Monash University report reveals Aussie teachers’ views on the job
A shock report has revealed three in five teachers plan to leave the profession, despite an overwhelming amount of respect from the community. So why are so many of our educators wanting to leave their job?
Education
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Three in five teachers plan to leave the profession as a new report reveals Australia’s educators feel overworked, underappreciated and unhappy.
A Monash University study also finds most teachers — three in four — could not manage their workload and felt their profession was not valued.
The dire responses contrasted sharply with public perception, with 93 per cent of the community feeling teachers were trusted and respected.
The results have spurred a campaign for the public to #ThankYourTeacher as school leaders say support goes a long way.
Monash lead researcher Dr Amanda Heffernan said the study revealed “over half (of teachers) wouldn’t recommend teaching as a career”.
“These issues are on a really big scale,” she said.
“But it’s clear there are things that can be done to stem the flow of those who might want to leave (the profession).”
She said including educators in policy decisions, reducing workload and celebrating achievements in schools could create change.
Almost 2500 teachers and a further 1000 members of the public were surveyed in one of the largest teacher perception studies in Australia.
It found just one in 50 teachers strongly agreed they could manage their workload.
McKinnon Secondary College maths teacher Lauren Mauger said the workload “can be really overwhelming at times”.
But the school in Melbourne’s southeast had a policy to share work between teachers where possible to make it more manageable.
Ms Mauger — who confirmed she was “not going anywhere” — said a ‘thank you’ from students and families meant a great deal to staff.
“We have such a big influence on students’ lives, we need to feel appreciated because we’re with them five days a week,” she said.
McKinnon Secondary principal Pitsa Binnion said the teaching profession had “definitely changed” with higher expectations, greater levels of criticism and more demand from families.
“Now there’s continuous reporting and feedback and we’re accountable to that — it creates a lot of pressure and work,” she said.
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But Ms Binnion — who became an educator because of her geography teacher — said “there’s no better place than in the classroom and the relationship you have with those children”.
She urged the community to back its teachers, because aside from parents they were the ones who “care about their kids and care for their learning”.
Ms Binnion recalled when a teacher received a thankyou letter from a student 11 years after graduation.
“That was unbelievable, he was so chuffed and I rang the ex student,” she said.
“They said they’d been meaning to do it for a while.”
Use the hashtag #ThankYourTeacher to celebrate an educator, send in a letter or email or simply say thanks in person.
The report was commissioned in response to teacher recruitment, retention and wellbeing concerns.