Teachers have no time to teach: education experts
Experts say a crowded and ideological curriculum, too much pressure on teachers and tedious reporting processes are to blame for poor education outcomes. HAVE YOUR SAY: ARE TEACHERS FAILING STUDENTS?
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Time-poor teachers are too focused on ticking bureaucratic boxes and not on engaging their students, experts say.
Educators have blamed an overcrowded curriculum, low teaching standards and intense pressure on teachers for a declining standard of education in the country.
Institute of Public Affairs expert Bella d’Abrera said the entry standards for teaching need to be extremely high if outcomes are to change.
“You are not getting high quality teachers. In Singapore, which is doing brilliantly, teachers are well regarded and there are very high scores required. There is a huge difference between an Australian teacher and a Singaporean teacher,” she said.
“The requirement for a teacher should be high and I don’t think they are at the moment.”
Ms d’Arbrera’s comments come after the Auditor-General for New South Wales, Margaret Crawford recently found that the NSW Education Standards does not effectively monitor teaching quality across the state.
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This is despite the introduction of The Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Teacher Education (LANTITE) which is compulsory for teachers to pass.
Teachers get three chances to pass the test.
Ms d’Abrera said a crowded curriculum also added to poor teaching outcomes.
“I think the problem for the teachers is the overcrowded national curriculum. Many teachers are frustrated because they don’t have time to teach them numeracy and literacy,” she said.
“Australian children are falling behind largely due to the national curriculum which focuses on things like critical skills.”
Teaching expert Kevin Donnelly said teachers were facing increasing pressures on reporting which mean they have little motivation to educate students.
“There is so much focus now on ticking the boxes now on criteria based assessment. It takes teachers up to two to three weeks to write reports,” he said.
“There’s so much pressure now on teachers It takes away the motivation that teachers have to actually engage with students and excite their students because they are so caught up with all the rest of it.”