Submission to the Status of the Teaching Profession Inquiry by Teach For Australia

ABOUT TEACH FOR AUSTRALIA In Australia, lower socioeconomic (SES) communities face barriers to the type of education that their high SES peers are able to access. The lower the level of education a child obtains, the further their opportunities in life diminish. Teach For Australia (TFA) has a vision of an Australia where all children, regardless of background, attain an excellent education. As a not-for-profit organisation, TFA works to achieve this vision by recruiting Australia’s future leaders into the classroom to inspire, connect and empower them to a lifetime of action towards educational equity. As an overview, TFA’s flagship program (referred to as the ‘TFA Program’ hereon in): • • • •

Recruits, challenges and energises high-calibre people from all walks of life to become ‘Associates’ exceptional teachers and inspiring leaders; Associates complete an employment-based pathway into secondary teaching; TFA partners with the Australian Catholic University to provide Associates with a Master of Teaching (Secondary) (Professional Practice) as part of the TFA Program; and Associates work exclusively in schools from low SES communities.

To date, TFA has placed ten cohorts of 831 Associates across 181 partner schools in five states and territories. The TFA community has worked in almost 9,000 classrooms with over 175,000 students. The tenth cohort of over 150 Associates marks TFA’s largest cohort yet, at three times the size of the inaugural 2010 cohort. The most recent independent program evaluation of TFA found that Associates deliver the skills that schools need: •

•

By the end of their two-year placement, principals report that Associates demonstrate behaviours at both the ‘proficient’ and ‘highly accomplished’ level of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers more often than other teachers with similar experience; and Associates appear to have an accelerated path into formalised leadership roles, indicating that the TFA Program is developing a pipeline of leaders in schools.

TFA firmly believes that achieving educational equity requires classroom-, school- and systems-level leadership. As ambassadors of TFA’s vision, Alumni work across various sectors, contributing to educational equity in myriad ways. Eighty-five per cent of Alumni remain working in the education sector, contributing to TFA’s vision through teaching, school leadership, social enterprise, policy, government and non-profit roles. In addition to the career pathways of Alumni, more than half of the network contribute resources such as time, skills and funds to the pursuit of an Australia where all children, regardless of background, attain an excellent education.

CONTACT Craig Comrie Director, Government Relations and Development craig.comrie@teachforaustralia.org

Emily Pearson Head of Strategy and Impact emily.pearson@teachforaustralia.org

Level 1, 103 Flinders Lane Melbourne VIC 3000 https://www.teachforaustralia.org/

2 | TEACH FOR AUSTRALIA Submission to the Status of the Teaching Profession Inquiry

CONTENTS About Teach For Australia ........................................................................................................................ 2 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 4 Recommendations .................................................................................................................................. 5 Term of reference one .............................................................................................................................. 6 Term of reference two ............................................................................................................................ 11 Term of reference three .......................................................................................................................... 15 Term of reference four ............................................................................................................................ 17 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................ 20 Bibliography .......................................................................................................................................... 21

3 | TEACH FOR AUSTRALIA Submission to the Status of the Teaching Profession Inquiry

INTRODUCTION Teach For Australia welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the national discussion about the vital role that teachers and school leaders play in our community, democracy and economy. TFA would also like to express interest in providing verbal evidence to the inquiry and would do so in partnership with our Associates and Alumni. This submission shares the insights generated over the past ten years of our own successful model to attract, develop, support and retain high-impact teachers. The recommendations of this submission consider how TFAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s approach can inform a multi-level, multi-stakeholder strategy to advance the teaching profession in Australia. TFA believes that the following outcomes are what matter most to improve the status of the teaching profession. Achieving these outcomes will not occur through the isolated actions of just one stakeholder. Universities (and by extension, the Federal government), the major employer of teachers (state and territory governments) and schools have intertwined and complementary responsibilities to improve the status of the teaching profession. TFA recognises this, and has proposed a set of recommendations for these key stakeholders 1 based on the insights generated through growing and evolving the TFA Program over the past decade.

1 TFA acknowledges that the review committee will itself identify relevant stakeholders for the recommendations generated through this inquiry. While TFA has taken the approach of identifying stakeholders we believe are key to advance the status of the teaching profession, we invite the committee to consider our proposed recommendations from the perspective of additional stakeholders too, as deemed appropriate.

4 | TEACH FOR AUSTRALIA Submission to the Status of the Teaching Profession Inquiry

RECOMMENDATIONS By working together to advance classroom-, school- and system-level support to teachers and school leaders, Australia can achieve an equitable and excellent education system that enables students from all backgrounds to reach their full potential.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Attract top talent into teaching

(State/Territory Department of Education and Training)

FOR UNIVERSITIES

FOR EMPLOYER

FOR SCHOOLS

Universities receive increased funding for strategic marketing campaigns to increase prestige of teaching profession, aimed at prospective ITE students.

Invest in public campaigns to shift the narrative of the teaching profession to be more valued by society.

Publicly celebrate and recognise great teachers within the community.

Universities receive increased funding to embed a multi-stage selection process into ITE course entry, which includes a high academic benchmark.

Continuously engage with ITE providers to ensure teacher training is linked to the evolving skill requirements of teachers.

Continuously engage with State/Territory DETs to share evolving skill requirements of teachers, such that DETs can ensure teacher training is linked to such.

Embed the skillsets and mindsets needed of school leaders within ITE courses.

Increase funding to leadership professional development programs; require the completion of certified leadership training to be eligible for employment as Lead Teachers, Assistant Principals or Principals.

Identify emerging leadership talent to partake in leadership training; provide shadowing opportunities between emerging leaders and Lead Teachers, Assistant Principals or Principals.

