Thursday 30 May 2013

The Profession That Eats Its Young

So, I've been wanting to write this post for a while, but haven't been sure how to articulate and frame it correctly. I'll be the first to admit that I'm a natural cynic, however I'm wary about spewing blatant negativity out in the blogosphere. I'd rather be seen to work toward identifying solutions then dwelling on problems.  In this case however, things seem to be a) exceedingly awful b) exceedingly complex and c) political, which as I'm sure you can tell, is not a promising combination.

I'm talking about the issue of teacher training and standards, and as a part of that, teacher retention. In Australia, we have politicians and AITSL holding up 'standards' as some kind of magic wand to make the entire graduate teaching force AWESOME AT EVERYTHING. This is the solution offered to retain the 50% of teachers who leave the profession in their first 5 years. That if we can somehow increase the number of pracs pre-service teachers go on, or maybe offer them a wider variety of research based pseudo-science, they will arrive at their respective schools filled to the brim with good humour, confidence and ready to effectively teach.

And my comment is this; when are schools and our government going to wake up to the fact that post-university support, and the experience of those first formative years, is THE most critical factor in determining if teachers stay in the profession?

Not performance pay.

Not a National Curriculum.

Support. Support as we fail, over and over again.
 
My own experiences in my first school have highlighted this area to me fairly sharply. I understand that not everybody's experience is the same as mine, however from talking to other grad teachers, it seems to be more often the case then not.

About a week before I started, I was given 7 different classes, no written curriculum, limited resources, and some keys and told to "...figure it out". Needless to say, I spent first term in an alternate universe, too overwhelmed by the sensory overload of teaching 160 teenagers to make any progress towards improving anything apart from the speed at which I fell asleep every night.

My mentor teacher was experienced and lovely, but in a very different faculty and with real time constraints. He was not free to visit my classes, and I had little time to visit his. His competence at everything made my own shaky inroads into my teaching practice seem insubstantial.

On the last week of term my principal came in to have a chat about my progress in my new teaching position. Out of my sleep-deprived brain I somehow made sense of him saying the following:

"Well, I could see in Term One that you were all 'bunny-in-headlights', but I didn't do anything because you need to drown a little bit"

Something snapped inside my head. My inner monologue kicked in.

"You are telling me that you recognised that your fellow professional was struggling and you chose to do NOTHING? That this is how schools intend to get people into the teaching profession, by hazing you until you 'toughen up'? You feel the best way to get good outcomes for your students is to ritually sacrifice new teachers until they realise what they already know, that they are BEGINNING TEACHERS and are supposed to be learning how to teach?" (not actually said out loud)

We say we want to provide the optimal learning environment for our students, where they can be nurtured to their full potential. Why would we not want the same for our teachers?

So here's an idea. Don't give grad teachers the classes that nobody knows how to deal with. You know the infamously naughty Year 8's where a quarter of the class has behavioural difficulties. Give grad teachers access to mentors and time to actually meet with them. Don't shame those who are struggling, embrace them and let them know that their success means everyone's success. There should be no prizes for barely surviving your first year, and nobody should get a badge of honour for living off anti-anxiety meds (as some of my fellow grad teachers have). Have an induction process. Keep the lines of communication open. For goodness sake, do something about connecting universities and schools in a way that is meaningful for pre-service and graduate teachers.

I am fearful for my friends coming through their teacher education programs next year. This is not a 'who can tell the most harrowing story about their first year of teaching' competition. And if it is, no wonder this profession is so confused.

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