an understanding of how experiences of racism, power and classism play out in a school setting and affect communication and interaction. </p>
<p>To get a better understanding of the school climate and the concerns of families and students, schools or boards must offer opportunities for people to share their ideas. As an example, how could <a href="https://www.waldenu.edu/online-doctoral-programs/doctor-of-education/resource/using-surveys-to-increase-parent-involvement">surveys</a>, information materials available in multiple languages and mediums and even <a href="https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/metrocenter/ejroc/services/culturally-responsive-curriculum-scorecards">a commitment to auditing curricula</a> interrogate what is maintained as normative culture in our schools?</p>
<p>Oftentimes, there is a lack of a shared vision on how to support students. But there is a greater impact on the family as a whole when family are seen as important partners in supporting the overall development of their child. </p>
<p><em>Arianna Lambert, a passionate elementary school teacher and educator, co-authored this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188189/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tanitiã Munroe 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>As a researcher focussed on African, Afro-Caribbean and Black families’ schooling experiences, I appeal to school staff to understand the importance of the school-family-community partnership.Tanitiã Munroe, PhD candidate and researcher, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1838052022-07-24T12:29:30Z2022-07-24T12:29:30ZNostalgia for childhoods of the past overlooks children’s experiences today<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475425/original/file-20220721-10583-fvh8jr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C350%2C6000%2C3637&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Feeling nostalgic isn’t proof of how things used to be. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Nostalgia made a comeback under COVID-19. In the context of enforced lockdowns, there was an increase in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01490400.2020.1773993">nostalgic activities such as watching classic films, baking and reminiscing</a> with family and friends. </p>
<p>Nostalgia can be defined as a feeling of <a href="https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/svetlana-boym/the-future-of-nostalgia/9780465007080/">longing for a better time in the past that no longer exists and may never have</a>.</p>
<p>When it isn’t excessive, nostalgia can be a productive feeling that provides a sense of <a href="https://www.michigandaily.com/statement/nostalgia-time-covid/">continuity, purpose and optimism in difficult times</a>. </p>
<p>As writer Danielle Campoamor explains, “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/28/smarter-living/coronavirus-nostalgia.html">nostalgia serves as a kind of emotional pacifier, helping us to become accustomed to a new reality</a> that is jarring, stressful and traumatic.” </p>
<p>But nostalgia can create an overly simplistic picture <a href="https://reporter.rit.edu/views/hindsight-isnt-always-2020-dark-side-nostalgia">of the past that hinders attention to the present and limits the imagination of a different future</a>. </p>
<h2>What’s the use of nostalgia?</h2>
<p>Since nostalgia often brings to mind memories of <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-new-view-of-an-old-emotion-or-how-science-is-saving-nostalgia-16658">cherished social bonds and togetherness, it may also help people cope with feelings of loneliness</a>. </p>
<p>Cultural theorist Svetlana Boym adds that nostalgia disrupts “<a href="http://monumenttotransformation.org/atlas-of-transformation/html/n/nostalgia/nostalgia-svetlana-boym.html">the irreversibility of time that plagues the human condition</a>” and offers a way of using the past to rethink the present and future.</p>
<p>For these reasons, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10463283.2022.2036005">nostalgia may be especially important for people made vulnerable by displacement, bereavement and mental health challenges</a>.</p>
<p>Some people may even experience an increased <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/09/pandemic-nostalgia-tiktok/620230/">longing for the early days of COVID-19, when lockdowns felt like a break from the rush of everyday life</a>. However, nostalgia reflects an overly positive view of this time, and centres the experiences of those more privileged or protected in society. </p>
<p>In the unfolding context of COVID-19, yearning to return to life as “normal” can also produce <a href="https://www.concordia.ca/cunews/offices/vprgs/sgs/public-scholars-21/2021/06/03/nostalgia-in-the-times-of-COVID-19.html">unrealistic expectations and feelings of impatience, frustration and fear</a>. </p>
<p>Longing for pre-pandemic times may defend against <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/11/opinion/covid-isolation-narrative.html">the many losses of COVID-19</a> and the uneven effects of illness, online learning and access to resources for <a href="HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.22329/JTL.V15I2.6714">children, young people</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/08959420.2020.1764319">adults</a>.</p>
<h2>Childhood innocence and toys</h2>
<p>Historically, nostalgia can be linked to <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/25601604">childhood and a longing to return to a fantasied state of innocence</a>. </p>
<p>Still today, in dominant popular western imagination, childhood is understood to be a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/chso.12428">time before responsibility, before problems and violence and before knowledge about loss and death</a>. </p>
<p>Play objects designed for children are, too, driven by nostalgia. As archaeologist Jane Eva Baxter suggests, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/21594937.2016.1220046">toys and playthings may say as much about adult longings for childhood</a> as they do about the children for whom they are intended.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Teddy bears." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471891/original/file-20220630-18-i93i5u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471891/original/file-20220630-18-i93i5u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471891/original/file-20220630-18-i93i5u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471891/original/file-20220630-18-i93i5u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471891/original/file-20220630-18-i93i5u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471891/original/file-20220630-18-i93i5u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471891/original/file-20220630-18-i93i5u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Toys created for children are also about adult longings for childhood.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Teachers remembering childhood</h2>
<p>Our research examines <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-teachers-remember-their-own-childhoods-affects-how-they-challenge-school-inequities-154996">how childhood memories shape the ways prospective teachers and people seeking to work with children understand their roles as future educators</a>. </p>
<p>As part of our work, we asked undergraduate students enrolled in teacher education and childhood studies programs <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14681366.2022.2063930">to select an object — a token, toy or tool — that they believed to represent childhood</a>. </p>
<p>Participants were asked to discuss their objects in focus groups. A range of objects were shared, including stuffed toys, bikes and binoculars, games and puzzles, drawings and books. </p>
<p>At first glance, there may be nothing surprising about these choices. They might also be said to <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv18phh3d">represent normative ideas about child development and the tendency to view children as precursors to productive adulthoods</a>. </p>
<p>However, participants did not simply repeat the norms represented by their objects. They often used them to describe diverse and difficult childhood experiences such as the loss of significant others, questions about gender and sexuality, times of worry, bullying or failure and <a href="https://doi.org/10.37291/2717638X.202232170">how they exercised agency in the face of rigid educational aims</a>. </p>
<h2>Pre-pandemic childhoods and tech-free toys</h2>
<p>While the respondents in our study described their own complicated experiences as children, they returned to nostalgic ideas about childhood when the topic of COVID-19 arose. </p>
<p>In these discussions, technology was a key theme. Specifically, participants emphasized the tech-free qualities of their own objects as more natural, more innocent and more joyful than the gadgets they understood to dominate children’s experiences today. </p>
<p>On the one hand, there are important reasons to be concerned about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/22041451.2016.1266124">technologies designed for children, particularly in terms of privacy, security and consent</a>. Many youth themselves have <a href="https://theconversation.com/youth-have-a-love-hate-relationship-with-tech-in-the-digital-age-109453">expressed unease about the impacts of technology in their lives</a>. </p>
<p>In the case of emergency online education, teacher education scholar Sarah Barrett further points to the role of technology in <a href="https://doi.org/10.22329/jtl.v15i2.6683">widening social inequities and the loss of classroom communities</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/classdojo-raises-concerns-about-childrens-rights-111033">ClassDojo raises concerns about children's rights</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>On the other hand, children’s creative uses of technologies may not be so different from their uses of material objects and playthings. <a href="https://theconversation.com/should-you-get-your-child-an-ai-doll-this-holiday-89115">Even as they raise uncertainties, high-tech toys can be outlets for imagination, curiosity and emotional attachment</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A pair of green children's binoculars." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471657/original/file-20220629-13-orfg4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471657/original/file-20220629-13-orfg4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471657/original/file-20220629-13-orfg4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471657/original/file-20220629-13-orfg4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471657/original/file-20220629-13-orfg4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471657/original/file-20220629-13-orfg4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471657/original/file-20220629-13-orfg4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nostalgia can obscure the complexity of current realities and historical experiences.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What nostalgia forgets</h2>
<p>The problem is that nostalgia may obscure any such debate. Longing for pre-pandemic childhoods can reinforce <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Decolonizing-Place-in-Early-Childhood-Education/Nxumalo/p/book/9781138384538">normative ideas about what counts as a “real” or “natural” childhood, even though these ideas have never included all children</a>. </p>
<p>Nostalgia may therefore overlook <a href="https://www.tcpress.com/sex-death-and-the-education-of-children-9780807776483">the experiences of children themselves, experiences that have always been affected by historic shifts, social inequities and emotional conflicts</a>, much like the participants of our study recalled. </p>
<p>Nostalgia for pre-pandemic childhoods may also forget that <a href="https://peopleforeducation.ca/our-work/towards-race-equity-in-education/">schools have never been safe spaces for everyone</a>, and particularly not for <a href="https://news.ubc.ca/2021/10/19/half-of-canadian-kids-witness-ethnic-racial-bullying-at-school-study/">racially minoritized</a>, <a href="https://www.thestar.com/life/parent/2010/12/03/many_canadian_gay_bisexual_trans_students_bullied_study.html">queer and trans children</a>. </p>
<p>Given such inequities, it is telling that a good number of minoritized children and young people have described the technological shift to online education during COVID-19 as a <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-for-some-children-online-learning-had-unexpected-benefits/">reprieve from the racist, homophobic and transphobic violence of in-person schools situations</a>.</p>
<p>Because nostalgia creates an overly positive view of the past, it may also detract attention from <a href="https://doi.org/10.22329/jtl.v15i2.6663">the need for structural changes in post-COVID recovery plans within education</a>.</p>
<h2>The good news</h2>
<p>Nostalgia is a powerful emotion that can feel like sure evidence of an idealized time in the past to which we may aim to return. </p>
<p>However, as education theorist Janet Miller suggests, it is important <a href="https://journal.jctonline.org/index.php/jct/article/view/181">“to take responsibility for any nostalgic tales we might spin in terms of simply longing for that often idealized time or place which no longer exists — or more likely, never fully did exist</a>.” </p>
<p>It might be strangely good news to recognize that nostalgia isn’t proof of how things used to be. If we can hold in mind the impossibility of nostalgia’s idealized promises, and if we can take responsibility for the nostalgic tales we do tell, then we might be able to imagine new and inclusive understandings of both childhood and education.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183805/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lisa Farley receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Debbie Sonu receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julie C. Garlen receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sandra Chang-Kredl receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and Fonds de Recherche de Québec - Société et Culture (FRQSC)</span></em></p>Childhood wasn’t more ‘innocent’ or ‘natural’ before digital technologies or the pandemic.Lisa Farley, Associate Professor, Education, York University, CanadaDebbie Sonu, Associate Professor, Curriculum and Teaching, Hunter CollegeJulie C. Garlen, Associate Professor, Childhood and Youth Studies, Carleton UniversitySandra Chang-Kredl, Associate Professor in Education, Concordia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1825972022-05-17T20:01:18Z2022-05-17T20:01:18ZKids don’t vote but teachers and parents sure do – what are the parties offering on schools?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/463502/original/file-20220517-15-umj8ik.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bianca De Marchi/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The 2022 election campaign has not exactly been a policy fest. And one critical area we have heard very little about is schools. </p>
<p>This is surprising and concerning. Not only have schools and students weathered two years of disruptions under COVID, but the sector faces serious issues, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/feb/25/report-revealing-australias-educational-decline-a-real-worry-says-birmingham">including a drop in student performance</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/higher-salaries-might-attract-teachers-but-pay-isnt-one-of-the-top-10-reasons-for-leaving-177825">teacher retention</a>, inequity particularly for marginalised groups and <a href="https://theconversation.com/education-funding-is-unfair-and-public-schools-asking-parents-to-chip-in-makes-it-worse-157144">ongoing funding issues </a> dating back a decade.</p>
<p>There <a href="https://www.afr.com/policy/health-and-education/education-goes-missing-in-election-action-20220502-p5ahu4">has been speculation</a> the Coalition is hesitant to campaign on schools because education minister, Alan Tudge is <a href="https://theconversation.com/alan-tudge-will-not-return-to-education-post-178552">currently in career limbo</a> (and has been limiting his public appearances). </p>
<p>Meanwhile, Labor’s education spokesperson, Tanya Plibersek, appeared to be <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/the-chosen-and-the-frozen-plibersek-shorten-benched-during-labor-s-campaign-20220426-p5ag5a.html">initially frozen</a> out of the campaign, although in the past couple of weeks has been more visible.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/heres-what-the-major-parties-need-to-do-about-higher-education-this-election-180855">Here's what the major parties need to do about higher education this election</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Politics aside, what are the major parties offering? </p>
<p>The Coalition, ALP, and The Greens are all pledging a similar investment in mental health and well-being services, and support for respectful classrooms, particularly regarding violence against women. The largest difference between them is an (ongoing) <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-national-history-curriculum-should-not-be-used-and-abused-as-an-election-issue-176783">ideological divide</a> when it comes to the curriculum. Meanwhile, the big issues go ignored.</p>
<h2>The Coalition</h2>
<p>The Coalition is focusing its efforts on “<a href="https://www.liberal.org.au/our-plan-raising-school-standards">raising school standards</a>” and “improving the quality of teacher training”. </p>
<p>This includes creating a one-year diploma for <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/calls-for-the-return-of-the-one-year-teaching-qualification-20210625-p584bo.html">initial teacher education</a>. Given the current demands on accreditation bodies, this might create administrative burden. It would also need schools to shoulder a greater responsibility for “on-the-job” training.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Prime Minister Scott Morrison during a school visit in Sydney in December 2021." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/463498/original/file-20220517-16-1yg8aw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/463498/original/file-20220517-16-1yg8aw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463498/original/file-20220517-16-1yg8aw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463498/original/file-20220517-16-1yg8aw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463498/original/file-20220517-16-1yg8aw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463498/original/file-20220517-16-1yg8aw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463498/original/file-20220517-16-1yg8aw.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">Prime Minister Scott Morrison during a school visit in Sydney in December 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bianca De Marchi/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Coalition also has a focus on traditional skills such as literacy, numeracy and STEM, with a clear focus on what the LNP terms “traditional classrooms”, which one can assume to be of students seated in rows with a single classroom teacher. There is an emphasis on Christian and ANZAC content and <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-phonics-and-why-is-it-important-70522">phonics</a> for reading. </p>
