An interesting panel discussion is underway,with Deputy Editor ofThe Age Michael Bachelard asking if Mr Robert has a point about “dud teachers”.
Asked if she had a view,Dr Marcia Devlin,chief executive of the Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership,said to laughter:“I do have a view,but it’s probably not a good career move for me to share it here today.
“I’m a bit tired of the teacher bashing.”
She said the acting Education Minister’s comments were unhelpful and disrespectful.
Professor Joanna Barbousas,the Dean and Head of School Education at La Trobe University,said normally,in times of uncertainty and unrest,there was a flood of new enrolments in teaching.
“We thought the same thing would happen with the pandemic,and it hasn’t.”
Professor Barbousas said commentary could make people reconsider becoming a teacher.
“The years of commentary,like dud teachers ... I think make people rethink,‘is this the kind of profession I want to move into?,and is it a profession I’ll be supported in?’.”
Mark Grant,chief executive of the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership,said Mr Robert was right that Australia was being outperformed and said there was an issue with the status and perception of teaching.
The panel has gone on to say that teaching is complex work,which needs to be more broadly understood by media reporting and the public to help lift the status of teaching.