By Jordan Baker
High-achieving students are avoiding a career in teaching because of its low status but would be more likely to choose the career if the top pay was lifted to $130,000 a year, a leaked federal government review into teacher education has found.
The final report of Quality Initial Teacher Education Review, obtained by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age ahead of its planned release later this week, found Australian teachers are among the best paid in the world, but that salary growth is flat by global standards.
Teacher pay in Australia tops out at about 10 years, well below the average in other advanced economies.
Teaching degrees will focus on classroom discipline, engaging with parents and students with disabilities.Credit: Simon Schluter
A survey commissioned by the review found lifting top pay by $30,000 to $130,000 would make young high achievers 13 percentage points more likely to choose teaching as a career, above other incentives such as scholarships and guaranteed ongoing employment in a nearby school.
A higher top pay rate was also the biggest motivator for mid-career professionals.
“The surveys undertaken to support the review indicate that workforce and pay structures affect the attractiveness of the profession and the decision of high performers to enter ITE [initial teacher education],” the report said.
Focus groups conducted for the review found teaching suffers from a perception among high-achieving students that it is not a “prestigious” profession, leading them to pursue other career options.
“When asked why some school-leavers would be deterred from choosing a career in teaching, focus group participants reported that there are perceptions teaching is a low-status career, is not intellectually challenging, and is for ‘less intelligent students’,” the review said.
Young high achievers also underestimate the starting salaries for teachers. A survey commissioned by the review found half of respondents believed that a teachers’ starting salary was $60,000 when in fact starting salaries range between $60,000 and $79,000.
The NSW Teachers Federation is in a stalemate with the NSW government over wages and conditions. The government is offering a rise of 2.5 per cent – its public sector wage cap – but the union wants between five and 7.5 per cent.
The review was commissioned by the Education Minister to improve teacher quality. It recommended the Commonwealth wield its financial power to force schools to teach phonics and dictate which university education faculties would be allowed to take the most teaching students.
The teacher training review was commissioned by stood-aside Education Minister Alan Tudge.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Universities would also have to prepare students better for managing classroom behaviour, teaching children with disabilities and engaging with parents, under recommendations from a major review of teacher training.
Teacher training faculties would be given a performance rating and rewarded for high scores, while also having to publicly report the proportion of academic staff who have “substantial recent experience” teaching in schools as part of an effort to emphasise practical skills rather than theory.
New money should also be made available to reward schools, school systems and universities that use “best practice”, particularly when teaching reading.
The review recommends the postgraduate qualification be reduced to one year and short courses be made available so students could explore teaching without committing to a full degree.
There is agreement across the education sector, including from unions, that newly graduated teachers are often ill-prepared for the job. Research has shown teacher quality has the most influence on a child’s learning outside their family.
Most submissions from stakeholders also raised concerns about teacher salaries and workload, saying potential candidates were put off the profession by paperwork, red tape, and low salary growth over the course of a career.
As well as more flexible pay structures offering greater career progression, the review recommends a national campaign to improve the perception of the profession. Teachers should also be given more national honours to increase their status and a “patron of education” should be appointed to advocate for them.
Teaching graduates told the review they struggled with managing students in their classroom and dealing with parents. “One of the biggest fears faced by ITE [initial teacher education] students was meeting with families and carers,” the report said.
It also said teaching degrees should be subject to a performance rating system, and those that scored highly should be rewarded. An expert group would also advise on how to allocate government-funded teaching places to universities.
The head of the NSW Teachers Federation, Angelo Gavrielatos, said the findings of the national review support NSW government research that salaries and workload were putting people off choosing teachers.
“Blinding people to the realities of teaching through PR campaigns is not the answer to growing shortages,” he said. “That can only be achieved by tackling the real problem: workloads are too high and salaries are too low.”
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