<p>It also includes specified teaching methods through explicit instruction, which is the teacher standing at the front providing information for students to learn rather than explore or discover.</p>
<p>They also have pledged A$61.4 million <a href="https://theconversation.com/school-chaplains-may-be-cheaper-than-psychologists-but-we-dont-have-enough-evidence-of-their-impact-148521">to continue the school chaplaincy program</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/if-only-politicians-focused-on-the-school-issues-that-matter-this-election-is-a-chance-to-get-them-to-do-that-177554">If only politicians focused on the school issues that matter. This election is a chance to get them to do that</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The Labor Party</h2>
<p>Labor’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/may/09/labor-to-announce-scholarship-plan-for-high-achieving-students-to-become-teachers">headline policy</a> is to offer students with an ATAR score over 80 up to $12,000 a year to study education. </p>
<p>This is part of the party’s bid to improve teacher standards, although it has been <a href="https://www.theeducatoronline.com/k12/news/will-cash-payments-entice-more-people-into-the-role-of-teaching/280172">criticised by experts</a> who say it implies the current teacher workforce is not up to scratch, which could be interpreted as quite insulting.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Labor leader Anthony Albanese and education spokesperson Tanya Plibersek visit Albanese's old school in Sydney." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/463499/original/file-20220517-18-f00tpl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/463499/original/file-20220517-18-f00tpl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463499/original/file-20220517-18-f00tpl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463499/original/file-20220517-18-f00tpl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463499/original/file-20220517-18-f00tpl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463499/original/file-20220517-18-f00tpl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463499/original/file-20220517-18-f00tpl.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">Labor leader Anthony Albanese and education spokesperson Tanya Plibersek visit Albanese’s old school in Sydney on day 29 of the campaign.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lukas Coch/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Like the Coalition, it also offers no significant investment or policy to address current staffing shortages or teacher workloads – this is presumably being left to the states to “fix”. </p>
<p>Labor <a href="https://www.alp.org.au/policies/your-education">has promised $440 million</a> for building upgrades, improving air quality and mental health support. The ALP also made a $6 million commitment to <a href="https://www.news.com.au/technology/online/internet/children-to-get-digital-licence-to-use-the-internet-under-labor-plan/news-story/83831f1f924c24d0a253f0a0e32fa4a2">e-safety in schools</a>. In terms of the curriculum, the ALP provide little detail - they do not detail teaching methods or content.</p>
<h2>The Greens</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://greens.org.au/platform/education#public-schools">Greens</a> have pledged $49 billion to fully fund public schools to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/still-waiting-for-gonski-a-great-book-about-the-sorry-tale-of-school-funding-178016">Gonski model</a>. At the moment, public schools are funded to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/feb/16/private-school-funding-has-increased-at-five-times-rate-of-public-schools-analysis-shows">only 90% </a>of their recommended school resource standard.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/still-waiting-for-gonski-a-great-book-about-the-sorry-tale-of-school-funding-178016">Still 'Waiting for Gonski' – a great book about the sorry tale of school funding</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Like Labor, they also promise $400 million for infrastructure, with an additional $224 million to improve air quality post COVID. </p>
<p>Uniquely, the Greens also have made a commitment to close segregated school settings, but have not costed this. Segregated settings are where particular groups of students are taught separate to mainstream students, such as schools for children with a disability. The United Nations and multiple research studies have <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02671522.2020.1849372">highlighted significant issues</a> with this segregated settings.</p>
<h2>One Nation and the United Australia Party</h2>
<p>One Nation have <a href="https://www.onenation.org.au/education">very little policy</a> detail available on education. In one paragraph, they say they want to focus more on traditional values and teaching methods. Then they say they don’t want to see “Western, white, gender, guilt” shaming in the classroom but students should be taught the benefits of a “free-thinking” society.</p>
<p>Similar to One Nation, the United Australia Party has <a href="https://www.unitedaustraliaparty.org.au/national_policy/#EDUCATION">just a few</a> sentences of education policy, which is to remove HECS debt and inject $20 billion into education, although how this money can be used is left unspecified.</p>
<h2>The bigger picture</h2>
<p>Overall, the critical issues facing education have been left to the states to deal with.</p>
<p>There is new funding available, but neither the Coalition nor Labor are offering significant change from what we are currently doing in schools.</p>
<p>Both are looking at initial teacher education and thus the quality of teachers to improve results (which is highly denigrating to current teachers and does not support the current system). </p>
<p>But much more change is required. It’s important to note that additional funding over the past decade has not changed Australia’s educational decline. Tinkering with the curriculum has also <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00220620.2021.187250">not changed the decline</a>, and neither have previous attempts to so called improve “teacher quality”.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A bucket of glue sticks and sharpened pencils on a desk." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/463505/original/file-20220517-24-34r1gs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/463505/original/file-20220517-24-34r1gs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463505/original/file-20220517-24-34r1gs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463505/original/file-20220517-24-34r1gs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463505/original/file-20220517-24-34r1gs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463505/original/file-20220517-24-34r1gs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/463505/original/file-20220517-24-34r1gs.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">Overall, the critical issues facing education have been left to the states to deal with.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Con Chronis/ AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Genuine solutions would include an increase to teacher wages, relieve administrative workloads, and allow teacher to focus on planning and teaching within reasonable time requirements and greater support to <a href="https://www.education.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/1234657/Future-Of-Education-Why-does-educational-equity-matter.pdf">disadvantaged students</a>.</p>
<p>In other words, it needs a <a href="https://www.theeducatoronline.com/k12/news/what-can-be-done-to-improve-the-state-of-australian-education-in-2022/280141">significant reappraisal</a> of the schooling system and conditions for students and staff.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/planning-kids-you-should-know-the-major-parties-parental-leave-policies-before-you-vote-181785">Planning kids? You should know the major parties' parental leave policies before you vote</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182597/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Roy has and continues to work with and consult politicians in Education across all parties, without prejudice.</span></em></p>The 2022 election campaign has not exactly been a policy fest. And one critical area we have heard very little about is schools.David Roy, Lecturer in Education, University of NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1765042022-02-22T13:43:03Z2022-02-22T13:43:03ZHow teachers enter the profession affects how long they stay on the job<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446358/original/file-20220214-103533-q5b7zd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=49%2C0%2C5472%2C3579&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Teachers with traditional certifications are more likely to continue teaching than those with alternative certifications. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/first-day-of-school-at-los-angeles-unified-school-district-news-photo/1234721743?adppopup=true">Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em></p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>Two major factors matter when it comes to predicting how long a new teacher will stay on the job – how they got certified and the kind of school where they first teach.</p>
<p>As researchers who study the job market for new teachers, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904819874754">we recently published these findings</a> based on our study of 175,664 new teachers in Texas from 2000 to 2015 in Education Policy.</p>
<p>We looked at teachers who were prepared in one of two ways: They either went to a college of education, which is the traditional route to becoming a teacher, or they got certified through an alternative certification program, which can mean they had less time in the classroom before becoming certified. Alternative certificates may be issued by universities, districts or even individual schools and typically do not require teaching degrees or traditional student teaching experiences.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A graphic that describes the probability of educator retention for four types of educators. Educators who are traditionally certified who work in charter schools have a 55.9% chance of staying in the field, but teachers with the same certifications who work in public schools have a 67.5% chance of staying. Educators with an alternative certifications working in charter schools have a 48.4% chance of staying in the field, and teachers with the same certification have a 60.6% of staying in the feild." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446563/original/file-20220215-15-1em0sjp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446563/original/file-20220215-15-1em0sjp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=617&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446563/original/file-20220215-15-1em0sjp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=617&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446563/original/file-20220215-15-1em0sjp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=617&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446563/original/file-20220215-15-1em0sjp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=775&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446563/original/file-20220215-15-1em0sjp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=775&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446563/original/file-20220215-15-1em0sjp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=775&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Teachers with traditional certifications in public schools are likely to stay in the teaching field longer than their peers with alternative certification who started out at a charter school.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sarah Guthery and Lauren P. Bailes</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We found that a traditionally certified teacher in a traditional public school has a 67.5% chance of staying in education, while a teacher who went through an alternative certification program and started out at a charter school has a 48.4% chance. </p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Retaining new teachers is critical to addressing <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED598211.pdf">teacher shortages</a>. Our study shows that thousands of people want to be teachers, but even under the best circumstances only 61.8% will still be teaching in five years. </p>
<p>Despite schools’ desperate need for new teachers, our findings suggest that teacher retention is not based just on how they are certified or the type of school where they are placed, but a combination of the two. So policymakers and teacher preparation programs must consider carefully how to set up new teachers for long-term success.</p>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>Our study calls for a closer look at other factors that may affect how long teachers stay on the job, such as school culture, leadership and overall workplace satisfaction.</p>
<p>[<em>More than 140,000 readers get one of The Conversation’s informative newsletters.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-140K">Join the list today</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176504/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Teachers who take alternative routes to being certified tend to leave their positions sooner than educators who go through colleges of education, new research shows.Sarah Guthery, Assistant Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, Texas A&M University-CommerceLauren P. Bailes, Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership, University of DelawareLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1724862021-12-05T19:12:03Z2021-12-05T19:12:03ZWe’re short of teachers, and the struggles to find training placements in schools add to the problem<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435470/original/file-20211202-17-es116s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=50%2C0%2C5608%2C3727&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Teaching graduates want “more time spent in schools”. This <a href="https://dro.deakin.edu.au/eserv/DU:30080802/walkergibbs-studyingthe-2015.pdf">research finding</a> is noted in the <a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/quality-initial-teacher-education-review/resources/quality-initial-teacher-education-review-2021-discussion-paper">discussion paper</a> of the <a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/quality-initial-teacher-education-review">teacher education review</a> announced by the federal education minister in March this year. </p>
<p>However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of pre-service teachers were unable to do any teaching placements. This <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/lockdowns-rob-student-teachers-of-classroom-training-20210909-p58q4w.html">breakdown of the placement system</a> highlighted existing weaknesses in teacher education, which now threaten future teacher supply.</p>
<p>Schools are already <a href="https://www.theeducatoronline.com/k12/news/whats-being-done-to-address-teacher-shortages/278840">short of teachers</a>. A 2021 Victorian government <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7H3DghvbQA">advertisement</a> tells us: “We’re looking for 4,000 new teachers.” New South Wales is on a <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-joy-of-teaching-plan-to-find-3700-new-teachers-to-plug-school-shortage-20211014-p5902t.html">similar search</a>. <a href="https://www.aare.edu.au/blog/?p=9732">Current shortages</a> are worrying given that prospective teachers must make up the placements lost in 2020 and 2021 before they are ready to teach. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1445902693424193536"}"></div></p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/john-hattie-why-i-support-the-education-ministers-teacher-education-review-160181">John Hattie: why I support the education minister's teacher education review</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>What is more concerning is that a three-year Australian Research Council <a href="https://researchdata.edu.au/discovery-projects-grant-id-dp170103203/944143">investigation</a>, “Teaching workforce development through integrated partnerships”, identified these problems facing teacher education before COVID hit. </p>
<p>The research project aimed to understand how schools and universities work together in teacher education. The researchers interviewed people from schools, including principals, as well as university academics, administrators and deans. </p>
<h2>What did the research find?</h2>
<p>The first significant weakness identified was that universities need teachers to do the daily work of supervising pre-service teachers. </p>
<p>The problem here is that schools must look after their own students first. Teachers’ work is demanding. For many teachers, supporting pre-service teachers is one job too many. </p>
<p>This means it is often difficult for universities to persuade schools to accept placements. A placement officer interviewed said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>You felt like the telemarketer that called people at seven o'clock at night and no one wanted to speak to you.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/exhausted-beyond-measure-what-teachers-are-saying-about-covid-19-and-the-disruption-to-education-143601">'Exhausted beyond measure': what teachers are saying about COVID-19 and the disruption to education</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The research also found that all universities employ many placement workers whose job it is to secure placements for pre-service teachers in schools. But many universities do not have enough resources to support all those they place. One university administrator said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We send students out, but we don’t send ongoing support or connection with the unit. It’s just a funding cut. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>In other universities, pre-service teachers were better supported. However, the staff who visited schools were often casual staff who had limited contact with their universities themselves.</p>
<h2>Unis and schools need to work closely together</h2>
<p>The picture is one of schools and universities having limited connection as they work to educate future teachers. It certainly does not match the goal of “seamless integration of the work of staff in the two settings” proposed in a 2014 ministerial <a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/teaching-and-school-leadership/resources/action-now-classroom-ready-teachers-report-0">review of teacher education</a>. The 2021 review agrees that school and university staff must work closely together to create strong teachers. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-education-minister-wants-graduating-teachers-to-be-classroom-ready-but-the-classroom-is-not-what-it-used-to-be-159051">The education minister wants graduating teachers to be 'classroom-ready'. But the classroom is not what it used to be</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In the ARC investigation, researchers did find examples of close partnerships between schools and universities. Lecturers set up programs designed to give their students more in-depth experience in schools than the usual placement arrangements. </p>
