Wednesday’s makes for grim reading:student results are stagnating,learning gaps between advantaged and disadvantaged students are persistently wide,teachers are struggling under the weight of excessive workloads,and many student mental-health and wellbeing challenges are unmet.
The Productivity Commission report card shows student results are stagnating.iStock
And all this despite increased public funding for schools.
Not much will change without commitments to reforms that have the power to bridge the gap between policymaking on the state and national stage,and the lived realities of teachers and students inside the school gates.
Australia needs to radically rethink how our schools are organised,how the teacher workforce is developed and supported,and how the learning challenges students face are confronted quickly and effectively.
Here’s four reforms governments should make to turn things around.
Australia needs to radically rethink how our schools are organised.Erin Jonasson
First,governments need to do much more to help teachers tackle huge gaps in learning. These gaps appear early in school and generally grow – typically more than doubling in size between Year 3 and Year 9.
The opportunity to get much better at closing these gaps is right under our nose. Governments and teachers can learn a lot from the COVID catch-up tutoring blitzes in Victoria and NSW over the past two years. Small-group tutoring can provide an extra four months of learning over a year. But not all tutoring works – success depends on how well programs are designed and delivered.
On Wednesday,the Victorian government announced it would spend an extra $258 million to extend the tuition program into next year. This is good news for struggling students. But it would be a waste if some of this money was not set aside for rigorous research trials to learn which methods of tutoring work best. The aim should be to embed effective tuition in every school,every year.
Second,governments need to get serious about tackling teacher workloads. One concrete option is to use more non-teaching staff to supervise extracurricular activities,such as excursions,clubs,and special events,as well as yard duty. Grattan Institute shows that almost 70 per cent of teachers support this change,estimating it could shave two hours a week off their workload.
Governments should also help teachers work smarter by reducing their unnecessary administrative burden. From chasing down permission slips to ordering classroom materials,teachers tell us they are drowning under the weight of paperwork,little of which has any impact on their students’ performance.
Teachers spend about a third of their working hours on teaching-related activities outside the classroom,such as lesson preparation and marking. Too much of this time is unproductive. Last year,Grattan Institute surveyed more than 5000 teachers across the country. More than half reported having to “reinvent the wheel” when it came to lesson preparation,a poor use of their time. On average,teachers estimated they could save three hours a week if they had access to high-quality curriculum resources,so they didn’t need to make their own.
Third,governments need to rethink the way they invest in,reward,and deploy teaching expertise. Australia’s best teachers are under-utilised. They are often confined to their own classrooms,or lack the time needed to provide in-class professional learning to others. This is a waste of their skills,and leaves beginning teachers without the systematic coaching and mentoring they need to hone their practice and feel confident in the classroom.
Victoria has made a start on improving the recognition of expert teachers,with Learning Specialist roles in schools and Master Teacher roles attached to the new Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership. But these reforms could go much further,with more rigorous selection processes,targeted training,and clear responsibilities for Master Teachers and Learning Specialists to lead teaching practice in their schools and across the whole system,by providing regular coaching,observation,and feedback to colleagues.
Finally,the Productivity Commission’s call for more focus on student wellbeing and mental health should be heeded. Recent reforms in Victoria have placed student wellbeing at the heart of school improvement,alongside academic results. But governments across the country need to make sure schools have the staff and resources to do this important work well. Without proper support,teachers are at risk of being stretched even further,and asked to solve complex problems that they do not always have the expertise – or time – to take on.
The current negotiations on a new National School Reform Agreement are an opportunity for governments to recommit to achieve excellence and equity,not just in words but in concrete actions.