industry & reform
Teacher registration scrutiny
Minister says review will ensure‘ best skills for the right subject in the classroom’.
By Kirstie Chlopicki
The federal government has launched a national review of teacher registration to improve consistency and teacher quality across the country. The minister for education and training, Simon Birmingham, said the National Review of Teacher Registration had been endorsed by all states and territories at the Education Council, and would assess how teaching graduates made the transition to working in schools.
“ There’ s inconsistency in our teacher registration systems across the country and we need to understand what’ s working and what’ s not in key areas to set a bar everyone can work towards,” Birmingham said.
“ This is important because we’ re looking at how we can make sure teacher registration helps to get the best, most qualified individuals into the classroom.
“ We want to make sure that our early primary school teachers have got the best possible skills in literacy, in numeracy, in building the foundation stones; we want to make sure that those in high schools who are teaching geography or history or maths are of course subject specialists in those areas; but we also want to make sure that if you’ re teaching a Year 11 or
Year 12 student skills in terms of the caring industries, in aged care, or skills in terms of the building industries, that you have some personal experience and expertise there if at all possible.
“ It’ s about making sure we have the best skills for the right subject in the classroom.”
Birmingham said the review would look at helping teachers transition into the workforce, and encouraging those with practical trade skills to enter the profession.
“ We’ re encouraging this review to have a look at how we ensure teacher registration across the states and territories most effectively supports people coming from trade backgrounds to enter the teaching profession,” he said.
“ For many students in their final years of school, vocational education and training in the school environment, training in terms of building skills, in terms of other hospitality skills or the like, are essential aspects of their final years of education and we need to make sure that there are teachers in there helping with that training who bring the right skill sets.
“ People are often undertaking mid-life career changes... and particularly in the trades you’ ll have individuals who – for a whole bunch of physical reasons – might need to make changes to their working life; so the idea of getting people who have got a couple of decades of practical experience in the trades, teaching those trades in our schools, is not a new one, but it’ s essential to make sure that trades are taught as effectively as possible.
“ Having a former tradie or nurse as a teacher can bring more perspective to a classroom and be especially beneficial. Teachers who have been working in other jobs can be a great way for students to learn about life after school and the different options open to them.
“ Students need to learn from people from all walks of life, and if a talented professional wants to change careers to become a teacher, we should be working to ensure that transition is as straightforward as possible.”
The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership( AITSL) will facilitate the review, led by Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority chair Chris Wardlaw and a panel of eight education experts.
The panel includes: McKinnon Secondary College principal Pitsa Binnion, Epping Secondary College assistant principal Marino D’ Ortenzio, Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency chief executive Anthony McClaran, Queensland University of Technology emeritus professor Wendy Patton, Australian Children’ s Education and Care Quality Authority chief executive Gabrielle Sinclair, Australian Primary Principals Association president Dennis Yarrington, and Independent Education Union of Australia NSW / ACT president Christine Wilkinson.“ We look forward to constructive suggestions about Australia’ s teacher registration systems,” Birmingham said.
“ This is an opportunity to ensure Australia’ s teacher registration systems are working as effectively as possible.” ■
14 | educationreview. com. au