<p>One lecturer, for example, arranged for her pre-service teachers to assist in a school’s sports program. She wanted future teachers to see “the reality of teaching […] through the more informal, team teaching”. </p>
<p>As a result she found her pre-service teachers “increase[d] their confidence” and “the year 5/6 class teachers […][were] grateful for support in coaching their students”. She felt proud to give her pre-service teachers “genuine experiences of teaching practice”.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1369233725129711616"}"></div></p>
<p>But this useful collaboration relied on the commitment of the individual lecturer who as “instigator” felt “responsible for "massaging’ the relationships” between the school and university. She found she could not maintain the partnership once the pandemic hit. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>[Pre-service teachers] and their school partnership learning were left behind in the dust.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>A model for supporting placements</h2>
<p>A group of school principals started a partnership with a particular university because they wanted to help educate the kind of graduate they wanted to employ. This project not only survived COVID, it was also useful during that difficult time. </p>
<p>The schools remained committed to taking placement students. They included them in online teaching at a time when many schools were not prepared to do so. </p>
<p>This partnership was also distinctive in that it was supported by <a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/heppp">federal funding</a> for schools in low socieoconomic areas. This support allowed the schools and the university to set up processes that meant they communicated regularly and solved problems together. </p>
<p>People interviewed from both schools and universities agreed this close collaboration was ideal. But the research made clear these partnerships were on a small scale compared to the large placement network. </p>
<p>In 2021, one of the universities studied had placement relationships with more than 600 schools but had “integrated partnerships” with about 70 schools. </p>
<p>The large placement system was not able to do its job of securing placements during the pandemic. This is a problem if we want sufficient future teachers, let alone ones who have benefited from close links between university and school learning while completing their course. </p>
<h2>What can be done to improve the system?</h2>
<p>Governments need to work with schools to give teachers time in their workload to supervise pre-service teachers. Currently, most teachers receive a small payment for supervision, but this does not make it easier to manage the important work.</p>
<p>The ARC project showed the value of small-scale partnerships that support the larger placement system. These partnerships experiment with new practices and strengthen teacher education. </p>
<p>Adequate resources to sustain these partnerships would mean the individual work of teacher educators is not lost under pressure of circumstances.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172486/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Josephine Ryan participated in the investigation funded by the Australian Research Council "Teaching workforce development through integrated partnerships". </span></em></p>Teaching graduates must have spent time training in schools for the day they take charge of their own classes. But the past two years have laid bare the system’s failings.Josephine Ryan, English/Literacy Education Lecturer and Deputy Head, School of Education (Victoria), Australian Catholic UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1677452021-10-12T18:03:51Z2021-10-12T18:03:51Z6 actions school systems can take to support children’s outdoor learning<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/425346/original/file-20211007-21-m3ibns.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=64%2C317%2C4261%2C2957&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many teachers want to lead outdoor learning, but face barriers. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Raw Pixel)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When children step out of their traditional elementary school classroom to learn outdoors, they experience a <a href="https://www.outdoor-learning.org/Portals/0/IOL%20Documents/Research/outdoor-learning-giving-evidence-revised-final-report-nov-2015-etc-v21.pdf?ver=2017-03-16-110244-937">wide range of benefits</a>. Outdoor learning is fun, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14729670701717580">active and</a> fosters creativity and problem solving. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09500790508668328">Outdoor spaces</a> are stimulating and offer a variety of ways for children to explore different topics and pursue their own interests. Outdoor learning also teaches children to get to know and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14729679.2016.1269235">take care of their natural environment</a>. </p>
<p>During the COVID-19 pandemic, <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection/health-professionals/guidance-schools-childcare-programs.html">federal</a> and <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/education-training/k-12/covid-19-safe-schools">local governments</a> have recommended outdoor learning to support physical distancing and reduce viral transmission at school. </p>
<p>However, despite clear benefits for children and society, teachers still face many barriers when putting outdoor learning into practice. </p>
<h2>Teachers face barriers</h2>
<p>In our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/19325037.2021.1955232">recent study in Canada</a> elementary teachers emphasized they were highly motivated to take their students outdoors for learning on a regular basis. However, many felt alone in their approach to teaching and noted substantial barriers in the education system when planning outdoor learning for their students. </p>
<p>Teachers highlighted several barriers: a lack of support from the school principal; a highly structured school schedule that required students to be onsite at all times; lack of outdoor clothes for all-weather learning; parental consent procedures; a required adult-to-student ratio to leave school grounds; a lack of preparedness for teaching outdoors; and families who question the value of outdoor learning. </p>
<p>Overall, teachers said that school policy and mainstream parental views tend to regard outdoor learning as play time, and see it apart from “real school.”</p>
<p>To make outdoor learning more sustainable and to integrate it into school practices, barriers need to be removed and support needs to be in place at all levels of the education system and society. Supports need to be in place at all levels — including support from the school, the school district (board), larger governing structures, as well as from families and communities — to make outdoor learning more sustainable, and to integrate it into school practices.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/425356/original/file-20211007-18680-d9dqnb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Figure in a flower formation aiming to show three main factors that affect how a teacher can implement outdoor learning. Centre of the flower shows the teacher's motivation, skills and experience at the core, surrounded by one 'petal' representing culture and society including community and family; another petal represents educational systems (schools, larger government, school district); and a third petal represents environment (weather, topography, access to outdoor space). " src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/425356/original/file-20211007-18680-d9dqnb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/425356/original/file-20211007-18680-d9dqnb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425356/original/file-20211007-18680-d9dqnb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425356/original/file-20211007-18680-d9dqnb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425356/original/file-20211007-18680-d9dqnb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425356/original/file-20211007-18680-d9dqnb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/425356/original/file-20211007-18680-d9dqnb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Systemic model of outdoor play and learning in school shows how many factors shape how a teacher can be empowered to lead outdoor learning: Protocols and training in education systems, attitudes in culture and society, and environmental factors like access to outdoor space.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(The Human Early Learning Partnership/The University of British Columbia)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some schools and school districts have taken concrete actions that successfully support educators in teaching outdoors. These actions are important as they pave the way for regular and sustainable outdoor learning in elementary schools. Here is what schools and school districts can to do to support outdoor learning:</p>
<h2>1. Prepare teachers</h2>
<p>Many teachers have a keen interest in outdoor learning but feel unprepared for teaching outdoors. Preparing teachers for outdoor learning includes regular professional development opportunities in schools and school districts and access to a <a href="http://eepsa.org">community of educators involved in outdoor learning</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9222-9_7">Through professional development, teachers learn how to plan lessons for outdoor learning</a>. In a community of practitioners, teachers share experiences about outdoor learning, celebrate successes and support each other when they face problems. Experienced teachers act as mentors by sharing successful strategies and providing guidance for other teachers who are newer to leading lessons outdoors.</p>
<p>Ultimately, preparation for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2019.1610862">outdoor learning needs to be integrated into teacher education programs</a> to prepare teachers early in their careers when they are beginning to develop and refine their teaching routines. </p>
<h2>2. Simplify guardian consent</h2>
<p>The requirement to obtain separate guardian consent for each outdoor learning trip makes spontaneous trips outdoors unfeasible. <a href="https://www.sd35.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/Walking-Field-Trip.pdf">Several school districts now accept year-long consent forms</a> in which guardians can consent for their children to participate in neighbourhood walks at any given time during the school year. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03004279.2016.1176066">Standing consent for outdoor activities</a> in the neighbourhood is key so that teachers can plan outdoor learning freely during the school year. </p>
<h2>3. Open gear-lending libraries in schools</h2>
<p>Many children arrive at school in clothes that aren’t appropriate for outdoor learning. Schools can establish <a href="https://meganzeni.com/teaching-prep-outside/">gear lending libraries where they collect donated outdoor gear (like rubber boots, rain coats)</a> and buy necessary gear with funds allocated to support outdoor learning. Providing all children with weather-appropriate gear provides financial relief for individual families and supports equity in access to outdoor learning. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Children seen from the back walking through mud puddles." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424938/original/file-20211006-19-1rtu774.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424938/original/file-20211006-19-1rtu774.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424938/original/file-20211006-19-1rtu774.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424938/original/file-20211006-19-1rtu774.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424938/original/file-20211006-19-1rtu774.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424938/original/file-20211006-19-1rtu774.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424938/original/file-20211006-19-1rtu774.jpeg?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">Children explore puddles during an outdoor learning session.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Megan Zeni)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>4. Include support teachers</h2>
<p>School policies mandate that specific adult-to-child ratios are met when teachers leave school grounds with their students. Ratios vary depending on children’s ages and needs. Where families face few <a href="https://theconversation.com/too-busy-for-the-pta-but-working-class-parents-care-104386">socio-economic barriers in being connected with the school and attending school activities</a> — for example, where parents or guardians speak English and have flexible schedules — teachers can often rely on adult family members to volunteer as supervising adults for outdoor learning. However, expecting children’s families to participate means inequitable access to outdoor learning. </p>
<p>This challenge can be addressed by having a designated role for resource and support staff in schools to support outdoor learning. </p>
<h2>5. Allocate funding</h2>
<p>School districts need to allocate funding for outdoor learning. This includes providing resources for: a district specialist for outdoor learning who can mentor and prepare other teachers or help with grant applications; <a href="https://www.cpha.ca/loose-parts-policy">“loose parts” materials that can be combined or used alone in open-ended and creative play</a> like large blocks, pots, stackable cups, planks of wood; other materials or gear, such as for gardening or a gear-lending library; transit, if high-quality outdoor spaces aren’t accessible by foot. </p>
<p>Reliable funding is essential for creating sustainable outdoor learning practices in schools. </p>
<h2>6. Advocate for outdoor learning</h2>
<p>Many adults have no experience with outdoor learning. A common view of learning is that it takes place <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14733285.2019.1694637">in an indoor and classroom-based setting</a>. It’s important that educators, families and children who witness the successes of outdoor learning share their experiences and advocate for more.</p>
<p>Educating the public about outdoor learning changes public perception of what learning looks like in schools, and creates buy-in among families, educators and other stakeholders. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://outdoorclassroomday.com/about/">growing interest in outdoor learning</a> over the past years is promising. Some schools have questioned the traditional indoor classroom as a best format for teaching and learning and developed a school culture that prioritizes outdoor learning as a method of teaching. </p>
<p>From a societal perspective, systematic integration of outdoor learning into school practices is an effective way to <a href="https://doi.org/10.17269/s41997-020-00355-w">reduce inequities in children’s access to the outdoors</a>. <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02919/full?utm_source=researcher_app&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=RESR_MRKT_Researcher_inbound">While barriers to outdoor learning still exist in the larger education system</a>, school districts have the opportunity to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s41297-018-0055-9">pave the way for outdoor learning</a> and scale it up.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/167745/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eva Oberle receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mariana Brussoni receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Lawson Foundation, and the government of British Columbia, and salary support from the BC Children's Hospital Research Institute. She is on the leadership group for Outdoor Play Canada.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Megan Zeni is a public school teacher who also offers professional development for practicing elementary school teachers on school gardens, outdoor play, and outdoor learning. Megan Zeni is a SSHRC funded scholar in her fourth year of a PhD in curriculum studies at the University of British Columbia. She is an executive member of EEPSA (Environmental Educators Provincial Specialist Association).</span></em></p>Some school districts now accept year-long consent forms in which guardians can consent for children to participate in neighbourhood walks at any time in the school year.Eva Oberle, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education, University of British ColumbiaMariana Brussoni, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Population and Public Health, University of British ColumbiaMegan Zeni, PhD student and sessional lecturer, Faculty of Education, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1233152021-09-22T20:00:20Z2021-09-22T20:00:20ZNational Day for Truth & Reconciliation: Universities and schools must acknowledge how colonial education has reproduced anti-Indigenous racism<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422239/original/file-20210920-13-6kn5a0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C586%2C4571%2C2681&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Protesters march to Parliament Hill in Ottawa in response to the discovery of unmarked Indigenous graves at residential schools on July 1, 2021. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Patrick Doyle </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As we move towards Sept. 30, many schools and universities will be talking about observing the new <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/maple-leaf/defence/2021/07/federal-statutory-holiday-national-day-for-truth-and-reconciliation.html">National Day for Truth and Reconciliation</a>.</p>
<p>Many schools formerly observed this day as <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/kidscbc2/the-feed/what-is-orange-shirt-day">Orange Shirt Day</a> to acknowledge the intergenerational impacts of the residential schooling system — but Sept. 30 has now been declared a statutory holiday by the <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/national-day-for-truth-and-reconciliation-is-sept-30-but-some-provinces-won-t-make-it-a-stat-holiday-1.5591361">federal government in response to calls by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission</a>.</p>
