Some Suggestions for Solving the Teacher Workforce Crisis

The calculus is simple, no teachers mean no education, pinning down a solution to the dwindling workforce is harder.

A real rethink of how teachers are being trained and how they progress to the workforce is one way to address the problem and that means that states, unis and schools need to work together in some kind of coordinated fashion.

Simply paying teachers more might provide an initial sugar rush of enthusiasm but if the culture remains the same and the grind and lack of support persist it probably won’t provide a lasting solution.

"Quick fixes and installing emergency measures hold little prospect of meaningful action to address the workforce crises in Australian schools," says Claire Wyatt-Smith, the Director of the Institute for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education at ACU and Professor of Educational Assessment and Literacy.

"Transformative thinking is needed. For this, we need new evidence, and new mindsets for asking different, bold questions that provoke radical rethinking of teacher preparation and career progression.  We also need openness to real partnerships across national and state levels, and rigorous evidence-informed interventions," says Prof Wyatt-Smith.

"All these issues must be taken seriously. That means addressing the lack of data on teacher retention. In particular, longitudinal data that authentically shows the narrative of teachers’ progression, through their initial training, graduation and beyond. Without this data, we will not be able to provide targeted, long-term solutions. This is the data-set that, in an Australian first, the Institute for Learning Sciences and partners are beginning to build.”

The current problem might be seen as an opportunity to reform the whole system of teacher training and the management of a teacher’s entire career.

Laureate Professor Jennifer Gore University of Newcastle, AARE says, "Addressing the teacher shortage creates a rare opportunity for education reform that genuinely supports teachers and lifts outcomes for millions of students."

"To capitalise on this opportunity, we must adopt a system-wide approach that considers the entire teacher lifecycle, with three critical points at which reform could make a big difference," says Prof Gore.

"The first is recruitment into teacher education. Despite what others say, our research based on more than 12,000 surveys shows teaching to be a popular career choice among school students. We must do better at nurturing the interest that exists.

"The second is initial teacher education. Despite relentless critiques of teacher preparation, our evidence shows beginning teachers deliver teaching of equal quality to their more experienced colleagues. This suggests ITE is doing relatively well at preparing teachers. Reform must be based on evidence not unfounded opinion," Professor Gore says.

"The third is retention of the 300,000 teachers currently in the workforce. It is critical that we address their working conditions and invest in initiatives with clear evidence of positive effects on teachers and students.

"Our program of research on Quality Teaching and Quality Teaching Rounds provides robust evidence of a high-impact, low-cost way to support policy at all three points. This tested approach positions teaching as intellectually stimulating work which can make the profession more attractive and raise its status," says Professor Gore. "Collectively, this work can play a significant role in addressing teacher shortages and improving education in Australia."

For Professor Susan Ledger from University of Newcastle, NSWCDE, the teacher shortage needs to be addressed with a whole of government approach.

"Teacher shortages, like droughts, creep up slowly, but when they hit – it is devastating and far reaching," says Professor Ledger. "Our response to the teacher shortage could benefit from a whole of government approach, as employed by the Government Drought Response, Resilience and Preparedness Plan, focusing on three clearly defined parts: immediate action, support for the wider community, and long-term resilience and preparedness of profession."

"Common messages have emerged from all recent reports and reviews on education. The recent QITE review highlighted the need to reduce the burden on teachers. The recent inquiry into teacher shortage also identified the bureaucratic burden on teachers and principals and highlighted the need to raise the public profile of teaching.

"A focus on these two strategies alone could help entice more teachers back into the workforce and more students into initial teacher education.  The current focus on fast tracking, putting unqualified teachers into the workforce are short term responses that may have detrimental impact on the profession. However, the current problem offers opportunity for creative reform."

If attracting teachers to schools in the city is hard, the problem is greater still for the rural and remote setting and recruiting teachers to the bush needs an entirely new approach.

Associate Professor Jane Hunter (University of Technology Sydney) says, "Incentives for new graduates to teach in rural and remote areas requires a set of bespoke motivations rather than a one-size fits all approach.”

"The seeming reluctance of governments to really utilise the vast body of excellent research in teacher education that Australian universities produce is quite staggering. We cannot afford to pay lip-service to evidence-based studies to inform policy, it’s time to put long-term, generational solutions into practice," says Assoc Prof Hunter.

"Rural and remote schools are sites of chronic teacher shortages. It’s a difficult problem that must be addressed, and one that requires sustained solutions to the crisis we are now faced with," Assoc Prof Hunter says.

"My time as a teacher in a rural high school was probably my penultimate teaching experience. I learned so much professionally and personally. Throughout that time, I was supported by a constructive community and supportive colleagues."

"Remote incentives buoyed by a tied scholarship of at least three to four years for course work and packages to stay longer, including reimbursement of HECS costs, will assist with school leaver attraction into initial teacher education and subsequent retention once in the field.

“These kinds of strategies require a well-resourced and targeted marketing campaign featuring case studies of rural and remote teachers who have made or are making their professional lives away from urban settings.”

Dr Janet Dutton of Macquarie University agrees that support for early career teachers is essential to keep them motivated to stay on in the profession.

"Education students must be appropriately mentored in their transition to the teaching profession. Otherwise, we risk losing our future teachers before graduation due to burnout and lack of support," says Dr Dutton, who is a Senior Lecturer in the Macquarie School of Education.

"Plans for more teacher education students to move into paid work in schools will mean a need for high quality paraprofessional programs, to be managed jointly by schools and universities. Education students must be appropriately mentored in their transition to the teaching profession. Otherwise, we risk losing our future teachers before graduation due to burnout and lack of support."

"We know effective school/university partnerships in initial teacher education employ flexible, tailored transition programs where experienced teachers actively mentor to further build teacher education students’ classroom skills, knowledge, and confidence. Programs must involve diverse classroom experiences, including co-teaching, as well as broader school interactions, all with an eye on effective future classroom practice," says Dr Dutton.