Provide instructional coaches to early-career teachers

Make instructional coaching a pillar of pre-service teachers’ experience of school practicums.

Fund professional learning programs to develop instructional coaching skills of Highly Accomplished and Lead Teachers (HALT).

Designate HALT staff as mentors and pair with early-career teachers for instructional coaching.

Leverage online feedback platforms to develop teacher self-efficacy

Develop ITE students’ ability to collect student outcomes and student perception data, and use this to reflect on and inform practice.

Make it a requirement of school improvement plans to include the use of school-wide feedback platforms for all teachers.

Implement a whole-school strategy to collect, debrief on and learn from teacher feedback.

Ensure the exploration and understanding of different school contexts is linked to all ITE subjects and practicums.

Provide additional funding to schools to support early-career teachers’ professional learning about their school context, including developing strategies to respond to strengths and challenges of the community they work in.

Support early-career teachers to engage in professional learning about their school and community context (e.g. through reduction of administrative tasks to partake in certified programs and visit wraparound community support services).

Build collaboration into all elements of ITE to make this a norm of teacher practice. Leverage Alumni programs to connect ITE graduates.

Programs and events are facilitated by regional offices to connect teachers across both: • Affinity groups, such as career stage, subject, year level or position of responsibility; and • Mixed levels of expertise, such that early-career teachers can learn from more experienced others.

Support teachers to engage in programs that connect teachers to reflect, share and learn from each other (e.g. through reduction of administrative tasks to give teachers the time to authentically engage in collaboration and community building).

Select only the best future teachers

Endorse teaching as a pathway that develops credible and transferable leadership skillsets and mindsets

OUTCOMES

(As Initial Teacher Education (ITE) provider; via Federal Department of Education and Training)

Tailor professional learning to teachers' contexts

Foster collaboration and community within the teaching profession

Achieve a consistent understanding of the definition and rate of early-career teacher attrition

FOR FEDERAL DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING Establish a mechanism to track the career pathway of entrants into ITE courses, from ITE enrollment to securing a graduate position to teacher employment during the first five years.

(State/Territory Department of Education and Training)

FOR EMPLOYER Share workforce data with approved parties to enable tracking of early-career teacher retention.

5 | TEACH FOR AUSTRALIA Submission to the Status of the Teaching Profession Inquiry

TERM OF REFERENCE ONE

Increasing the attractiveness of the profession for teachers and principals, including workplace conditions, and career and leadership structures. The world’s top performing school systems make great teaching a priority, and invest in strategies to attract and select high-achieving individuals into teaching. There is growing public discourse in Australia for the need to follow suit, which ‘Through Growth to Achievement’ endorses. However, there appears to be less public narrative around the present challenge of attracting and developing school leadership talent, with prospective candidates for school leadership positions not being attracted to the role (ACER, 2014a). TFA believes that positioning ‘teaching’ and ‘leadership’ as two disparate school-based pathways can create a false dichotomy that isn’t conducive to fanning the aspirations of teachers as future school leaders. Accordingly, TFA’s recruitment model not only attracts and selects Australia’s top talent, but it positions teaching as leadership and develops the leadership skills of Associates to feel empowered to be a leader within both their classroom and their school.

RECOMMENDATION #1 Australia needs to

Attract top talent into teaching

TFA’s approach to achieve this

Raise the public perception of teaching

System recommendations informed by TFA’s approach

(As Initial Teacher Education (ITE) provider; via Federal Department of Education and Training)

(State/Territory Department of Education and Training)

FOR UNIVERSITIES

FOR EMPLOYER

FOR SCHOOLS

Universities receive increased funding for strategic marketing campaigns to increase prestige of teaching profession, aimed at prospective ITE students.

Invest in public campaigns to shift the narrative of the teaching profession to be more valued by society.

Publicly celebrate and recognise great teachers within the community.

TFA’S APPROACH: RAISE THE PUBLIC PERCEPTION OF TEACHING Australia’s most capable individuals are not currently seeing teaching as a career choice (Masters, 2016). Only 40 per cent of Australian teachers believe that teaching is valued by society (ACER, 2014b). The selective, high-quality nature of the TFA Program is one of the reasons why high-achievers are attracted to become Associates. TFA’s recruitment model deploys a range of integrated assets and actions to educate Australia’s top talent on the skills and qualities needed to be a high-performing teacher in a school serving a disadvantaged community. Applicants indicate that they are attracted to the TFA Program because of: • • • • •

The mission to address educational disadvantage; The opportunity to make an immediate impact; The selective, high-quality nature of the program (the average ATAR of Associates is above 90); The ability to develop strong leadership skills; and The ability to earn a wage as they contribute in the classroom while concurrently earning a Master of Teaching degree.

TFA’s targeted attraction efforts focus on identifying potential applicants with: •

High demand learning area qualifications;

6 | TEACH FOR AUSTRALIA Submission to the Status of the Teaching Profession Inquiry

• • • •

Academic and/or professional achievements (e.g. scholarship programs, professional accomplishments); Leadership skills (e.g. student leaders, start-up founders); Diverse backgrounds (e.g. university graduates, young professionals and career-changers); and Alignment with TFA’s vision to break the cycle of disadvantage (e.g. volunteer or community service experience).

RECOMMENDATION #2 Australia needs to TFA’s approach to achieve this

System recommendations informed by TFA’s approach

Select only the best future teachers Rigorous, multi-step selection process with academic and non-academic benchmarks (As Initial Teacher Education (ITE) provider; via Federal Department of Education and Training)

(State/Territory Department of Education and Training)

FOR UNIVERSITIES

FOR EMPLOYER

FOR SCHOOLS

Universities receive increased funding to embed a multi-stage selection process into ITE course entry, which includes a high academic benchmark.