<p>When it comes to all of our institutions — and educational institutions in particular — it’s critical to move far beyond a single day of remembrance.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/federal-election-canadas-next-government-should-shift-from-reconciliation-to-decolonization-and-indigenous-self-determination-166225">Federal election: Canada's next government should shift from reconciliation to decolonization and Indigenous self-determination</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>We are educational researchers who seek to understand how teacher education programs are — or aren’t — addressing <a href="https://www.edcan.ca/articles/trc-education/">truth and reconciliation education</a>. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03626784.2019.1624478">Reconciliation in education</a> begins by acknowledging how educational systems — in particular, our <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/black-indigenous-school-system-pov-1.5736154">universities</a>, <a href="https://www.fooknconversation.com/podcast/episode-31-michael-cappello/">teacher education programs</a> and <a href="https://thelinknewspaper.ca/article/fighting-systemic-anti-indigenous-racism-through-education">curricula</a> — have reproduced <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/opinion-anti-racism-canada-health-care-1.5936802">systemic anti-Indigenous racisms</a> across Canada. </p>
<p>There are many First Nations, Inuit and Métis-led <a href="https://projectofheart.ca/step-5-social-justice-action/">grassroots social justice activities</a> and <a href="https://fncaringsociety.com/7-free-ways-make-difference">campaigns that teachers can take up</a> during and after Sept. 30th. It will be important to reconsider how respecting relationships and honestly examining and sharing our histories might guide the educational work ahead of us this school year.</p>
<h2>Dismantling myths</h2>
<p>A misconception that remains about the Indian Residential School system <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/lynn-beyak-residential-school-survivors-1.4046329">is the myth</a> of its beneficial, benevolent intentions. </p>
<p>This myth that continues to be put forth <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/article-for-some-the-definition-of-settler-is-as-difficult-to-pin-down-as">by some settler Canadians</a> avoids acknowledging the intergenerational trauma stemming from residential schooling. It also denies that residential schooling was part of a larger settler colonial system. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/truth-before-reconciliation-8-ways-to-identify-and-confront-residential-school-denialism-164692">Truth before reconciliation: 8 ways to identify and confront Residential School denialism</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This settler colonial system was driven by the <a href="https://cha-shc.ca/news/canada-day-statement-the-history-of-violence-against-indigenous-peoples-fully-warrants-the-use-of-the-word-genocide-2021-06-30">expropriation of land and institutionalized genocide</a> designed, as <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/duncan-campbell-scott">Duncan Campbell Scott</a>, deputy superintendent of the Department of Indian Affairs (1913-32), stressed, to “<a href="https://www.facinghistory.org/stolen-lives-indigenous-peoples-canada-and-indian-residential-schools/historical-background/until-there-not-single-indian-canada">get rid of the Indian problem</a>.” It was a means for <a href="https://uofrpress.ca/Books/C/Clearing-the-Plains">seizing and securing land</a> for the expansion of a commonwealth empire. </p>
<p>As political commentator and journalist <a href="https://www.tvo.org/article/residential-schools-are-not-a-footnote-in-canadas-history-they-are-its-past-and-present">John McGrath</a> writes: “Residential schools were as much a part of the Canadian national project as railroads, medicare or fighting in two world wars.”</p>
<h2>‘Restorying’ settler colonial legacies</h2>
<p>Greater and specific understandings of who designed, administered and taught at these institutions is needed to help people understand the specific ways we can become more accountable to redress their harms.</p>
<p>For example, two of the authors of this story research and teach at the University of Ottawa. The <a href="https://www.omiworld.org/lemma/ottawa-university">Oblates of Mary Immaculate</a>, a Catholic order from France, founded the educational institution which later became <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/university-of-ottawa">our university</a>. The Oblates ran at <a href="https://nctr.ca/joint-statement-nctr-to-work-with-the-oblates-to-access-residential-school-records/">least 34 per cent of the Indian Residential Schools in Canada</a>, including the <a href="https://www.kamloopsthisweek.com/community/kamloops-history-the-dark-and-difficult-legacy-of-the-kamloops-indian-residential-school-1.24215330">Kamloops Residential School</a>, where the remains of <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/tk-eml%C3%BAps-te-secw%C3%A9pemc-215-children-former-kamloops-indian-residential-school-1.6043778">215 children</a> were discovered in May. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People standing on steps in front of a university building set back from a large grassy area in a black and white photo." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422241/original/file-20210920-26-13rvsfp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422241/original/file-20210920-26-13rvsfp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422241/original/file-20210920-26-13rvsfp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422241/original/file-20210920-26-13rvsfp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422241/original/file-20210920-26-13rvsfp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422241/original/file-20210920-26-13rvsfp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422241/original/file-20210920-26-13rvsfp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Grounds of the current University of Ottawa seen about 1920.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Flickr/BiblioArchives/LibraryArchives/Department of the Interior. Library and Archives Canada, PA-034331)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This past September, on the front lawns of University of Ottawa’s main building, Tabaret Hall, representatives of the Algonquin First Nations and Elder Peter Decontie lit a ceremonial fire. <a href="https://twitter.com/recteurUOpres/status/1435247554116169734/photo/1">This occasion</a> was named <em>Pinzibìwin</em> | <em>Amitié</em> | Friendship and sought to acknowledge and renew our relations for moving forward together in a good way. </p>
<p>At the University of Ottawa’s faculty of education, one way we can respond to the responsibilities we inherit to uphold the spirit of <em>Pinzibìwin</em> is by seeking to understand interconnections between the role that the Oblate religious order had in founding the University of Ottawa and in operating residential schools. More information is needed to move towards deeper understanding and accountability, particularly as we seek to educate teachers about standing in classrooms and discussing truth and reconciliation.</p>
<h2>The past is present</h2>
<p>Teachers and leaders in educational institutions must continue to question and address how teacher education programs, as well as provincial curricula, continue to be largely framed by settler <a href="https://www.edcan.ca/articles/trc-education/.">colonial worldviews, histories and perspectives</a>.</p>
<p>Normal schools were 19th-century institutions <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315411378-9/reconciling-170-years-settler-curriculum-policies-nicholas-ng-fook-mark-ingham-tylor-burrows">designed to train school teachers for the one-room schoolhouse model</a> of education. At the turn of the 20th century, <a href="https://library.ryerson.ca/asc/2013/04/feature-from-the-collections-looking-back-at-the-history-of-the-normal-school-building-part-two/">normal schools</a> participated in advancing <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/18451/pg18451-images.html">racialized narratives of settler colonial progress</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VM1J3evcEyQ">Dwayne Donald</a>, Papaschase Cree scholar at the University of Alberta, emphasizes how settler myths in curriculum continue to deny <a href="https://jcacs.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/jcacs/article/view/40492/36659">Canadian and Indigenous relationships</a> and to have “<a href="https://jcacs.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/jcacs/article/view/40492/36659">divisive and damaging</a>” effects. These settler myths, he notes, deny <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/docproject/did-i-buy-a-condo-on-stolen-land-how-purchasing-my-first-home-made-me-question-property-rights-1.6007196">Canadian and Indigenous relationships</a>. Donald urges educators to reflect on new stories that repair these “colonial divides.” </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VM1J3evcEyQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Dwayne Donald speaks about ‘forgetful curriculum’ at a University of Alberta event.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/leaked-alberta-school-curriculum-in-urgent-need-of-guidance-from-indigenous-wisdom-teachings-148611">Leaked Alberta school curriculum in urgent need of guidance from Indigenous wisdom teachings</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Each story holds power</h2>
<p>What children and youth learn at school and what teachers-to-be learn in university can provoke the kinds of thinking and feeling that will not only challenge <a href="https://settlercolonialstudies.blog/2020/11/03/settler-rhetoric-settler-denial-laura-mudde-framing-the-truth-and-reconciliation-commission-process-in-canada-a-media-analysis-of-settler-colonial-rhetoric-and-colonial-denial-2003-2016-jour/">settler denial,</a> but also facilitate new stories.</p>
<p>In preparation for this school year, more than 200 educators attended the <a href="https://education.uottawa.ca/en/news/spirit-bears-teacher-professional-learning-summer-retreat">Spirit Bear Retreat for Teacher Professional Learning</a> organized by the faculty of education at the University of Ottawa in collaboration with the <a href="https://fncaringsociety.com/welcome">First Nations Child and Family Caring Society</a>. These educators took up calls to action toward “restorying” (restoring, and creating new stories about) our past, present and future relations. </p>
<p>Reeta Koostachin, an Attawapiskat and Fort Albany First Nations member and student at the University of Ottawa, reminded participants:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I am sitting in white classrooms right now, attending university, and at the same time, I will never forget my roots. My reserve is my home, but the truth is … (in) modern Canada, I come from poverty. Many reserves are places where basic human rights are not promised, and yes, I am … proud of where I come from, and I refuse to be seen as one of the lucky ones that made it out, because I strive towards ways to improve the lives of my people back home, every day.”</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>First Nations, Inuit and Métis-led learning</h2>
<p>Teachers, schools and educators can draw on many resources as they aspire towards ongoing, daily commitments towards a shared future. </p>
<p>These include <a href="https://nctr.ca/education/trw/">Truth and Reconciliation Week</a>, various <a href="https://www.orangeshirtday.org/ontario.html">Orange Shirt Day events</a>, the <a href="https://projectofheartontario.ca/trc-guides/">Project of Heart Curriculum guides</a> for grades 6, 8 and 10. In Ottawa, people can learn more about the upcoming <a href="https://beechwoodottawa.ca/en/foundation/events/national-day-truth-and-reconciliation-and-orange-shirt-day-beechwood">National Day for Truth and Reconciliation</a> at Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa, and the <a href="http://remember-me-september-30.org/">Remember Me Ceremony, Spiritwalk and Performance</a>.</p>
<p>Let’s commit to <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-interest-cdn-indigenous-history-1.6136104">reimagining</a>, restorying and renewing our past, present and future relations. </p>
<p><em>If you are an Indian Residential School survivor, or have been affected by the residential school system and need help, you can contact the 24-hour Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line: 1-866-925-4419</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123315/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lisa Howell receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicholas Ng-A-Fook receives funding from SSHRC.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kiera Brant-Birioukov 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>It is important for people who are part of educational institutions to honour the year-round significance of the new National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30.Lisa Howell, PhD Candidate, part-time professor, Faculty of Education, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaKiera Brant-Birioukov, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education, York University, CanadaNicholas Ng-A-Fook, Professor of Curriculum Studies, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1083052021-07-12T18:18:49Z2021-07-12T18:18:49ZReconciliation and Residential Schools: Canadians need new stories to face a future better than what we inherited<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410481/original/file-20210708-15-r4tzl7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C44%2C4904%2C3208&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An upside down maple leaf is tucked behind a plaque as people gather on Parliament Hill in Ottawa at a rally to honour the lives lost to residential schools and demand justice for Indigenous peoples, on Canada Day, July 1, 2021. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Indigenous leaders have advised Canadians to <a href="https://twitter.com/perrybellegarde/status/1410294015069757451">brace themselves for findings of more unmarked graves of children</a> on the sites of former Indian Residential Schools.</p>
<p>Speaking of the residential school legacies, Murray Sinclair, chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, has said: “<a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2021/06/30/self-educating-and-speaking-out-essential-for-reconciliation-indigenous-lecturer-says.html">Education got us into this mess and education will get us out</a>.”</p>
<p>To move forward in a positive way requires Canadians to acknowledge <a href="https://theconversation.com/egerton-ryerson-racist-philosophy-of-residential-schools-also-shaped-public-education-143039">how schooling Indigenous people and settlers has advanced colonization</a>. The problem is, too often, <a href="https://theconversation.com/canadas-mmiwg-report-spurs-debate-on-the-shifting-definitions-of-genocide-118324">a refusal to know</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-many-canadians-dont-seem-to-care-about-the-lasting-effects-of-residential-schools-161968">Why many Canadians don’t seem to care about the lasting effects of residential schools</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Any honest historical <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/14/canada-systemic-racism-history">examination of contemporary relations</a> will challenge many Canadians’ cherished myths about our country, including the belief that Canada is a meritocracy with improving Indigenous-settler <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/23/anti-asian-racism-reaches-crisis-point-in-canada-advocates-say">and race relations</a>.</p>
<p>It also challenges the idea that all or most of those representing Canadians in government have the desire, power and commitment to solve inequities. </p>
<p>As a scholar concerned with how <a href="https://doi.org/10.3138/9781442619241">teachers’ own education shapes what happens in classrooms</a> and how <a href="https://www.teachers.ab.ca/SiteCollectionDocuments/ATA/Publications/Research/COOR-101-16%20Next%20Acts%20Monograph_2018-08.pdf">curriculum in Alberta schools</a> can help students to be ethically engaged treaty partners, there are two concepts that may be helpful: considering learning in schools as a process of encounter and thinking about people’s relationships to stories about the past. </p>
<h2>Learning is an encounter</h2>
<p>The possibilities of what students learn at school are shaped by how teachers understand what they are doing.</p>
<p>Whether teachers learn to deliver curriculum as just a body of facts, attitudes and skills or whether they see themselves providing students opportunities to encounter new possibilities matters enormously. </p>
<p>For teachers, approaching curriculum as an encounter means looking at the ways in which students at any age have already learned much about making sense of life, their country and themselves in relation to others. What they take for granted as common sense is itself a historical legacy that requires explicit study. </p>
<p>To recognize is to “re-cognize”: to bring into consciousness so as to know again. </p>
<p>Understanding teaching an encounter asks educators to not only engage their students to “re-cognize” what they have been formally taught — but also what they have informally learned. </p>
<p>For example, students have been subject to imagined but powerful social ideas related to ideal or acceptable forms of sexuality, gender and racialization. We need look no further than examples of hateful slurs on bathroom stall walls or uttered in schoolyards to know that these powerful and dehumanizing ideas persist and require explicit attention.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/anti-black-racism-is-not-a-consensual-schoolyard-fight-160134">Anti-Black racism is not a 'consensual schoolyard fight'</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A worker cleans a rainbow path on the ground that has been vandalized." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410480/original/file-20210708-23-1qnlivr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/410480/original/file-20210708-23-1qnlivr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410480/original/file-20210708-23-1qnlivr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410480/original/file-20210708-23-1qnlivr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410480/original/file-20210708-23-1qnlivr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410480/original/file-20210708-23-1qnlivr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/410480/original/file-20210708-23-1qnlivr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A city worker cleans a rainbow pathway in Airdrie, Alta., that appears to have been tarred and feathered, in 2020. A Pride organization said it would paint over vandalism as many times as necessary.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Airdrie Pride Society-Candice Kutyn</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Tensions with preparing teachers</h2>
<p>I conducted a study with five university social studies teacher instructors about how to prepare new teachers to engage the inclusion of Indigenous and francophone perspectives in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10476210903254083">Alberta’s (then new) current program of social studies</a>. One finding from that study was the need to get better at equipping teachers and students to navigate discomfort and apprehension.</p>
<p>In teacher education, classrooms and beyond, what is needed is a cultural shift to valuing being <a href="https://btlbooks.com/book/unsettling-canada">“unsettled”</a> by the unpleasant facts both of our historical and on-going relationships. </p>
