Plan to fast-track teacher training to fill gaps questioned

Updated

A proposal to solve a shortage of maths and science teachers by fast-tracking graduates from other disciplines into schools is being questioned by academics, parents and Queensland's peak teaching union.

The State Government said recently it would reconsider plans to introduce Teach for Australia (TFA) graduates into schools as it tries to plug the teacher shortage, despite rejecting similar proposals last year.

TFA recruits high-achieving university graduates and places them in disadvantaged classrooms for two years after six weeks of teacher training.

TFA was founded in Victoria in 2008 by then-federal education minister Julia Gillard and has since also been adopted by the ACT and Northern Territory.

The organisation has come under criticism for placing graduates with less experience rather than those who complete university diplomas and degrees in teaching.

Legislative changes in Queensland would have to be passed to allow the plan to go ahead, which means the program would not be available to be implemented in the state's schools until 2016.

Queensland Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek says he has been approached about TFA and has been considering it, but there were no plans to change legislation at this stage.

"We are always looking at innovative ways to ensure we have the best teachers in the classroom," he said.

"Teacher quality is the most important factor when improving student outcomes.

"To have the Teach for Australia program in Queensland schools we would need to amend existing legislation and consult widely, so if we decide to proceed, it won't happen until 2016."

Teaching cannot be taught quickly: union

Queensland Teachers Union (QTU) president Kevin Bates says the program's short preparation for the TFA associates could undermine the status of the teaching profession.

The art of teaching is something that is developed over a period of time. QTU president Kevin Bates

"The art of teaching is something that is developed over a period of time," he said.

"One of the fundamental issues is making sure there is sufficient pre-service training to provide students with the foundation skills they need.

"Our concern is obviously to continue to protect that status of our profession by not allowing that type of teaching qualification into Queensland schools."

Kevan Goodworth, CEO of parents association P&Cs Queensland, agrees and says teaching is a complex profession that could not be taught effectively in such a short time.

"The content knowledge and the subject specific knowledge that these people have is extremely valuable and getting high-flying people who have that knowledge is very, very useful," he said.

"However, we would be very interested in teachers obviously having the pedagogical ability to also teach and that is quite complex - normally a four-year course."

TFA graduates more confident in field

An evaluation report of the TFA program by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) in 2012 found its associates were "novices" and needed a significant amount of support in their first few terms of teaching.

However, the report found by their second year, associates were much more confident and were considered by other school staff members to be on-par with other teaching staff.

Jessica McCrae, one of the first TFA associates, says although she felt challenged with her first teaching position, she did cope.

I definitely went into the classroom feeling like I was entering a pretty challenging situation, but I had the tools I needed to be a confident beginning teacher. Jessica McCrae, one of the first TFA associates.

"I definitely went into the classroom feeling like I was entering a pretty challenging situation, but I had the tools I needed to be a confident beginning teacher," she said.

Five years on, she is now a teaching and learning leader in maths and science at Hume Secondary College in Melbourne.

According to Teach for Australia, 62 per cent of associates teach for at least three years. Associates cost $98,916 to train, according to ACER.

These costs are covered via state and federal government funding, as well as support from the private sector.

Griffith University teaching professor Glenn Finger says its graduate diploma secondary program was a "superior model".

"Those [university] students are highly qualified, cost far less to produce, and build successful careers," he said.

Griffith University students are required to complete a minimum of 10 days of professional experience.

Other universities require more extensive practical experience, such as the University of Southern Queensland, which requires its postgraduate students to complete a minimum of 75 days of professional experience.

However, TFA associates are expected to start teaching without any prior experience.

A Queensland teacher who studied a full education degree at university, Scott Tibaldi, says the more practical classroom experience students get while undertaking a university degree prepares them better.

"The six weeks proposed for the new program may not prepare these prospective new teachers enough, to effectively enter the classroom," he said.

TFA could offer the Queensland Government a fast solution

With pressure to alleviate the maths and science teacher shortage mounting, the Queensland Government's first priority is to get graduates into the classroom.

Forty-seven per cent of TFA associates trained in maths and science, and TFA chief executive Melodie Potts Rosevear said the program could help attract people who otherwise would not have been interested in teaching.

"Part of what Teach for Australia can do ... is provide them with a mechanism and a pathway to do so," she said.

Editor's note (26/6/14): This story has been updated following the release of new ACER findings.

Topics: teachers, unions, university-and-further-education, public-sector, activism-and-lobbying, qld, melbourne-3000, act, nt

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