ARTICLES
Seven Reasons People no longer Want to be Teachers
By Nan Bahr and Jo-Anne Ferreira
The oldest profession – teaching – is no longer attractive. Queensland Deans of Education revealed there have been alarming drops in first preference applications for this year’ s teacher preparation courses. Queensland has experienced an overall 26 % drop. Most alarmingly, UQ reported a 44 % plunge. QUT saw a 19 % drop. These figures reflect a national trend. ACU’ s is down 20 % for its campuses in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. This follows disappointing interest in 2017, when VTAC reported a 40 % drop in 2017 compared to 2016.
to know content and related ways to teach it. These skills are necessary, but are not sufficient. We need the relationships dimension in the teacher education package. The types of things we value in our best teachers are conspicuous by their absence in program accreditation. So why would someone aspire to teach if the interpersonal dimension is lost?
2. Standardised testing obsession
Standardised testing has become a national sport, with PISA and NAPLAN. Much class time is spent preparing students to do well. The stakes are high for the teachers and their schools. While teachers do need to test their students to check on their progress, the current national obsession is a problem. Teachers spend a great deal of time preparing students for these tests. Standardised tests are a unique testing genre, and teachers really need to attend to this preparation without abandoning everything else they are required to do. That’ s a challenge and the first casualty is teacher creativity. International reports also argue this point. Where’ s the pleasure in teaching if you don’ t have scope to be creative?
Programs long, intense creativity and relationships aspects of the vocation eroded pervasive negativity in the media comparatively low salary working conditions
So why don’ t people want to be teachers anymore? There are at least seven reasons people are no longer so keen.
1. Teacher education competency fixation
Our best teachers can inspire a student to achieve beyond their wildest expectations. They find the teachable moments, and also use humour to explain key concepts. They care for their students as individuals and go that extra mile to design their teaching to connect with them in meaningful ways. Their assessments are fair, and they rejoice with students when they master important ideas.
These professional attributes are the essence of good teaching, but accredited teacher education programs have to be designed around 37 competencies, as prescribed by the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership( AITSL), and these competencies do not address such personal attributes as these.
Having a competency framework is not so terrible; we need teachers to have observable capabilities to plan assessment,
Standardised tests, like NAPLAN, contribute to lack of enthusiasm to take up teaching
3. Lack of autonomy
Finland enjoys attention for their successful education system. Finnish teachers have an open brief to decide what to teach their students and how. In Australia we micromanage and control. The emphasis on play and the arts in Australian schools is lacking.
23 SCIENCE EDUCATIONAL NEWS VOL 67 NO 3