<p>Educational institutions need to find ways to support students in understanding how we might forge our personal and collective identities ethically, responsive to all those with whom we are in treaty relations. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two jingle dancers dance at a public square under advertisemennts and an ad for Team Canada." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409757/original/file-20210705-126293-1pomrpw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C336%2C5768%2C3091&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/409757/original/file-20210705-126293-1pomrpw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409757/original/file-20210705-126293-1pomrpw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409757/original/file-20210705-126293-1pomrpw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409757/original/file-20210705-126293-1pomrpw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409757/original/file-20210705-126293-1pomrpw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/409757/original/file-20210705-126293-1pomrpw.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">Dancers perform a Jingle Dance during a Cancel Canada Day rally in Toronto.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Easily digestable stories</h2>
<p>The German scholar Jorn Rüsen argues that the <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/25618580?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">ability to perceive moral obligations in the present is related to how we position ourselves in relationship to inherited stories from or about the past</a>. He says our capacities to change our current moral course of action hinges on this and he speaks of “narrative competence.” I take this to mean the extent to which a person can learn useful lessons from a variety of stories about the past to think creatively about present and possible futures.</p>
<p>But the big stories about “our” origins as members of nation-states — <a href="https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/the-postmodern-condition">what the theorist Jean-François Lyotard called “grand narratives”</a> — work against narrative competence. These grand narratives are <a href="http://thenhier.ca/en/node/752.html">easily digestible stories around which an imaginary “we” can unite through the exclusion of others “not us.”</a></p>
<p>Two problems grand narratives present is that they oversimplify the complexity of the past and present, and contribute to narrow national identifications about who has and has not contributed to the building of the country. As a powerful cultural story template and meme, Canada’s grand narratives get retold in textbooks, heritage minutes and movies with an occasional addition of women, Indigenous and racialized people, immigrants or workers being added for flavour.</p>
<h2>The power of stories to shape us</h2>
<p>Researchers concerned with how people are understanding the call to truth, justice and reconciliation <a href="https://arpbooks.org/Books/S/Storying-Violence">and what blocks it talk about “story-ing” — the process through which people understand their lives through the stories they are told and tell</a>. It is my hope that non-Indigenous scholars continue to learn from Indigenous scholars and story tellers like <a href="https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/the-truth-about-stories">Thomas King</a> and <a href="https://www.canadianscholars.ca/authors/lee-maracle">Lee Maracle</a> amongst many others in our local communities.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/leaked-alberta-school-curriculum-in-urgent-need-of-guidance-from-indigenous-wisdom-teachings-148611">Leaked Alberta school curriculum in urgent need of guidance from Indigenous wisdom teachings</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Canadians now need to acknowledge the power of stories to shape how people relate to each other, our non-human relatives, to the past, the nation and the world. And we need to ask whether we have the right stories to thrive well together in the face of present and future collective challenges.</p>
<p>The histories we tell each other must start with questions about justice and who we wish to collectively become. We need education that engages with our stereotypes and educated apprehensions so as to “re-story” a future better than that we have inherited. </p>
<p><em>If you are an Indian Residential School survivor, or have been affected by the residential school system and need help, you can contact the 24-hour Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line: 1-866-925-4419.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/108305/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kent den Heyer 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>Considering our relationships to stories about the past and looking at learning as a process of encounter can help Canadians to become better treaty partners.Kent den Heyer, Professor of Secondary Education, Faculty of Education, University of AlbertaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1625242021-06-17T13:18:38Z2021-06-17T13:18:38ZWhy the push to overhaul teacher training in Kenya is a bad idea<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405927/original/file-20210611-17-gpgiex.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Kenyan teacher Ayub Mohamed giving a lesson in the Nairobi suburb of Eastleigh.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tony Karumba/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Kenya is in the fourth year of implementing a <a href="https://nation.africa/kenya/news/education/education-your-cbc-queries-answered-3286928?view=htmlamp">new competence-based curriculum</a> for all levels of schooling. The new curriculum seeks to develop student competencies including mastery of content, critical thinking and complex problem-solving. </p>
<p>This new curriculum is the third topdown overhaul of the country’s education system since Kenya’s independence in 1963. The previous curriculum was deemed too <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1745499917711550">academic and examination-oriented</a>. It was deficient in hands-on, experiential learning, and practical experimentation to allow for competence. </p>
<p>The goals of the new curriculum are worthwhile. But a controversial government <a href="https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/education/article/2001414062/tsc-plans-to-hit-education-graduates-hard">proposal to radically change teacher training</a> is unwarranted. Under new guidelines by the Teachers’ Service Commission – the government agency which administers public school teachers – the Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) teacher training degree is to be abolished. </p>
<p>This degree, in place for the past 50 years, emphasises the mastery of teaching (pedagogical) skills during training. The teacher candidates simultaneously take courses in education courses as well as in content areas during their entire undergraduate studies. </p>
<p>The approach being proposed is identical to the one <a href="http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke/handle/11295/89063">abandoned</a> in 1970. Under this model – which emphasised subject matter expertise – prospective teachers enrolled in regular arts or sciences degree lasting three years. This would be followed by a one-year post-graduate education diploma, completing a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science (Education Option). </p>
<p>The diploma covered educational courses in pedagogy, curriculum, foundations, and management. </p>
<p>In some countries like the US and UK, both approaches are common depending on the institution attended. India and Nigeria, like Kenya, adhere to the Bachelor of Education model only. </p>
<p>Kenya’s official support for change has met a <a href="https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/opinion/article/2001415003/bed-programme-best-for-kenyas-education-syste">forecul defence</a> of the existing programme. But, in fairness, research is inconclusive on whether student learning is enhanced by the development of teachers’ theoretical professional knowledge or subject matter expertise. </p>
<p>As such it isn’t definitive which is the best approach for teachers to get their initial training (called pre-service training). Given student learning outcomes aren’t determined by what type of pre-service training teachers get, it is my view that the new teacher training policy initiative isn’t driven by research evidence. Rather, it is informed by political calculations. The public teachers’ commission is seeking to project a reformist stance because it wants to be seen to be contributing to the new education system. </p>
<p>There is an alternative. Rather than overhauling the existing pre-service teacher training programmes, the commission should pursue a staff development programme for teachers that would focus on collaboration, active learning and problem-solving of complex issues in the new curriculum. </p>
<p>Just as important, university curricula and how they’re implemented should remain the preserve of the academic institutions. This control would ensure that academic programmes are grounded in the best knowledge available. And it would ensure courses were free of short-term political considerations.</p>
<h2>Back to the future?</h2>
<p>The Bachelor of Education programme, offered under arts or science, is the most widely offered degree in Kenya’s universities. Some 56 of the 74 public and private universities – equivalent to 76% – <a href="https://nation.africa/kenya/blogs-opinion/editorials/tsc-s-education-proposal-has-many-grey-areas-3423350">offer the course</a>. The popularity of the programme emanates not only from the ease of mounting the programmes but also the good employment prospects, captured in <a href="https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/education/article/2001371384/kenya-short-of-50000-teachers-says-state">teacher shortage </a> surveys. The degree was launched at the then Kenyatta University College in 1970. </p>
<p>Prior to this, prospective teachers completed undergraduate studies in the content teaching areas (either arts or science). This was followed by a one-year postgraduate diploma in professional educational studies. Offered at the University of Nairobi, it stressed the mastery of teaching content over pedagogical skills as a basis for effective student learning outcomes.</p>
<p>But by the late 1960s, teacher graduates from the university were <a href="http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke/handle/11295/89063">being rated below</a> the exemplary teaching records of teachers from two institutions – Kenyatta University College (arts) and the Kenya Science Teachers College (science). The <a href="http://erepository.uonbi.ac.ke/handle/11295/89063">perceived reason</a> was the focus on teacher pedagogical skills rather than content mastery at the two institutions. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, graduates of the two diploma-awarding institution could only teach junior high school. Only degree holders were entitled to teach the rest of the high school classes. This precipitated the introduction of the Bachelor of Education degree which has remained in place for 50 years.</p>
<p>The real issue isn’t about whether there is a focus on content mastery or on pedagogical skills. The problem is that many of Kenya’s teachers <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2158244011434102">fail to excel in teaching</a> mainly because the pre-service training is disjointed and fragmented. Teacher education scholar Deborah Loewenberg Ball has observed that teacher candidates in universities take standalone professional and subject matter courses with <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022487100051003013">minimal opportunities for integrating this knowledge</a> in the context of their work. Such integration, according to Ball, is a complicated task, yet it is assumed teachers achieve it in the course of their work. </p>
<p>Some will, most won’t.</p>
<p>Content mastery, on the other hand, is important yet there’s little research to demonstrate the connection between this mastery to students’ learning outcomes. As the Ball rightly <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022487100051003013">observes</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>what is measured as “content knowledge” (often teachers’ course attainment) is a poor proxy for subject matter understanding. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Furthermore, she argues, many teachers with content mastery lack sufficient understanding of how to hear students, select good learning tasks, or help students learn.</p>
<p>Equally, the benefits of excessive focus on pedagogy, or the method and practice of teaching, are uncertain. Though it elevates teachers’ practice and may improve students’ learning outcomes, research has <a href="https://www.education.uw.edu/ctp/sites/default/files/ctpmail/PDFs/TeacherPrep-WFFM-02-2001.pdf">not identified</a> which aspects of pedagogy contribute to this. </p>
<p>Therefore, a hodgepodge of education courses is offered without a clear justification of their effectiveness in teacher preparation. </p>
<p>What has been <a href="https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/effective-teacher-professional-development-report">found to be effective</a> and helped in teacher retention is consistent in-service professional development activities. </p>
<h2>Next steps</h2>
<p>What the government should focus on is providing school or site-based in-service professional development to improve student learning outcomes.</p>
<p>It would enable teachers to learn and refine pedagogies in context, it would be content-focused, incorporate active learning, use models of effective practice, and support collaboration between teachers and school administrators. </p>
<p>This cannot be achieved in any pre-service training. This because opportunities for such collaboration and practical sharing of experience are unavailable in universities and colleges.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162524/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ishmael Munene does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>What Kenya should focus on is providing in-service professional development to improve student learning outcomes.Ishmael Munene, Professor of Research, Foundations & Higher Education, Northern Arizona UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/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/1590512021-04-20T06:45:58Z2021-04-20T06:45:58ZThe education minister wants graduating teachers to be ‘classroom-ready’. But the classroom is not what it used to be<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395932/original/file-20210420-23-kx00li.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/pretty-stylish-schoolgirl-studying-homework-math-1938096421">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Federal Education Minister Alan Tudge has <a href="https://ministers.dese.gov.au/tudge/initial-teacher-education-review-launched">launched a six-month review</a> into teacher education. The aim is to return Australian students to the top of international rankings in reading, maths and science by 2030. </p>
<p>In the 2019 round of the OECD’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/aussie-students-are-a-year-behind-students-10-years-ago-in-science-maths-and-reading-127013">Programme for International Student Assessment</a> (PISA), 41% of Australian 15 year olds failed to meet the minimum national standards in reading – up from 31% in 2000. In maths and science, Australian students trailed students in 23 and 12 countries respectively, including Singapore, Poland and Canada.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/aussie-students-are-a-year-behind-students-10-years-ago-in-science-maths-and-reading-127013">Aussie students are a year behind students 10 years ago in science, maths and reading</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The ministerial press release for the initial teacher review said teacher education was the most critical element towards lifting our international standards. The review will address two key questions: how to attract and select high-quality candidates into teaching, and how to prepare them to become effective teachers.</p>
<p>The education minister said “many teachers are still graduating from their courses insufficiently prepared to teach in a classroom”. </p>
<p>But what do we mean by classroom readiness? Our education system, and those who work in it, need to be ready not just for classroom teaching, but also for disruption. </p>
<h2>The changing classroom</h2>
<p>The currently announced review echoes a 2014 report from the the Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group, <a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/teaching-and-school-leadership/teacher-education-ministerial-advisory-group">Action Now: Classroom Ready Teachers</a>. This recommended for schools, universities and education systems to work together as partners to prepare “classroom-ready” teachers.</p>
<p>We <a href="https://dataportal.arc.gov.au/NCGP/Web/Grant/Grant/DP170103203">investigated the effects</a> of the implementation of these 2014 reforms. We interviewed teachers, academics and leaders in schools and universities to help us understand the partnerships recommended in the report.</p>
<p>Our data shows teachers and leaders in education need to be ready not only for classrooms, but also for disruption and catastrophe. </p>
<p>In announcing the launch of the current review, Minister Tudge acknowledged that last year, in particular, had shown us the importance of teachers. </p>
<p>Teachers were challenged to make informed decisions and be as effective as possible during a period of disruption. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395937/original/file-20210420-17-1shepqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A 'school closed' sign hangs on school gates." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395937/original/file-20210420-17-1shepqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395937/original/file-20210420-17-1shepqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395937/original/file-20210420-17-1shepqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395937/original/file-20210420-17-1shepqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395937/original/file-20210420-17-1shepqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395937/original/file-20210420-17-1shepqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395937/original/file-20210420-17-1shepqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The traditional classroom all but disappeared in 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/school-closed-sign-protective-mask-hanging-1678762111">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Teachers stepped up to the challenges of supporting school students learning from home. But pre-service teachers — those undertaking the initial education courses Tudge wants to review – couldn’t demonstrate how “classroom-ready” they were. That’s because no classrooms operated and, as the university deans noticed, school leaders and teachers did not count pre-service teachers as “priority work”.</p>
