Why I stand behind our teachers and their strike action

’We lack truly ambitious teachers unions, and sensible bureaucracies with proven records of producing educational outcomes worthy of a rich Western country.’

How many of us have had the privilege of a teacher who made a difference to our life? I did; two of them. In high school my English teacher, Mr Claesson, and history teacher, Mr Wood, gave me the confidence I lacked to challenge myself, to set higher standards. They allowed me to believe in myself in ways not even my loving parents could. I have no idea where those men are today, but to them I say thank you.

Many parents will be thanking teachers as another difficult year ends. But teachers deserve more than thanks. That is the theme of the NSW Teachers Federation campaign for better pay and conditions for teachers. Hold on to your hat for what follows. I am wholeheartedly behind the teachers strike in NSW on Tuesday. Better pay to attract more teachers, especially to country schools? Yes, they deserve that. Less bureaucratic nonsense that takes them away from teaching. Yes, that makes sense, too.

The shame is that the NSW Teachers Federation and teachers unions across the country are not more ambitious in their demands from government and, logically, from us as voters.

Education will improve when three things align. We need truly ambitious teachers unions that demand bold changes to transform teaching as a profession. We need state and federal education ministers who scour the world for the best evidence-based research, policies and programs that allow kids to thrive at school. We need sensible bureaucracies to implement those evidence-based programs to deliver measurable educational improvements.

Right now, we lack truly ambitious teachers unions, and sensible bureaucracies with proven records of producing educational outcomes worthy of a rich Western country. But we do have, in federal Education Minister Alan Tudge, someone who has done the hard yards to understand and explain three basic issues facing teachers and students that need to be addressed immediately.

Tudge laid out his road map for reform in late October. We can only hope Tudge, on leave, returns to his role soon because this sector has lacked a minister with a deep understanding of, and commitment to, change.

The three reform pillars are simple. First, reforming what students are taught so they enter the world equipped to succeed.

The draft national curriculum published by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority was, in parts, an embarrassment – for example, delaying the learning of times tables from year 3 until year 4. Instead of suggesting we teach kids the times tables in year 2, as in other countries, ACARA set down a curriculum where it asks year 2 kids to assess whether a statue is racist. As one frustrated teacher told me recently, “What other maths can kids learn without times tables?” This regression will guarantee our kids are behind the curve when it comes to basic maths, and they will start to hate our country at an early age.

If teachers unions cared more about the educational outcomes of kids, they would be asking the same questions as Tudge. Their collective weight would deliver real change, and fast.

Second, Tudge wants to improve quality of teaching because research shows that teachers are the single most important factor in driving student outcomes. He laments that only 4 per cent of our brightest school-leavers (with an ATAR above 80) choose teaching as a career, and cites Grattan Institute research that finds a higher achieving teacher workforce would lift student learning by six to 12 months, “almost entirely reversing the two-decade decline in our standards”.

Tudge and the NSW Teachers Federation agree that teachers deserve better pay. In other professions, serious salary increases follow career advancement. Not in teaching. At the peak of their careers, Australian teachers are paid barely 40 per cent more than a first-year teacher. In Canada, the figure is 80 per cent.

A decrepit lock-step system offers measly rewards for plodding stayers and fails to recognise and reward high-achieving teachers. The paltry pay increases go to teachers who are expert at filling out forms. The best teachers deserve much higher salaries commensurate with their ability to transform young lives. That means empowering principals so they can reward great teachers.

None of these reforms featured in Tuesday’s strike manifesto from the NSW Teachers Federation. The union’s demand for across-the-board pay rises is worthy but it won’t attract great teachers to the profession, and it won’t keep them there.

Finally, why isn’t classroom discipline, the third pillar of Tudge’s reform agenda, a central focus for the teachers union? Violence, abuse and harassment in classrooms are driving teachers out of the profession because many public schools do not discipline students. One teacher told me it was routine for misbehaving students to call a female teacher a “dumb c…”, with few conseq­uences. Bad behaviour turns classrooms into chaotic war zones, stripping students of learning and leaving teachers physically exhausted and mentally spent.

Another public school teacher told me that at his school, of 30 staff, one-third of them were absent in a single week last month. The union points to the 1800 unfilled permanent teaching positions across NSW. Regional schools can’t attract enough permanent teachers, let alone casuals, so teachers who turn up must cover for those who don’t. Teaching, marking, providing support and looking after the emotional wellbeing of kids take a back seat to basic classroom management.

Unions should be at the forefront demanding better discipline in classrooms. As Tudge pointed out, in 2009 Australia scored at the international average of the OECD’s index of school discipline. In 2018, we plunged to 70th out of 77 nations.

The NSW Teachers Federation is right to demand bureaucratic compliance workloads for teachers be reduced and that teachers be given two extra hours to prepare lessons. It says the prep time for high school teachers has not changed since the 1950s, yet what we expect from them has exploded exponentially. If we want to encourage great teaching, we must make room for great teaching to happen.

Teachers are forbidden from speaking publicly about the challenges they and their students face. Some spoke with The Australian this past week on condition of anonymity, and their experiences underline the urgency of the federal Education Minister and the teachers unions uniting around the best of their reforms. Only then will 2022 and beyond be better, not only for teachers, who deserve more than our thanks, but also for kids who deserve the best education our rich country can offer.