Continuously engage with ITE providers to ensure teacher training is linked to the evolving skill requirements of teachers.

Continuously engage with State/Territory DETs to share evolving skill requirements of teachers, such that DETs can ensure teacher training is linked to such.

TFA’S APPROACH: USE A RIGOROUS, MULTI-STEP SELECTION PROCESS Australia needs to increase the rigour of entry into Initial Teacher Education (ITE) courses (McGaw, 2016). Highperforming education systems recruit teachers from the top third of the academic cohort (McKinsey & Company, 2010). Entry to ITE is now as competitive as entry to degrees such as law, science, engineering and medicine in those nations. Conversely, in Australia, less than half of school entrants into teaching were in the top thirty per cent of school-leavers in 2015 (Masters, 2015). In addition to being unapologetic about the academic performance required to be an effective teacher, highperforming education systems employ multi-step mechanisms to select teachers (Masters, 2015) and screen for additional, non-academic qualities considered important for a teacher to be highly effective (McKinsey & Company, 2010). In-line with the strategies of high-performing systems, TFA employs a rigorous three-stage selection process aligned to the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership’s (AITSL) ITE entry standards. In addition to an achievement benchmark, applicants are assessed against an additional seven non-academic competencies that evidence shows are critical to effective teaching. Each step has a grading rubric that outlines entrance criteria and minimum acceptable requirements for program acceptance. Applicants cite that they find the selection process professional, challenging and enjoyable 2. TFA’s admission criteria map explicitly to AITSL’s ITE selection standards as evidenced by the table on the following page.

2 Of 448 candidates surveyed in 2018, ninety-eight per cent agreed or strongly agreed that the recruitment process was professional, ninety per cent of applicants thought the selection process was equally or more challenging than other selection or assessment experiences they had experienced and ninety-five per cent enjoyed the selection process.

7 | TEACH FOR AUSTRALIA Submission to the Status of the Teaching Profession Inquiry

Academic

Non-Academic

AITSL STANDARD

TFA COMPETENCY

Prior academic achievement and/or other valid indicators that demonstrate relevant academic capability

Leadership & achievement: academic and other achievements that indicate an applicant is likely to set, pursue and achieve transformational results for their students

Motivation to teach

Commitment to mission: evidence of commitment to teaching and a motivation to address educational inequity

Strong interpersonal and communication skills

Communication and influencing ability: clear and confident communication and the ability to influence and motivate others

Willingness to learn

Learning and self-evaluation: openness to learning from others and to seeking out opportunities to do so

Resilience

Resilience: drive to work hard and overcome obstacles

Self-efficacy

Problem-solving: the ability to understand context, collect and analyse relevant information and make decisions based on evidence.

Conscientiousness

Humility, respect and empathy: evidence of understanding the perspective of others and finding the best in those around them

Organisational and planning skills

Organisational and planning ability: the ability to plan, organise and prioritise tasks effectively to meet goals

TFA’s overall recruitment approach has resulted in:   



11,000 applications received to date; An applied-to-placed conversion rate of eight per cent demonstrating the highly selective nature of the program; Achieving ‘Top 100 Graduate Employer’ status the last three years running in The Australian, currently sitting at number 28 ahead of major firms including Rio Tinto, Chevron, JP Morgan and Unilever, and the only non-profit or education-related organisation listed; and Strong evidence of additionality for the teaching profession. That is, attracting high achievers who would not have otherwise taught or pursued teaching immediately (ACER, 2013).

RECOMMENDATION #3 Australia needs to TFA’s approach to achieve this

Endorse teaching as a pathway that develops credible and transferable leadership skillsets and mindsets Position teaching as leadership; provide leadership training to emerging leaders (As Initial Teacher Education (ITE) provider; via Federal Department of Education and Training)

(State/Territory Department of Education and Training)

FOR UNIVERSITIES

FOR EMPLOYER

FOR SCHOOLS

Identify emerging leadership talent to partake in leadership training; provide shadowing opportunities between emerging leaders and Lead Teachers, Assistant Principals or Principals.

System recommendations informed by TFA’s approach Embed the skillsets and mindsets needed of school leaders within ITE courses.

8 | TEACH FOR AUSTRALIA Submission to the Status of the Teaching Profession Inquiry

TFA’S APPROACH: POSITION TEACHING AS LEADERSHIP The TFA Program is underpinned by Associates’ teaching experience and their development into qualified and effective teachers working towards improved outcomes for their students and communities. A key principle behind the TFA Program is the notion that effective teaching is a form of effective leadership. While many definitions of leadership exist, TFA positions leaders as someone that – • • • • • •

Prepares purposefully; Engages others; Implements effectively; Engages professionally; Understands self; and Understands change

– in order to turn a vision into reality. Leadership is not defined by role, but rather by these six critical behaviours which are themselves catalysed and driven by essential mindsets and attributes. At TFA, teacher leaders develop and contextualise these six behaviours in the classroom as they pursue a better future alongside, and in service of, their students. ‘It’s really important for me to ensure that amongst the everyday tasks I find space to lead strategic projects that are targeted and measurable. Part of this leadership also involves me taking other staff on the journey to develop them in their own right. I think that was a big part of my learning from TFA: the need to invest in staff as individuals and to provide room for mentorship not management.’