<p>The work that had been done to build partnerships between schools, universities and education systems to prepare pre-service teachers for the classroom – as recommended by the 2014 report – fell over when schools had to deny them professional placements. </p>
<p>This created a crisis of teacher supply. Every year <a href="https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/school/teachers/profdev/careers/,k%20TSDR-2018-final-report.pdf">Victoria requires</a> around 5,000 teaching graduates to move into the teaching profession to meet workforce needs across the state, Catholic and independent school systems. But internal university data in 2020 suggested Victoria would be lucky to have even 1,500 graduates.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/exhausted-beyond-measure-what-teachers-are-saying-about-covid-19-and-the-disruption-to-education-143601">'Exhausted beyond measure': what teachers are saying about COVID-19 and the disruption to education</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The 2014 reports’ recommendations were implemented, but they became impossible to operate when catastrophe struck. This example shows school closures didn’t just affect classrooms but all parts of the education system — teacher education programs, teacher recruitment and supply of teachers to schools in 2021.</p>
<h2>It’s an uncertain world</h2>
<p>The start of a global pandemic may never happen again in the same way as it did in 2020. But last year also presented mega fires and floods — environmental as well as health scares — and the world is still struggling for control in 2021. Those events affected industries, driving unemployment up and increasing government welfare spending.</p>
<p>In a world that is integrated globally, with continuing evidence of climate consequences, it seems risky to revert to business as usual. </p>
<p>For kids to have jobs of the future, teachers and leaders working in schools and university need to problem-solve when disruption hits. When routine work is impossible, professionals must be confident they can adapt.</p>
<p>Australians need to know how to live in uncertain times, which means teachers must also learn to teach and lead in unexpected circumstances.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159051/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Terri Seddon receives funding from Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joanna Barbousas is affiliated with the Victorian Institute of Teachers as a Board Member and previously the President of the Victorian Council of Deans of Education and a board member of the Australian Council of Deans of Education. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ben Arnold does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>During 2020, we saw the traditional classroom all but disappear. We can expect education to face other types of disruption. In an uncertain future, teachers need more than classroom-readiness.Terri Seddon, Professor of Education, La Trobe UniversityBen Arnold, Postdoctoral Researcher, Deakin UniversityJoanna Barbousas, Professor, Dean of Education, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1463192020-09-23T19:59:04Z2020-09-23T19:59:04ZIf we want brilliant English, history or geography teachers, why are we making humanities courses so costly?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358519/original/file-20200917-22-6vpod8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C7%2C5194%2C3444&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The government’s university funding reform package passed the lower house in early September and will pass the Senate if the Coalition succeeds in garnering enough <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/sep/14/university-funding-changes-centre-alliance-signals-it-may-back-coalition-bill">crossbench support</a>.</p>
<p>The plan would see fees for some humanities degrees <a href="https://theconversation.com/fee-cuts-for-nursing-and-teaching-but-big-hikes-for-law-and-humanities-in-package-expanding-university-places-141064">rise by as much as 113%</a>, while fees for courses in fields such as teaching, nursing and STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) would drop.</p>
<p>Education Minister Dan Tehan has said the bill aims to create more “job-ready” graduates, including teachers. But undergraduate education only degrees aren’t the only way to create brilliant teachers.</p>
<p>There’s no doubt <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/education/australia-facing-urgent-maths-teacher-shortage-after-30-years-of-inaction-20190508-p51l5l.html">demand is high</a> for teachers with expertise in STEM subjects such as maths. But students also deserve expert English, history, civics or geography teachers too. Perhaps your favourite teacher at school did an arts or humanities degree, especially if they taught in one of those subjects.</p>
<p>An under-discussed aspect of the government’s proposal is it risks pushing many would-be teachers in these fields away from undergraduate humanities training, potentially at the expense of their future students. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-degree-cost-increases-will-hit-women-hardest-141614">Why degree cost increases will hit women hardest</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Producing excellent teachers</h2>
<p>We all know what makes a great teacher — someone who loves what they are teaching (their discipline) and is passionate about engaging students.</p>
<p><a href="https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/what-does-a-great-teacher-look-like">Research</a> from the University of Melbourne suggests there is rich relationship between the teacher as a person and their teaching practice, which includes their subject knowledge. The attributes of effective teachers include personality, cognitive capability, self-efficacy (belief in one’s ability to get the job done), communication style, motivation, cultural competence and self-reflection, the researchers found. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358560/original/file-20200917-14-1450d2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A teacher gestures to the whiteboard in her classroom." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358560/original/file-20200917-14-1450d2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358560/original/file-20200917-14-1450d2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358560/original/file-20200917-14-1450d2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358560/original/file-20200917-14-1450d2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358560/original/file-20200917-14-1450d2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358560/original/file-20200917-14-1450d2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358560/original/file-20200917-14-1450d2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Passion for the subject matter is a crucial element of teaching excellence.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But as anyone who has met a brilliant teacher can tell you, passion for the subject matter is also crucial.</p>
<p>If we want teachers (particularly secondary teachers) to know and love their subject, and we want brilliant English, history or civics teachers, why make it so costly for them to gain deep background knowledge in the disciplines they’re destined to teach?</p>
<h2>What do teachers study at university?</h2>
<p>There are commonly multiple routes into teacher education: one via a dedicated Initial Teacher Education (ITE) degree (typically a Bachelor of Education) and another via a postgraduate ITE degree (typically Masters of Teaching). However, a double degree, one that invites depth in both subject matter and educational expertise, is becoming increasing popular. </p>
<p><a href="https://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=tll_misc">Research</a> published in 2011 by the Australian Council of Educational Research said</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Overall about 29% of primary teachers hold a qualification in a field other than Education, as do about 57% of secondary teachers […] The difference between primary and secondary proportions is mainly due to the fact that secondary teachers are more likely to complete a degree in an area like Arts or Science before undertaking a graduate qualification in Education. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>In other words, many current teachers have arts degrees and current students are reaping the benefit of this in-depth knowledge.</p>
<p>In the almost 50 countries that contributed data to the <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/talis-2018-results-volume-i_1d0bc92a-en">OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey</a> in 2019, discipline knowledge took up the largest amount of initial teacher education, followed by pedagogy and classroom practice. Interestingly, across these OECD countries, teaching was the first-choice career for two out of three teachers.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358559/original/file-20200917-16-gbppj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A teacher addresses his high school students." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358559/original/file-20200917-16-gbppj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/358559/original/file-20200917-16-gbppj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358559/original/file-20200917-16-gbppj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358559/original/file-20200917-16-gbppj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358559/original/file-20200917-16-gbppj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358559/original/file-20200917-16-gbppj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/358559/original/file-20200917-16-gbppj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many other OECD countries see profound value in ensuring teachers have excellent subject knowledge.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The 2014 <a href="https://www.humanities.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/AAH-Mapping-HASS-2014.pdf">report</a> Mapping the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences in Australia noted there were</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[…] current debates regarding the importance of school teachers having substantial disciplinary backgrounds in the subject area they are destined to teach, rather than merely training in education […] data implies that there may be as little as 18% of the degree programme available for developing a disciplinary background in a [Field of Education or FOE] other than Education; if that is indeed the case, it would be hard to argue that this enables the acquisition of a substantial disciplinary background in another FoE.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>That same report said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In 2011 Education students received 82% of their teaching from the Education FoE, with the largest service teaching component coming from Society and Culture (9%). As noted earlier, this is much lower than one would expect or is desirable if, for instance, prospective high school teachers are expected to have majored in the discipline they wish to go on and teach.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-government-is-making-job-ready-degrees-cheaper-for-students-but-cutting-funding-to-the-same-courses-141280">The government is making ‘job-ready’ degrees cheaper for students – but cutting funding to the same courses</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Inspiring teachers</h2>
<p>Did you have an English teacher who studied literature, and imparted their love of it to you? Or a history teacher who brought stories from the past to life, because they’d studied them in depth as a history major? Perhaps you remember a geography teacher who instilled in you deep curiosity about culture and geopolitics, because they majored in this field at uni.</p>
<p>Doesn’t the next generation of school students deserve the same?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/146319/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robyn Cox is the immediate past President of the Primary English Teaching Association of Australia (PETAA) and retains the Director role of the Primary English Teaching Association of Australia. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Australian Alliance of Associations in Education (AAAE). Both of these are Not for Profit Associations with a broad remit to support teachers’ professional learning and to advocate for the teaching profession. She has previously held executive positions with United Kingdom Literacy Association.</span></em></p>Demand is high for teachers with expertise in STEM subjects like maths. But students also deserve expert English, history, civics or geography teachers. Maybe your favourite teacher did an arts degree.Robyn Cox, Associate Professor of Literacy Education, University of New EnglandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1417612020-08-20T12:16:18Z2020-08-20T12:16:18ZI prepare aspiring teachers to educate kids of color – here’s how I help them root out their own biases<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/353019/original/file-20200814-14-1glyv3e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C405%2C5760%2C3423&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The vast majority of K-12 teachers are white.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/diverse-college-freshman-in-class-with-hispanic-royalty-free-image/526086957"> SDI Productions/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>I’m a professor who has spent the last 10 years <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=HkqWBSEAAAAJ&hl=en">preparing new teachers to enter the workforce</a>. I also study how race, culture and power influence education and childhood development at a time when more than half of the roughly 50 million children who attend U.S. public schools <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cge.asp">are nonwhite</a>, unlike most of their teachers. About four in five public school teachers <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_clr.asp#f2">are white</a>, according to the latest official data.</p>
<p>This underrepresentation is especially acute for <a href="https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/report-state-racial-diversity-educator-workforce">Black male teachers</a>. While one in four teachers are men, merely 2% are Black men.</p>
<p>Research indicates that students of color benefit from <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102%2F0034654319853545">being taught by people who look like them</a>. </p>
<p>One of these benefits is that students of color experience a more <a href="https://doi.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fcdp0000220">positive sense of their own ethnic and racial identities</a>. I think it’s essential today that all K-12 teachers develop the cultural awareness, empathy and <a href="https://nmaahc.si.edu/learn/talking-about-race/topics/being-antiracist">anti-racist disposition</a> to effectively teach students from diverse backgrounds.</p>
<p><iframe id="4Mc65" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/4Mc65/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>A lack of familiarity</h2>
<p>By and large, the aspiring teachers in my classes are white people who plan to teach in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0042085912447516">urban schools where children of color</a> are in the majority. And based on what my colleagues and I routinely witness, they tend to possess little to no experience with or cultural knowledge of people who aren’t white.</p>
<p>Many of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2020.101836">my students describe themselves as colorblind</a>. This is the idea and practice that ignoring or overlooking racial and ethnic differences somehow makes one not racist. Those who practice colorblindness tend to feel that racial harmony can occur if they pretend to not see or acknowledge what makes us different from one another. </p>
<p>However, researchers have found that racial colorblindness can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F2332649220941024">actually function as a form of racism</a>.</p>
<p>My own experience points to one reason why this occurs. I often perceive that these same students harbor <a href="https://digscholarship.unco.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1056&context=jeri">racial biases</a> and negative cultural assumptions about people of color – particularly Black people and Latinos.</p>
<p>Likewise, I find that most of these white students possess little to no understanding of <a href="https://cie.asu.edu/ojs/index.php/cieatasu/article/view/1661">their own racial and ethnic identities</a>. Also, I often observe that they aren’t familiar with even basic aspects of U.S. history such as the contributions and experiences of Native Americans and African Americans.</p>
<p>But because these aspiring teachers live in a multicultural nation, I believe that it is more important than ever for them to acquire a serious understanding of racism and this nation’s rich multicultural history. I also think they will become better teachers if they leverage that understanding and work to <a href="https://theconversation.com/uncovering-the-roots-of-racist-ideas-in-america-71467">become anti-racist</a>.</p>
<p>I define anti-racism as the active process of identifying and eliminating racism by transforming systems, structures, policies, practices and attitudes. The goal of anti-racism is a more equitable redistribution and sharing of power.</p>
<p>Key findings in education research indicate that effective teachers are those who have <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1209436">experienced deep learning about racism, bias and cultural diversity</a>. Among white students, their perspectives on race and culture may be enhanced through <a href="https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/jma/vol4/iss1/2/">authentic experiences in ethnically diverse settings</a>. Other studies have shown how white students benefit by intentionally <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00933104.2020.1724578">confronting difficult subjects such as inequity and anti-racism</a>.</p>
<p>One of the ways that I help to broaden students’ understanding is by incorporating historical content into class assignments. I also introduce content that introduces students to the history and life experiences of diverse cultures. Also, I provide opportunities for students to interact with other cultures through literature, film and music. </p>
<p>For example, in addition to learning about the <a href="https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/spring-2004/brown-v-board-where-are-we-now">Brown v. Board of Education</a> Supreme Court ruling, students also learn about both its <a href="https://doi.org/10.4148/1936-0487.1085">intended benefits and some of its negative outcomes</a> – such as the more than 38,000 Black teachers and administrators who lost their jobs.</p>
<p>This focus on historical contexts, inequity and cultural diversity is quite common – <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/01/how-teachers-learn-to-discuss-racism/512474/">especially in urban teacher education programs</a>. My goal is to challenge students to think more deeply about themselves, about others and about the diversity of the children they may one day teach.</p>
