Have you ever heard the saying “with great power comes great responsibility”?
In today’s education sector, this quote resonates with many new and veteran teachers as they are expected to take on more demanding responsibilities. In fact, the more experienced teachers become in their field of expertise, the more pressured they feel to be physically present in all aspects of their students’ life. Whether that be socially, culturally or politically, every teacher is now expected to be a type of “parent” or “school mum.”
With such a growing shift in the roles and demands of teachers, there is no doubt in my mind that teachers are becoming one of the most undervalued professions in Australia today. In fact, could it be this feeling of being undervalued that has led to statistics which suggest that between 30% and 50% of new teachers leave their profession within their first five years? 20% of education graduates aren’t even registering as teachers when they finish their degree.
Could this constant change in responsibilities really be the cause of such dramatic statistics?
To help out with an answer to this question (because I am by no means an expert), I reached out to former teacher Carla Anderson. Carla has taught classes from kindergarten to year 12 in NSW public schools and she said that the issues underpinning the excessive workload and stress faced by teachers today were complex and cautioned against over-simplifying them.
“It’s true that today’s teachers have more pressures than ever before. A lot of teachers are dealing with unhealthy levels of stress that come from ever-changing education policy and curriculum, an increased burden of administration and paperwork, and a perception that, as a profession, they aren’t as highly respected as they should be,” Carla Anderson explained.
“But I think parents and teachers share a lot in common- both of us want the very best for the young people in our care, and that’s always our common goal. Ideally, it’s a partnership, but I don’t think it’s helpful to suggest it’s one party’s responsibility more so than another’s.”
The question still remains however. Why are so many teachers leaving their career in education?
“I think it’s easy for people to lose sight of the positives of our education system,” Carla said.
“Most teachers are in the profession because they want to see their students’ reach their very best potential- just like parents’ do. They want to make a difference and are constantly evaluating and improving on their teaching practice to do so. Despite the attrition rate and often challenging conditions, there are still passionate young people who are joining the profession and there are still plenty of experienced, dedicated teachers working hard day, night and weekends for their students. They do so because they care and they do so because they believe in the importance of education. And that’s the norm, not the exception.”
With that said, I think it’s fair to say that even with a small number of teachers leaving their chosen profession, it’s important to look after those who still try their best for their students. Being an educator to the children of the next generation is no easy feet and responsibilities will continue to grow and shift. What’s more important however, is how teachers adapt to these changes and how we as a community pitch in and help. We all know that there’s really no harm in that!
*Originally published on BLLC*
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