- ALYCE CLEARY School Principal, TFA Alumna, Cohort 2010

TFA’S APPROACH: PROVIDE LEADERSHIP TRAINING TO EMERGING LEADERS Leading schools has always been a complex undertaking, but with increasing decentralisation of decisionmaking across all systems in Australia, the responsibilities of principals and their leadership teams are becoming even more demanding. Leaders need to be identified early in their career, as recognised by high-performing education systems. Doing so enables future leaders to enhance their leadership capabilities through gaining experience in leadership roles and undertaking meaningful professional development (McKinsey & Company, 2010). As it currently stands, over thirty-five per cent of Australian principals report that they received no preparation for the role. When considering those who did, only fifty per cent of the leadership training received was deemed to be adequate in relevance and quality (OECD, 2014). Developing the pipeline of school leaders creates vital leverage points for education reform. Without targeted efforts to accelerate talented individuals into positions of formal leadership and influence, many will exit the education system in search of challenge and opportunity elsewhere - true of any workplace where exceptional talent remains undiscovered, underdeveloped or under-encouraged. Teach To Lead (TTL) is an additional program offered by TFA. TTL provides targeted professional development to middle-career teachers with leadership potential. TTL seeks to build emerging leaders’ skillsets, mindsets and self-efficacy and support their ambitions to lead the long-term improvement of schools in challenging contexts. The program has been extremely well received with positive outcomes already being realised – thirty per cent of Cohort 2017 and forty-five per cent of Cohort 2016 have gone on to achieve promotions in schools serving low

9 | TEACH FOR AUSTRALIA Submission to the Status of the Teaching Profession Inquiry

SES communities. Ninety-six per cent of Fellows say the program has improved their leadership performance more than any other activity. The framework used to guide the learning objectives of TTL identifies four focus areas for developing beliefs and behaviours that enable teachers to reach their leadership potential: • • • •

Leading Self: Leaders build a strong understanding of themselves to optimise professional relationships, sustain wellbeing, harness emotional energy and grow in one’s practice. Leading Others: Leaders develop others through coaching, delivering feedback and holding teams accountable for achieving goals. They understand, facilitate and support high-performance team work. Leading Learning: Leaders develop and implement approaches with teams to improve teaching and learning, making effective use of data and evidence to inform actions. Leading Change: Leaders engage their team to work towards a shared vision and to plan, implement and embed changes that generate improvement in outcomes for all students.

In addition to the TTL Program providing a pathway for emerging leadership talent to realise their ambitions within school systems, the benefits of school leadership on student outcomes should not be ignored. School leadership is second only to classroom instruction among all school-related factors that contribute to student learning (Leithwood et al., 2004). Experts in school leadership have concluded that ‘as far as we are aware, there is not a single documented case of a school successfully turning around its pupil achievement trajectory in the absence of talented leadership’ (Leithwood et al., 2006). ‘TTL has exceeded my expectations in the way it has built my capacity across a targeted range of leadership skills and qualities. It is by far the most powerful professional activity I have undertaken in my teaching career.’ ‘Because of the depth and breadth of TTL I was able to learn about leadership practice, have a format to implement that learning and coaching to back that learning up. This process is the best way for a person to learn.’ ‘The combination of an amazing team of leaders, a great mix of face to face sessions, the practical elements that are directly applicable in our schools and the incredible privilege of having a coach all add up to an incredible experience.’

- Teach To Lead Fellows (participants) Cohort 2017

10 | TEACH FOR AUSTRALIA Submission to the Status of the Teaching Profession Inquiry

TERM OF REFERENCE TWO

Provision of appropriate support platforms for teachers, including human and IT resources. Teaching is not an easy profession – and the nature of the TFA Program is even more challenging. TFA provides Associates with a comprehensive network to support their professional development as teacher leaders in school serving low SES communities. These support platforms are intersecting and do not occur in isolation (e.g. coaches reflect with Associates on their feedback support from online platforms), making the whole greater than the sum of its parts.

RECOMMENDATION #4 Australia needs to TFA’s approach to achieve this

System recommendations informed by TFA’s approach

Provide instructional coaches to early-career teachers Pair Associates with a Teaching and Leadership Adviser and School Mentor (As Initial Teacher Education (ITE) provider; via Federal Department of Education and Training)

(State/Territory Department of Education and Training)

FOR UNIVERSITIES

FOR EMPLOYER

FOR SCHOOLS

Fund professional learning programs to develop instructional coaching skills of Highly Accomplished and Lead Teachers (HALT).

Designate HALT staff as mentors and pair with earlycareer teachers for instructional coaching.

Make instructional coaching a pillar of pre-service teachers’ experience of school practicums.

TFA’S APPROACH: PAIR ASSOCIATES WITH A TEACHING AND LEADERSHIP ADVISER AND SCHOOL MENTOR The role of high quality instructional coaching still remains a signature feature of the TFA Program. TFA provides Associates with three levers of coaching support – a Teaching and Leadership Adviser, a School Mentor and an Academic Mentor. The Academic Mentor supports with the Initial Teacher Education component of the TFA Program, and whilst a vital component of the TFA Program, will not be discussed further within this submission. Teaching and Leadership Adviser (TLA) After nearly a decade implementing and evolving the TLA role, TFA has developed an astute understanding of early-career teachers’ needs in instructional coaching. Coaching for early-career teachers is most effective when it combines strong pastoral care with targeted instructional improvement. Strong relationships and rapport are essential prerequisites for coaching, but have the added benefit of ensuring teachers’ personal needs and challenges are acknowledged and supported. Coupled with a common language or framework for quality teaching, TLAs are able to guide participants to set and achieve ambitious goals for their students and themselves by tailoring coaching to raise the quality of planning, engagement, classroom management and instructional delivery. Coaching must take a student-centred and evidence-driven approach. TLAs draw on a range of data points as they co-analyse student and teacher evidence with Associates to determine strengths and growth areas for teaching and learning. The importance of utilising multiple points of data to drive teacher improvement is well established and endorsed by experts in Australia and internationally (Grattan Institute, 2011; Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 2013). Data provides both a baseline to identify goals for improvement and reflect on growth in teaching and learning. Effective coaching for early-career teachers needs to be authentic, recurring and cyclical. The TLA will meet with their Associates on average three to four times per term. These interactions involve observations, feedback and 11 | TEACH FOR AUSTRALIA Submission to the Status of the Teaching Profession Inquiry