<p>These are, in my view, necessary steps to developing teachers who are more reflective, thoughtful and culturally informed.</p>
<h2>Consequences of bias</h2>
<p>Many studies have illustrated the dangers of racial bias among teachers, such as <a href="https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/rest_a_00838">lower expectations for students of color</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F2372732219864707">harsher discipline</a> for them. There’s also evidence that racial bias can contribute to <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/116/17/8255.short">higher dropout rates</a>, <a href="http://kirwaninstitute.osu.edu/racial-disproportionality-in-school-discipline-implicit-bias-is-heavily-implicated/">lower academic achievement and future incarceration</a>.</p>
<p>In their investigation of racial bias and school discipline in K-12 settings, a team of Princeton University researchers examined federal data that covered 32 million Black and white students across 96,000 K-12 schools. They found that Black students experienced <a href="https://www.princeton.edu/news/2019/04/02/racial-bias-associated-disparities-disciplinary-action-across-us-schools">higher rates of expulsion</a> and suspension. They were, in addition, more likely to be arrested in school and subjected to law enforcement interventions than white students. </p>
<p>The researchers found that 13.5% of Black students received out-of-school suspensions, as opposed to only 3.5% of their white classmates. Their findings indicated that racial bias fuels disparities in school discipline, as have similar studies.</p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p>
<h2>Centering equity in education</h2>
<p>In my classes, students learn about and discuss student differences besides race and ethnicity, such as gender, ability, sexual orientation, gender identity, primary language, religious beliefs and residence. They also develop skills that allow them to reflect on their own backgrounds and to understand how their personal history shapes their perspectives.</p>
<p>The students learn that actively embracing diversity and working toward equity are core qualities of professional educators.</p>
<p>What teachers understand about bias must go beyond mere knowledge of subject matter and instructional strategies. They also need to learn ways to honor and respect the history and heritage of all their students, a discipline known as “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0042085920902244">teaching for equity</a>.”</p>
<p>Equity-focused teacher educators are versed in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2020.1740020">ethnic studies</a>, as well as history, power and privilege. </p>
<p>Research shows that students benefit academically when their teachers possess cultural awareness, have <a href="https://research.upjohn.org/up_workingpapers/231/">high expectations</a> for all their students and <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000220">believe that all their students have the potential</a> to learn and succeed regardless of their personal backgrounds.</p>
<p>However, to get there, teachers must first transform themselves.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/141761/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lasana D. Kazembe does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Instilling a positive sense of ethnic and racial identity and belonging can help children learn.Lasana D. Kazembe, Assistant Professor, IUPUILicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1415242020-06-30T01:16:38Z2020-06-30T01:16:38ZThe government claims teaching is a national priority, but cheaper degrees won’t improve the profession<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344444/original/file-20200629-155316-pxhqtd.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/group-students-laboratory-lab-science-classroom-721325539">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Education Minister Dan Tehan <a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/job-ready/better-university-funding-arrangements">recently announced</a> changes to Commonwealth contributions for university courses. As part of the government’s “Job-ready graduates” package, many humanities subjects would become more expensive but students would pay less for courses where the government believes the jobs of the future will be. They include science, languages and teaching.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/fee-cuts-for-nursing-and-teaching-but-big-hikes-for-law-and-humanities-in-package-expanding-university-places-141064">Fee cuts for nursing and teaching but big hikes for law and humanities in package expanding university places</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>These proposed changes, still to be considered by the Senate, caused much outrage and criticism across the university sector. But the response from the school teaching community has been more muted. Maybe this is because education is flagged as a national priority – <a href="https://theconversation.com/fee-cuts-for-nursing-and-teaching-but-big-hikes-for-law-and-humanities-in-package-expanding-university-places-141064">undergraduates who study teaching</a> will have their HECS fees slashed by 45%.</p>
<p>Surely school teachers should be popping the champagne? </p>
<h2>Not so fast</h2>
<p>Teachers have never been more appreciated than during COVID-19. But neither expressions of support during a crisis, nor cheaper degrees, will overcome four deep structural challenges facing the profession:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>teaching needs to attract more high achievers to counteract a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-8462.2008.00487.x">four-decade slide</a> in the <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/education/why-our-best-and-brightest-don-t-teach-20190823-p52k6z.html">academic capability of teachers</a></p></li>
<li><p>domains with acute shortages including <a href="https://amsi.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/amsi-occasional-paper-2.pdf">maths</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/fixing-the-shortage-of-specialist-science-and-maths-teachers-will-be-hard-not-impossible-99651">science</a> and <a href="https://teach.qld.gov.au/become-a-teacher/high-demand-teaching-areas">languages</a> need more specialist teachers </p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/number-crunchers-find-poorest-schools-have-the-poorest-teachers-20200205-p53y2s.html">disadvantaged schools</a>, particularly <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/independent_review_into_regional_rural_and_remote_education.pdf">in regional, rural and remote areas</a>, struggle to attract and retain great teachers</p></li>
<li><p>Australia <a href="https://theconversation.com/making-better-use-of-australias-top-teachers-will-improve-student-outcomes-heres-how-to-do-it-131297">needs an expert teacher</a> career path so top teachers don’t have to move away from teaching to keep developing, and can get paid what they are worth.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>No policy can solve all of these problems. But the minister’s new policy solves none of them.</p>
<h2>Where the reforms fall short</h2>
<p>High achievers won’t suddenly decide to go into teaching because their HECS debt drops by a few thousand dollars. As we showed in a <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/attracting-high-achievers-to-teaching/">Grattan Institute 2019 report</a>, high achievers are turned off teaching by the lack of career progression and the poor mid-career pay. </p>
<p>By their 40s and 50s, teachers earn about <a href="https://theconversation.com/better-pay-and-more-challenge-heres-how-to-get-our-top-students-to-become-teachers-122271">A$50,000 less</a> than high-achieving peers who graduated with a maths degree, and A$100,000 less than those who took an economics, commerce or engineering degree.</p>
<p>Tehan argues financial incentives will encourage people into teaching, but no rational analysis could conclude decreasing HECS debt by $9,300 will compensate for forgoing $50,000 or more <em>every year</em> during your prime earnings years.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1274139516312289281"}"></div></p>
<p>The proposed changes in financial incentives won’t overcome the shortage of science, maths or language teachers either. That’s because HECS fees are also slashed in those fields of study.</p>
<p>Some additional students might choose these subjects as a first degree, then move into teaching via a graduate degree. But if this is the plan, it’s pretty obscure, and runs headlong into the salary and career progression challenges already discussed.</p>
<p>Would-be humanities students, now facing $43,000 degrees, have the strongest incentives to choose the cheaper teaching degree instead. Many would be wonderful teachers. </p>
<p>But pushing these students towards an undergraduate education degree may exacerbate the <a href="https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/school/teachers/profdev/careers/TSD-Report-2017.pdf">historical imbalance</a> between primary teachers (where supply exceeds demand) and secondary school teachers (demand exceeds supply). </p>
<p>That’s because students who do undergraduate education degrees are <a href="https://www.aitsl.edu.au/tools-resources/resource/ite-data-report-2019">50% more likely</a> to choose primary school teaching than secondary teaching. By contrast, postgraduate teaching students are twice as likely to choose secondary teaching than primary. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-government-is-making-job-ready-degrees-cheaper-for-students-but-cutting-funding-to-the-same-courses-141280">The government is making ‘job-ready’ degrees cheaper for students – but cutting funding to the same courses</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>At worst, the minister’s financial incentives risk attracting average or below-average students who want a cheap degree, even if they don’t really care that much about teaching.</p>
<p>Zero for two so far. What about disadvantaged and regional schools, and career progression?</p>
<h2>What the government should do</h2>
<p>Rather than pitching teaching as a cheap way to go to university, the government should set a target to <a href="https://theconversation.com/better-pay-and-more-challenge-heres-how-to-get-our-top-students-to-become-teachers-122271">double the number of high achievers choosing teaching</a>.</p>
<p>Step one is to offer $10,000-a-year scholarships to high achievers. Cash-in-hand is dramatically more valuable to a young person than a drop in HECS fees which is on the never-never anyway.</p>
<p>Some of these scholarships could be used to encourage high performers to work in regional schools – complementing the extra support for regional students and universities in Tehan’s new package. </p>
<p>Scholarships would also give governments a finely targeted tool to match supply and demand to help get more specialist teachers in areas of need. The UK boosts scholarships for chemistry teachers when they need more chemistry teachers, and so on. And students respond, with 3% more applications for every <a href="http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7222/CBP-7222.pdf">£1,000 increase</a>.</p>
<p>Step two is to create an expert teacher career path to lead teacher professional learning. </p>
<p>In this system, Instructional Specialists, located in every school and with up to 50% non-teaching time to support colleagues, would set the standard for good teaching and build teaching capacity in their school. And Master Teachers, working across schools, would be dedicated full-time to improving teaching and connecting schools to research. </p>
<p>Creating this clearly-defined career progression would remove some of the top reasons <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/921-Attracting-high-achievers-to-teaching.pdf">high achievers give</a> for not choosing teaching – such lack of intellectual challenge and low earnings. </p>
<p>These proposals don’t require new federal money. Our <a href="https://theconversation.com/making-better-use-of-australias-top-teachers-will-improve-student-outcomes-heres-how-to-do-it-131297">2020 report on top teachers</a> showed existing Gonski 2.0 funding increases can fund the scholarships and the expert teacher career path. </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>Instead, the government has proposed an inflexible and centrally-planned change to funding university places, and dressed it up in the language of incentives.</p>
<p>They identify education as a national priority, but the cheaper fees plan won’t solve the challenges facing the profession, so what’s the point?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/141524/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Grattan Institute began with contributions to its endowment of $15 million from each of the Federal and Victorian Governments. In order to safeguard its independence, Grattan Institute’s board controls this endowment. The funds are invested and Grattan uses the income to pursue its activities.</span></em></p>Teachers have never been more appreciated than during COVID-19. But neither expressions of support, nor cheaper degrees will overcome the four big structural challenges facing the profession.Peter Goss, School Education Program Director, Grattan InstituteLicensed 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/1312972020-02-09T19:07:47Z2020-02-09T19:07:47ZMaking better use of Australia’s top teachers will improve student outcomes: here’s how to do it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314154/original/file-20200207-27557-rcmswk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia must do better in school education. Following our <a href="https://theconversation.com/estonia-didnt-deliver-its-pisa-results-on-the-cheap-and-neither-will-australia-128455">worst ever results in international tests last year</a>, politicians are <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/education-minister-pushes-for-back-to-basics-approach-in-schools-20191209-p53i7z.html">keen to act</a>, and quickly. But Australia has had any number of educational reforms over the past few decades, and our grades keep slipping.</p>
<p>We need a much more systematic approach. Many teachers and schools are already doing great things and delivering outstanding results; but this practice is too piecemeal, too isolated. </p>
<p>Among other things, becoming more systematic means making better use of our top teachers – those helping students flourish and who can guide other teachers to a similar path for success. </p>
<p>A Grattan Institute report released today, <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/top-teachers/"><em>Top teachers: sharing expertise to improve teaching</em></a>, shows the way. </p>
<h2>What is happening already</h2>
<p>We aren’t the first to have the idea of making better use of top teachers.</p>
<p>Over the past few decades, Australia’s education systems and schools have invested in a smorgasbord of programs focused on instructional leadership. </p>
<p>These include <a href="http://www.scootle.edu.au/ec/viewing/S7056/pdf/tls73_primary_maths_specialists.pdf">Primary Maths Specialists</a> (a federal professional learning program for teachers), <a href="https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/curriculum/literacy-and-numeracy/early-action-for-success">Instructional Leaders</a> in NSW (where instructors work with teachers to build student and teacher capacity in literacy and numeracy) and <a href="https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/teachingresources/practice/improve/Pages/ppe-specialist.aspx">Learning Specialists</a> in Victoria (a career pathway for highly skilled teachers to help improve the practice of other teachers).</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/aussie-students-are-a-year-behind-students-10-years-ago-in-science-maths-and-reading-127013">Aussie students are a year behind students 10 years ago in science, maths and reading</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>These initiatives have all been well-intentioned. But they haven’t all been well-executed. For instance, the national <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254581597_The_rise_and_fall_of_the_Advanced_Skills_Teacher_in_Australia">Advanced Skills Teacher scheme</a> in the 1990s was intended to increase top-end pay for only the highest-performing teachers. But in Victoria, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254581597_The_rise_and_fall_of_the_Advanced_Skills_Teacher_in_Australia">virtually everyone who applied got the pay rise</a>.</p>
<p>Other initiatives have been <em>ad hoc</em>, rather than becoming part of the daily work of teaching. None have had the scale and continuity Australia needs – or that high-performing systems already have, such as the Master Teacher roles that are part of <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-top-ranking-education-systems-in-the-world-arent-there-by-accident-heres-how-australia-can-climb-up-128225">Singapore’s expert career track</a>. </p>
<h2>A big disconnect between theory and practice</h2>
<p>We surveyed 700 teachers, instructional leaders and principals across Australia to find out the impact of instructional teachers on the ground.</p>
<p>Three-quarters of the teachers said they valued guidance from instructional leaders, but less than a third regularly changed what they did in response. </p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314096/original/file-20200206-43089-let5a1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314096/original/file-20200206-43089-let5a1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314096/original/file-20200206-43089-let5a1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314096/original/file-20200206-43089-let5a1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314096/original/file-20200206-43089-let5a1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314096/original/file-20200206-43089-let5a1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314096/original/file-20200206-43089-let5a1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314096/original/file-20200206-43089-let5a1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=493&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">Grattan Institute</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>It’s not clear what causes this disconnect. But (self-identified) instructional leaders did tell us they were allocated too little time to do the job properly. Nearly half of them received no initial training when they started the job, and nearly two-thirds had no oversight from external experts.</p>
<p>And most are hired as generalists, which means they don’t get specific on how to teach particular subjects well.</p>
<h2>What our model looks like</h2>
<p>Unless something changes, we should expect this disconnect to continue. This was recognised in two recommendations in the <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/review-achieve-educational-excellence-australian-schools">2018 “Gonski 2.0” report</a>: better teacher career paths, and more effective teacher professional learning. Our new report shows how to do both in one go. </p>
