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Fundamental reform to models of delivering schooling need to be closely looked at to ensure the workforce feels supported .
State of play
Report shows teachers concerned about workload and administrative demands .
By Wade Zaglas
The recent release of the State of the Sector Report 2021 found that teachers are “ most often concerned ” about the “ negative impact of workload ” over the next three years , as well as increasing administrative and compliance demands .
The PeopleBench report provides a snapshot of both the workforce challenges and opportunities facing leaders , teachers and support staff across all public , independent and Catholic schools in Australia .
This year the report collated the findings of 469 school leaders , teachers and business and HR advisors . The diversity of the participants was welcomed by chief research officer Mike Hennessy , who said it allowed for a comprehensive “ health check ” of the education sector .
“ With respondents from Government , Catholic and Independent schools , we have been able to provide far greater analysis of the different challenges these workforces are facing .
“ It ’ s a great benchmark for understanding the areas that need greater support and attention .”
KEY FINDINGS
• The vast majority of principals surveyed ( 93 %) felt confident that the school workforce could execute their vision , a similar finding to the 2019 ( pre-pandemic ) survey , although substantially fewer teachers ( 57 %) felt confident .
• Geographically , Victorian educators were more likely to feel positive about their roles than those in other states .
• Respondents from Government schools were the least likely to report optimistic sentiment ( excited , confident , well-prepared ).
• After teaching and learning strategy , workforce strategy was consistently cited as a top priority for schools of all types .
• Teacher capability , the supply of suitable teachers and the attraction and recruitment of new staff were the top three workforce challenges for schools today , and were expected to remain top challenges in 2024 . Participants were most often concerned about the negative impact of workload and increasing administration and compliance expectations on their school workforce over the next three years .
• Despite the challenges of the pandemic , many participants saw the potential of investing in leadership , professional development , school culture , and staff wellbeing to have a positive impact on the workforce . While the sector report does not purport to be a wellbeing or mental health assessment , the 2021 results have drawn into sharp focus that many teachers – particularly in the public sector – “ could use additional support to deal with the demands of their roles today ,” PeopleBench said .
CEO Fleur Johnson agreed that educators are going through a challenging time .
“ While capability and resilience are important , fundamental reform to models of delivering schooling , role design , and administrative processes need to be more closely looked at to ensure the workforce feels supported ,” Johnson said .
“ We need to think about how we redesign the way schools do schooling , and the impact that this will have on the role and job of being a teacher .”
The latest State of the Sector Report is the first to interrogate data across Australia ’ s three education sectors – Government , Catholic and Independent – providing meaningful data about the different experiences of schools in different sectors .
“ Data is king and the more knowledge we have about the different factors affecting schools , the better schools are able to make more informed decisions for their school . It is critically important that differences are acknowledged and accounted for in any analysis ,” Johnson says .
“ The findings suggest that there is a positive challenge for government education bodies to continue to strive toward lifting school leader perceptions of their access to resources and their sense of independence in decision-making for public schools .”
The survey also identified some concerning issues on the HR front , showing that schools and systems have universally “ largely underinvested in human resources ”. PeopleBench argues that HR demands more focus and support from leaders , particularly in building knowledge and capability in all facets of their work that intersect with schools : recruitment , performance appraisals , administrative requirements , and so on .
“ Principals have weathered COVID incredibly well , and their reflections are largely unchanged from our 2019 survey . This is a testament to the profession and to the calibre of the leaders in schools across all three segments right now ,” Johnson concluded . ■
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