coaching meetings. By engaging the participants inside and outside their day-to-day classroom activities, coaching is grounded in an authentic classroom and school context. The coaching process creates a cycle of reflection and action, whereby prior goals and progress provide the starting point for new coaching cycles. This creates a sense of continuity and positive accountability for Associates, who can create a thread of progress over extended periods of time. School Mentor As part of the TFA Program, TFA partner schools commit to providing a School Mentor as on-the-ground contextual support, complementing the support Associates receive from their TLA. Mentoring helps to nurture early-career teachers in the beginning stages of their professional growth. Research has consistently found that new teachers experience a range of benefits from quality mentoring relationships, including emotional support, increased confidence, improved self-reflection, problemsolving capabilities and the development of classroom management practices and norms (Hobson et al., 2009). School Mentors benefit from a comprehensive two-year training program provided by TFA. Effective mentoring practices are developed through an evidence-based professional learning curriculum called the Mentor Development Program. Designed to build best-practice skills and knowledge for effective mentoring, the Mentor Development Program supports mentor teachers’ professional growth through in-person training, online learning modules, regional professional learning communities and collaborative practice. School Mentors regularly communicate with their Associate’s TLA to provide the necessary wrap-around support early-career teachers need. The mentor/mentee relationship is mutually beneficial, with mentors reporting benefits to their own development and learning (Lopez-Real & Kwan, 2005). ‘The coaching throughout the program gave me constant feedback on my teaching, allowing me to improve much more, and at a faster rate, than if I had not had it. Both the Teaching and Leadership Adviser from the program and my mentor at school were experienced teachers. Their guidance and feedback were invaluable throughout as a new teacher.’

- Ying Qin Teacher and Technology Coordinator, TFA Alumna, Cohort 2016

12 | TEACH FOR AUSTRALIA Submission to the Status of the Teaching Profession Inquiry

RECOMMENDATION #5 Australia needs to

Leverage online feedback platforms to develop teacher self-efficacy

TFA’s approach to achieve this

Use of Pivot Professional Learning student survey and TeachBoost coaching platform to develop teachers’ self-efficacy

System recommendations informed by TFA’s approach

(As Initial Teacher Education (ITE) provider; via Federal Department of Education and Training)

(State/Territory Department of Education and Training)

FOR UNIVERSITIES

FOR EMPLOYER

Develop ITE students’ ability to collect student outcomes and student perception data, and use this to reflect on and inform practice.

Make it a requirement of school improvement plans to include the use of school-wide feedback platforms for all teachers.

FOR SCHOOLS Implement a whole-school strategy to collect, debrief on and learn from teacher feedback.

TFA’S APPROACH: USE OF PIVOT PROFESSIONAL LEARNING STUDENT SURVEY AND TEACHBOOST COACHING PLATFORM TO DEVELOP TEACHERS’ SELF-EFFICACY In addition to supporting its Associate teachers through the fostering of coaching and mentoring relationships, TFA supports Associates through building their self-efficacy. TFA provides two IT platforms to Associates throughout their two-year experience – Pivot Professional Learning’s student survey and the TeachBoost coaching platform. Both these IT resources are designed to capture feedback on a teacher’s practice such that they can use this information to identify areas for growth and embed areas of strength, ultimately contributing to building Associates’ self-efficacy (OECD, 2018). Pivot Professional Learning offers an online, evidence-based student survey to Australian teachers and schools. The survey is mapped to the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers, and results are collated into an interactive report to help guide teacher professional learning goals and whole-school strategy setting. The Pivot student survey asks students to reflect on their teacher and classroom environment. The survey gives students a voice and provides teachers with direct student feedback. Pivot Professional Learning’s online platform provides a suite of resources to teachers based on their survey results, to support them to continue to grow their pedagogical approach. The Commonwealth of Australia’s Productivity Commission’s 2018 report on Government Services lists student perception surveys as the key metric to collect data on quality teaching in Australian schools. The results of student perception surveys have been found to correlate with student achievement gains (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 2012a). TeachBoost is a collaborative online feedback platform designed to engage Associates with their TLAs and School Mentors in an ongoing, evolving dialogue that fosters the development of effective teachers. TeachBoost is used to capture classroom observation notes, as well as reflection conversations between TLAs and School Mentors with their Associates about their pedagogy and development as a teacher. Observations of Associates’ practice is grounded in TFA's Leadership Continuum, which is based on the Charlotte Danielson Framework for Teaching. The results of observations that utilise the Danielson Framework have been found to correlate with student achievement gains (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 2012b). Providing feedback to teachers that both celebrates their strengths and challenges them to address their areas of growth has been linked to building teachers’ self-efficacy. Supporting the development of self-efficacy is associated with improvements in teachers’ instructional practice, motivation, attitude, commitment, job satisfaction and student outcomes. Conversely, it has been found that lower levels of teacher self-efficacy can lead to teachers experiencing more difficulties with student misbehaviour, increased job-related stress and decreased job satisfaction (OECD, 2018). The OECD recommends to policy makers to institute meaningful systems of feedback that connect with teachers’ practice. TFA has demonstrated how this can be achieved through capitalising on online IT feedback platforms.