<p>Our model would create two new types of teaching job, with an elite cohort of 2,500+ Master Teachers and 20,000+ Instructional Specialists. That’s enough for three Instructional Specialists in a typical primary school, and nine in a typical secondary school. </p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314098/original/file-20200206-43095-1uytjyd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314098/original/file-20200206-43095-1uytjyd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314098/original/file-20200206-43095-1uytjyd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314098/original/file-20200206-43095-1uytjyd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314098/original/file-20200206-43095-1uytjyd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314098/original/file-20200206-43095-1uytjyd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314098/original/file-20200206-43095-1uytjyd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314098/original/file-20200206-43095-1uytjyd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=493&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">Grattan Institute</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>Master Teachers would work across schools as the overall leaders in their subject. They would mentor and support Instructional Specialists, who work in schools to develop and support other teachers. And they would do this at scale: we are proposing one Instructional Specialist for every ten teachers, and one Master Teacher for every eight Instructional Specialists.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-top-ranking-education-systems-in-the-world-arent-there-by-accident-heres-how-australia-can-climb-up-128225">The top ranking education systems in the world aren't there by accident. Here's how Australia can climb up</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The new roles would help spread evidence-informed teaching practices, and generate new research in high-priority areas.</p>
<p>These are big roles and should be paid accordingly: Instructional Specialists up to A$140,000 per year ($40,000 more than the top standard rate for teachers) and Master Teachers $180,000 per year. </p>
<p>And to do the job well, Master Teachers and Instructional Specialists need to have the right skillset:</p>
<ul>
<li>strong teaching capability, proven by certification under the <a href="https://www.aitsl.edu.au/teach/standards">Australian Professional Standards for Teachers</a> as a <a href="https://www.aitsl.edu.au/teach/understand-certification-and-halt-status">Highly Accomplished or Lead Teacher</a></li>
<li>a strong understanding of how to teach their specialist subject, sometimes called pedagogical content knowledge, or PCK </li>
<li>strong capabilities to lead adult learning, including the emotional intelligence to have difficult conversations. </li>
</ul>
<p>These skills take time to develop, so the model should be implemented using a four stage process, reaching 80% of full operating capacity by 2032.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314143/original/file-20200207-27564-1nhtz9h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314143/original/file-20200207-27564-1nhtz9h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314143/original/file-20200207-27564-1nhtz9h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314143/original/file-20200207-27564-1nhtz9h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314143/original/file-20200207-27564-1nhtz9h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314143/original/file-20200207-27564-1nhtz9h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314143/original/file-20200207-27564-1nhtz9h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314143/original/file-20200207-27564-1nhtz9h.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=493&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">Grattan Institute</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<h2>Transforming school education</h2>
<p>This model would transform school education, further professionalise learning and lead to students gaining about 18 months of extra learning by age 15.</p>
<p>It will take time, but imagine a child who just started their first year at school. By 2032, when she starts year 12, Australia could have transformed how teachers learn on the job, with teachers benefiting from more than one hour a week with an Instructional Specialist in their subject area. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/estonia-didnt-deliver-its-pisa-results-on-the-cheap-and-neither-will-australia-128455">Estonia didn't deliver its PISA results on the cheap, and neither will Australia</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Schools would get access to the deep expertise of Master Teachers across a wide range of subjects. And systems would be better placed to learn and improve at scale.</p>
<h2>The path is affordable</h2>
<p>By 2032, the expert teacher career path would cost $560 per student per year. Meanwhile, under the 2019 <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/national-school-reform-agreement-0">National School Reform Agreement</a>, the average government school is set to get an extra $1,100 per student per year by 2032. </p>
<p>This means government schools in most (but not all) states can pay for this proposal from within projected funding increases. And it would be a much better use of the extra money than just giving every teacher a 4% pay rise, or reducing class sizes by one student.</p>
<p>If government schools got 100% of what the funding formula says they actually need (the “full Gonski”), they could afford this and more.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314097/original/file-20200206-43069-bmiyqf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314097/original/file-20200206-43069-bmiyqf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314097/original/file-20200206-43069-bmiyqf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314097/original/file-20200206-43069-bmiyqf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314097/original/file-20200206-43069-bmiyqf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314097/original/file-20200206-43069-bmiyqf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314097/original/file-20200206-43069-bmiyqf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314097/original/file-20200206-43069-bmiyqf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=493&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">Grattan Institute</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>Non-government schools have received generous funding increases over the past decade, and should fund this model out of their existing resources.</p>
<p>We want our children to have a fantastic education, but we haven’t given our teachers the support they need to deliver it, and it shows. We must get serious about a better system for improving teachers. Our new report shows how it could be done, and proves it is affordable.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/131297/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Grattan Institute began with contributions to its endowment of $15 million from each of the federal and Victorian governments. In order to safeguard its independence, Grattan Institute’s board controls this endowment. The funds are invested and Grattan uses the income to pursue its activities.</span></em></p>Our model on an expert career path for top teachers would transform school education, further professionalise learning and lead to students gaining about 18 months of extra learning by age 15.Peter Goss, School Education Program Director, Grattan InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1110612019-09-29T12:13:00Z2019-09-29T12:13:00ZTeaching truth and reconciliation in Canada: The perfect place to begin is right where a teacher stands<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/276493/original/file-20190526-187153-1mzjqwr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Despite challenges, teacher education offers a path to begin righting inequities and injustice. Here, people stand on a map from the Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada at a launch in Toronto in 2018. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mark Blinch</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Where do we start?</p>
<p>Our question echoes our larger work supporting and educating teacher candidates, and our personal commitments seeking to act as witnesses to the need for reconciliation in Canada. </p>
<p>As researchers, teachers and administrators — one of whom is of Anishinaabe, German, and French heritage and one of whom is a longstanding non-Indigenous ally of Irish, Scottish and English ancestry — we have dedicated our careers to education for and about Indigenous people, <a href="http://journals.sfu.ca/cje/index.php/cje-rce/article/view/3344">and to Indigenous-led ally-building in education</a>.</p>
<p>So, we start by acknowledging the situation. We are acutely aware of the historic and ongoing <a href="https://theconversation.com/missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women-and-girls-an-epidemic-on-both-sides-of-the-medicine-line-118261">legacy of colonialism and racism</a> that pervades Canadian society, and the specific role that education had in creating and perpetuating this legacy. Indeed, in Canada the education system has been a tool for genocide through the residential school system.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296574/original/file-20191010-188819-17iz6s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296574/original/file-20191010-188819-17iz6s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296574/original/file-20191010-188819-17iz6s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296574/original/file-20191010-188819-17iz6s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=462&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296574/original/file-20191010-188819-17iz6s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=580&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296574/original/file-20191010-188819-17iz6s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=580&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296574/original/file-20191010-188819-17iz6s9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=580&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="https://theconversation.com/ca/topics/focus-truth-and-reconciliation-in-canada-77341">Click here for more articles in our ongoing series about the TRC Calls to Action.</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At the same time, we acknowledge that we have tremendous hope. We see self-determination and resilience in Indigenous communities, and increasing willingness, unimaginable a generation ago, in the general Canadian population to acknowledge history and move forward in a better way. And we acknowledge that we are teaching and learning in an era where, after the <a href="http://www.trc.ca/assets/pdf/Honouring_the_Truth_Reconciling_for_the_Future_July_23_2015.pdf">findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada</a>, we know more about colonial legacies. We have more guidance on what to do moving forward than ever before.</p>
<h2>Teacher education offers a path forward</h2>
<p>In our personal actions, we start where we are. For us, this means working together and with the teachers and teachers-to-be whom we encounter in our work at our Faculty of Education at Queen’s University. <a href="https://educ.queensu.ca/atep">The Aboriginal Teacher Education Program (ATEP) at Queen’s University</a> that we both work with qualifies graduates for Ontario College of Teachers certification and provides a focus on Indigenous education in their teacher preparation. This program has over 400 primarily Indigenous graduates. We stand in awe of the change they have made at all levels of education; we are excited to follow where this change leads next. We deeply believe in decolonized, self-determined, <a href="https://doi.org/10.14516/fde.572">authentically Indigenized education</a>.</p>
<p>At the same time, it is unfair to expect already marginalized people to shoulder the full burden of educating the mainstream population and creating social change, <a href="https://www.ubyssey.ca/news/the-gold-rush-canadian-academia-rush-indigenous-faculty/">as is often the case</a>. We believe it is a vital part of our jobs to facilitate the learning of settler teachers so they can see their roles and responsibilities in the reconciliatory process. As Senator Murray Sinclair, Chair of the TRC, <a href="https://sencanada.ca/en/content/sen/Committee/421/appa/53820-e">told the Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I’ll tell you what gets me through it now and got me through it then, and that is the belief that you don’t have to believe that reconciliation will happen; you have to believe that reconciliation must happen … and you have to do what you can to make it happen.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Our teacher candidates come from a variety of backgrounds. In addition to the teacher candidates who come from diverse Indigenous nations and heritages, we work with teacher candidates who are racialized, some of whom also carry post-colonial histories both internal to and external to North America. However, the majority of teacher candidates in our faculty are settler people of diverse European heritages. Given their diverse backgrounds, our teacher candidates engage with Canada’s legacy of colonization in different ways. We also spend time working with qualified teachers to respond to inquiries about how to address truth and reconciliation in their teaching practice.</p>
<h2>Overcome guilt, find courage</h2>
<p>For many teachers and teacher candidates, especially those who are non-Indigenous, the <a href="http://journals.sfu.ca/cje/index.php/cje-rce/article/view/3344">biggest obstacle we now see is fear — these educators want to do the right thing but they are afraid of making the problem worse</a>, of being guilty of cultural appropriation, of offending or misinforming.</p>
<p>Many teachers have come from <a href="http://journals.sfu.ca/cje/index.php/cje-rce/article/view/3247">educational backgrounds that offered little in the way of Indigenous education content</a>, and have not been challenged to think about power and privilege, or how various kinds of privilege intersect. They are now called to include Indigenous perspectives that they didn’t have the opportunity learn themselves, which presents an obvious challenge. As educators still learning (as we all are), we empathize with feelings of anxiety and inadequacy.</p>
<p>In addition to a lack of education, we are aware that another barrier can be caused by what University of Washington whiteness studies scholar <a href="https://robindiangelo.com/">Robin DiAngelo</a> describes as “<a href="https://libjournal.uncg.edu/ijcp/article/viewFile/249/116">white fragility</a>,” which includes “anger, withdrawal, emotional incapacitation, guilt, argumentation and cognitive dissonance, (all of which reinforce the pressure on facilitators to avoid directly addressing racism).”</p>
<p>These emotions can be paralyzing. We tell our settler students: You can cry. You can feel angry. You have a huge burden to carry. But do not stop at guilt. Guilt is unproductive. Even if the ongoing legacy of colonization is not your fault, it is your responsibility, and you do benefit from it. So to move forward in a spirit of right relations, it’s important to recognize what is going on and what you can do about it. That doesn’t mean taking over, or taking charge of the reconciliatory process, since meaningful reconciliation needs to be led by Indigenous people. It does mean listening, really listening, in the effort to find fitting paths forward. We know that inaction in itself is a choice and an action.</p>
<h2>No reconciliation without truth</h2>
<p>So, the first step in becoming an ally is witnessing. Being a good witness involves deep listening — full attention, openness, the ability to be present without judging and accurate recall. Sharing what is witnessed is about enacting the responsibility to promote right relations by widening the circle of learning and understanding.</p>
<p>The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) gifted us with <a href="http://trc.ca/assets/pdf/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf">94 Calls to Action</a> that have provided valuable guidance on how to proceed in supporting and furthering truth and reconciliation. The Calls to Action are practical, easy to understand and apply to all Canadians. </p>
<p>Inspired by the Calls to Action, an abundance of resources exist to help guide action. For example, The <a href="https://nctr.ca/map.php">National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation</a> produces invaluable resources <a href="https://www.edcan.ca/articles/truth-reconciliation-classroom/">to help people grow as allies</a>. The <a href="http://education.afn.ca/afntoolkit/">Assembly of First Nations</a> and the <a href="http://reseaumtlnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Ally_March.pdf">Montreal Indigenous Community Network </a>have also both created outstanding resources for aspiring allies.</p>
<p>We understand that for many Indigenous people, reconciliation is a meaningless term in a time when social inequity is still rampant and the legacy of residential schools and Indian day schools is still so visible. There <a href="https://theconversation.com/law-professor-put-on-trial-for-trespassing-on-familys-ancestral-lands-114065">cannot be reconciliation without truth</a>. There can also be no reconciliation without Indigenous leadership, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2HiPW_qSrs&fbclid=IwAR2Zs1nvWhj0DHj_2WklY29ARGfgOwlG93XwPMLETTF3ImvON7T-aBCeFTQ">language and culture perpetuation</a>, equal sharing of resources and meaningful consultation on issues such as resource extraction and relationships to land, air and water.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ancestral-languages-are-essential-to-indigenous-identities-in-canada-117655">Ancestral languages are essential to Indigenous identities in Canada</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>If we want to build something better for generations yet to come, each person must answer their own unique call to work for truth and reconciliation, which means noticing and responding to the particular circumstances and realities surrounding them. </p>
<p>The work has started. We have nowhere to go but forward.</p>
<p>[ <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=expertise">Expertise in your inbox. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter and get a digest of academic takes on today’s news, every day.</a></em> ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/111061/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lindsay Morcom has received funding from SSHRC.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate Freeman has received funding from SSHRC.</span></em></p>Decolonized education means working with settler teachers to overcome guilt and find the courage to acknowledge privilege, racism and colonialism to work in partnership for a better future.Lindsay Morcom, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education, Queen's University, OntarioKate Freeman, Manager, Aboriginal Teacher Education Program, Queen's University Faculty of Education, Queen's University, OntarioLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.