13 | TEACH FOR AUSTRALIA Submission to the Status of the Teaching Profession Inquiry

RECOMMENDATION #6 Australia needs to TFA’s approach to achieve this

System recommendations informed by TFA’s approach

Tailor professional learning to teachers’ contexts Provide Associates with ongoing professional development focused on the needs of teachers working in schools serving low socioeconomic communities (As Initial Teacher Education (ITE) provider; via Federal Department of Education and Training)

(State/Territory Department of Education and Training)

FOR UNIVERSITIES

FOR EMPLOYER

FOR SCHOOLS

Ensure the exploration and understanding of different school contexts is linked to all ITE subjects and practicums.

TFA’S APPROACH: PROVIDE ASSOCIATES WITH ONGOING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOCUSED ON THE NEEDS OF TEACHERS WORKING IN SCHOOLS SERVING LOW SOCIOECONOMIC COMMUNITIES In addition to the benefits of coaching and feedback as support platforms, early-career teachers also require support to understand their teaching context. TFA prioritises the development of Associates’ contextual knowledge and understanding of the specific circumstances of their placement schools. This includes structured school visits in advance of commencing employment, a focus on identifying student, classroom and community strengths, and building a realistic understanding of the challenges that they may face in their particular school contexts. Classroom management is a common issue that nearly all early-career teachers struggle with in most contexts, but particularly in schools that serve vulnerable populations (Giallo & Little, 2003; Mayer et al., 2015). More intensive focus on building a repertoire of research-based effective classroom management strategies is integral to professional learning as ongoing support. TFA has prioritised developing a curriculum of classroom management for Associates that includes the following: •

Workshops utilizing Marzano’s (2001) key classroom management concepts and practices, including ‘withitness’, ‘emotional objectivity’, creating and teaching explicit routines and procedures and disciplinary interventions; • Workshops on Saphier’s (2008) Attention Continuum, which provides an array of explicit strategies that enable teachers to manage their classrooms with a balance of proactivity and positivity, as well as responsiveness and authority; and • A particular focus on classroom management by instructional coaches in the first semester. Strengthening knowledge and expertise in trauma-informed pedagogy also supports Associates to thrive as teachers in challenging settings, rather than just survive. The Berry Street Education Model (BSEM) is a robust, evidence-based Australian program designed for teachers to meet the needs of Australia’s most vulnerable students. The BSEM is based on best-practice in positive education, neuroscience and pedagogy, and has been evaluated as contributing significant benefits to outcomes in student learning gains, student social-emotional learning and teacher well-being and resiliency. TFA partners with Berry Street to include the BSEM as part of the TFA Program. By strengthening Associates’ capacity to implement trauma-informed pedagogy, they are able to better de-escalate challenging behavior, help their most challenging students to build their self-regulation and stamina for learning, and build positive relationships and productive learning environments for all students.

14 | TEACH FOR AUSTRALIA Submission to the Status of the Teaching Profession Inquiry

TERM OF REFERENCE THREE

Identifying ways in which the burden of out-of-hours, at-home work can be reduced. As noted in ‘Through Growth to Achievement’, collaboration is increasingly valued in the education sector. A key reason is because it allows for teaching to become 'de-privatised', as opposed to teachers working in isolation and being independently responsible for their teaching practice. Intentional opportunities for teacher collaboration enhances collegiality and enables the diffusion of high quality resources, tools and practices. This reduces the perceived need for teachers to constantly reinvent the wheel when it comes to instructional design for their classes, and positively influences their workload. TFA has developed a repertoire of strategies to promote collaboration and community-building across its network. It is noteworthy that TFA’s drive to develop a strong sense of community within and across cohorts not only promotes teacher collaboration, but also offers an additional support structure to Associates. Accordingly, the sense of community TFA fosters within Associates doubles as a support platform of the TFA Program, and hence also relates to term of reference two.

RECOMMENDATION #7 Australia needs to TFA’s approach to achieve this

System recommendations informed by TFA’s approach

Foster collaboration and community within the teaching profession Foster connection and sharing via community building events, TeachMeets, in-person workshops and virtual platforms (As Initial Teacher Education (ITE) provider; via Federal Department of Education and Training)

(State/Territory Department of Education and Training)

FOR UNIVERSITIES

FOR EMPLOYER

FOR SCHOOLS

Build collaboration into all elements of ITE to make this a norm of teacher practice. Leverage Alumni programs to connect ITE graduates.

TFA’S APPROACH: FOSTER CONNECTION AND SHARING TeachMeets are informal, teacher-led professional development sessions that share practical insights and innovations between educators. TeachMeet groups may be tailored based on specific contextual factors (learning area, region, type of school, thematic focus), and thus Associates are empowered to share ‘what works’ with their peers. TeachMeets at TFA events have become a showcase for new and innovative practices, and often lead to further collaboration and sharing between Associates. Conference-style workshops at TFA professional learning events offer an adjunct to TeachMeets by inviting TFA staff, university staff, TFA Program Alumni or local experts in particular areas to share pedagogical insights that are grounded in the practical realities of the classroom. For example, Associates participate in focused ‘parallel track’ sessions which are hosted by Alumni recognised as strong performers in a particular pedagogy element. During the parallel track sessions, Alumni share subjects and year-level curriculum resources with Associates, such as lesson plans, learning activities and assessments.

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Community-building events are another key ingredient to promoting collaboration. These events are designed to inspired, connect and empower Associates and Alumni, and take a variety of formats: • •

•

Expert panels invite leaders from across sectors to discuss key issues in education; Design thinking workshops encourage local groups of teachers to identify a challenge pertinent to their classroom, school, or community context and engage in design thinking to strategise potential solutions; and Regional dinners bring Associates and Alumni together informally, giving them the space to discuss the rewards and demands of teaching.

Regardless of the type of event, community-building plays an integral role in nurturing a sense of collectivity amongst teachers. These events support teachers through the stressors and workload challenges common to most in the profession, but often amplified for those in their first years of teaching. As TFA places Associates across the country, the organisation also mediates online platforms to promote teacher collaboration regardless of location. Associates share resources, teaching tips and the highs and lows of teaching in challenging environments with their TFA community. This promotes a national sense of comradeship within the cohort, which acts as a protective factor when Associates do experience periods of significant out-of-hours and at-home work. ‘As a cohort of well over 100 teachers working in a range of teaching areas we form a collective with access to a wealth of resources, including those we develop ourselves. On countless occasions resources that have been posted by the group have saved me several hours of at-home class preparation, allowing a little more time with my family.’

- Steve Leonard TFA Associate, Cohort 2018

‘This [an online collaboration platform] has helped because I've received advice or ideas about how to improve my practice, people have shared resources that I don't then have to go and create myself. People have answered questions that would have taken me longer to try to answer myself. I've also shared resources between TFA Associates in Messenger chats and Google Drives, which, again, has meant we don't all have to create them ourselves. Also, the sharing of resources and ideas has meant I've been given ideas for activities that I would have spent a long time discovering myself.’

- Bernadette Young TFA Associate, Cohort 2017

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TERM OF REFERENCE FOUR

Investigating ways to increase retention rates for the teaching profession, and avoid ‘burn out’ among early-career teachers. Ultimately, embedding career and leadership structures for teachers (term of reference one), providing appropriate support platforms for teachers (term of reference two) and identifying ways to reduce the burden of workload (term of reference three) culminate in creating workforce conditions that are conducive to retaining teachers in the profession.

RECOMMENDATION #8 Australia needs to TFA’s approach to achieve this

Achieve a consistent understanding of the definition and rate of early-career teacher attrition Tracking the career pathway of Alumni who complete the program (State/Territory Department of Education and Training)

FOR UNIVERSITIES System recommendations informed by TFA’s approach

Establish a mechanism to track the career pathway of entrants into ITE courses, from ITE enrollment to securing a graduate position to teacher employment during the first five years.

FOR EMPLOYER Share workforce data with approved parties to enable tracking of early-career teacher retention.

The lack of robust evidence on the rate of teacher attrition (Weldon, 2018) and an inconsistent view of how to define teacher attrition (AITSL, 2016) presents challenges for any government or organisation to set truly informed strategies to promote teacher retention in Australia. Further, even when individuals do consider themselves as ‘career teachers’, this does not mean their career in schools will be linear – they may step in and out of the teaching profession at different points across their working life. Clearly defining the extent of teacher attrition in Australia is the most pressing priority to set purposeful and informed strategies that will optimally address the issue. Accordingly, achieving a national and consistent understanding as to what constitutes teacher attrition and the rate of teacher attrition will be TFA’s sole recommendation to the key stakeholders involved in addressing teacher retention. TFA is grateful for the opportunity to work closely with individuals throughout their teaching journey - as their interest in teaching is sparked; as they complete their ITE degree; as they teach in schools; and as they navigate their career pathway onward from early-career teachers. As part of this journey, TFA supports Associates to understand how they can personally and professionally contribute to addressing educational disadvantage in Australia through a lifetime of action within and outside of the classroom. In recognition of the pivotal role of teachers in improving students’ outcomes (Hattie, 2003), TFA implements a range of strategies to empower Associates to make the choice to remain within the teaching profession as their contribution to tackling educational inequity. In the absence of clarity on the definition and rate of teacher attrition, the organisation has consulted its community to understand how best to do so. TFA’s approach could inform system-wide retention strategies after a consistent understanding of the definition and rate of earlycareer teacher attrition has been achieved. TFA’s own insights, confirmed by research findings, attest that there is no ‘silver bullet’ to solve for teacher attrition. Myriad intersecting factors contribute to the decision of teachers - particularly early-career teachers to stay or leave the profession (Mason, 2015). Some of these are within an education system’s control, while others are not (e.g. family circumstance).

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TFA’s approach to support teacher retention is based on a belief that a positive teaching experience compels teachers to want to remain in the classroom. Ninety-three per cent of Associates who commence their training complete the two-year program, and sixty-seven per cent of TFA Associates who have completed the TFA Program are currently teaching 3. As referenced above, it is not possible to compare this rate to that of traditionally-trained teachers, however based on currently available (albeit tenuous) estimates, it is likely that the TFA Program teacher retention figures are comparable, if not higher, than traditional teacher pathways.

BUILD SELF-EFFICACY Teachers’ sense of self-efficacy is linked to teacher retention (Mayer et al., 2015). As described above, TFA utilises IT platforms to build Associates’ self-efficacy through feedback. This is augmented through their coaching relationship with both their Teaching and Leadership Adviser and their School Mentor, who work with Associates to celebrate their strengths and challenge them to address their areas of growth based on this feedback. TFA also supports Associates to undertake a ‘Classroom Impact Initiative’ in their second year of the program. Ultimately, the Classroom Impact Initiative builds Associates’ self-efficacy through up-skilling them to diagnose, track, and report on their students’ developmental progress. Associates are empowered to use this information to make evidence-informed decisions about their students’ ongoing learning needs.

FOSTER SUPPORTIVE RELATIONSHIPS In addition to the support provided by TLAs and School Mentors to promote Associates’ self-efficacy, having access to an in-school mentor is a consistent theme across the literature to support early-career teacher retention (Queensland College of Teachers, 2013; Mayer et al., 2015). As described in term of reference two, all Associates are coupled with an experienced teacher in a mentoring relationship across a two-year period. Please refer to TFA’s submission under this term of reference for further information on the provision of a School Mentor to Associates. TFA makes placement decisions based on schools being evaluated to have a leadership culture conducive to supporting early-career teachers. Before an Associate is placed at a school, placement staff meet with the principal to understand the school’s leadership environment, and ensure Associates will be properly supported. This information is used to improve school engagement, matching, placement and school orientation so the Associate experience is positive and leads to a greater probability of wanting to continue in the teaching profession. When TFA recognises a potential placement school that doesn’t yet have a fully supportive leadership structure in place, the organisation works with the school to familiarise them with the Teach To Lead program, and encourage staff in leadership roles to apply.

ADDRESS HIGH WORKLOAD AND PROMOTE SELF-CARE A demanding workload is linked to teacher attrition (Howes & Goodman-Delahunty, 2015). As such, TFA has gone to considerable effort to integrate the teaching experience, Master’s degree requirements and program expectations for Associates. The aim of this integration is to enable Associates to have a cohesive, positive experience during their first two years of teaching that is manageable from a workload perspective. To further embed teacher self-care to mitigate against periods of high workload that are inevitable for the teaching profession, TFA runs a module titled Promoting Wellbeing for Associates. This module is designed to equip Associates to look after their own wellbeing and that of their students, and the content is designed around two key collaborations with external groups: •

Berry Street, an independent community service organisation. The Berry Street curriculum is based on classroom strategies informed by their approach to trauma-informed learning and the science of wellbeing. Further information on the Berry Street Education Model is provided in term of reference two; and

Four per cent of these individuals are currently teaching overseas, with the likelihood they will return to teaching in Australia.

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•

BRiTE program, developed by a consortium of teacher educators. The aim of the BRiTE program is to help developing teachers build their awareness of the skills and practices that will help facilitate resilience in their teaching career. The program supports teachers to build resilience within themselves and their students, maintain relationships, manage work-life balance and develop emotional awareness.

RESPOND TO THE OUT-OF-FIELD TEACHING CRISIS Teaching out-of-field is linked to teacher attrition (ACER, 2016), with science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects reported to have with the most unfilled teacher vacancies (ACER, 2014a). In Australia, approximately one in three secondary maths classes are taught by out-of-field teachers, and seventy-six per cent of secondary students will be taught maths by an out-of-field teacher for one or up to all years of their schooling, from Years 7-10 (Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute, 2018). Early-career teachers are more likely to teach out-of-field compared to their more experienced colleagues. A third of teachers in their first two years of teaching teach out-of-field for at least part of the time, compared to a quarter of teachers with more than five years’ experience (ACER, 2016). By contrast, one hundred per cent of TFA Associates teach within their subject specialisation for their first two years in the classroom. ACER (2016) suggests that this strategy has links to teacher retention, stating that ‘one way of improving the retention of early-career teachers in secondary schools would be to ensure that they are not required to teach outside their subject areas for at least the first two years of their teaching career’. Attracting high-achieving graduates and professionals with STEM qualifications is a key area of TFA’s recruitment strategy. To date, forty-four per cent of all Associates are eligible to teach STEM subjects, with over half of these STEM teachers being able to teach maths and/or physics. As Associates are placed in true vacancies within hard-to-staff schools, sometimes these Associates are the key factor in schools being able to offer a senior-secondary maths or science class to its students.

‘Our partnership with TFA has allowed us to continue to facilitate VCE [Victorian Curriculum of Education] physics. We were struggling to find teachers to fill the position, and TFA was able to match us with Associates who could.’ ‘We are seeing a lot of innovation in the science department – the subjects we offer haven’t expanded, however we have shifted to more practical classes with hands-on elements. Our Associates who teach sciences are actively looking at ways to link the broader community with the school within their classes.’

- Glenn Kane Principal of Heywood District Secondary College in Victoria, a Partner School of TFA since 2017

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CONCLUSION As a nation, Australians aspire to a fair society in which every student can realise their potential. As it stands, students from low socioeconomic communities are not receiving the educational opportunities that they need to reach this goal. Improving the status of the teaching profession is complex and multi-faceted, but the reward would be immense. Students, teachers, schools, communities and the economy have much to gain. Australia’s education system should aspire to: • • • • • • • •

Raise the prestige of teaching in order to attract top talent into the profession; Increase the rigour of entry into ITE courses to select only the best future teachers; Develop leadership skillsets and mindsets in teachers; Train and provide instructional coaches to support early-career teachers; Leverage digital technology such as online feedback platforms to develop teacher self-efficacy; Strengthen teachers’ knowledge, respect and understanding of the context in which they work; Foster collaboration within the teaching community; and Define the extent of early-career teacher attrition, to then devise informed strategies to support retention.

TFA’s submission to this inquiry has made recommendations for universities (and by extension, the Federal government), the major employer of teachers (state and territory governments) and schools, regarding how to achieve these outcomes, based on the insights generated through growing and evolving the TFA Program over the past decade. While the role of families, community organisations, corporate and philanthropic institutions and the union movement were outside the scope of this submission, TFA notes that they are also critical players in creating ideal learning environments both inside and outside of schools in order to add value to the work of teachers and school leaders. Improving the status of the teaching profession is a shared responsibility. We know what needs to be done to achieve this – ‘Through Growth to Achievement’ and ‘Action Now: Classroom Ready Teachers’ have extensively highlighted this. We need to now set our sights on the how, using evidence and insights from both research and successful models within the sector to inform strategic action. TFA looks forward to the findings of this committee, and is grateful for the opportunity to contribute to a national discussion on supporting teachers and school leaders as key players in pursuit of an Australia where all children, regardless of background, attain an excellent education.

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