Page 4109 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 23 October 2018
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Too often, what presents itself as advocacy for education or children is just teacher-bashing in disguise. I may not be the one you would have expected to nominate this MPI for discussion. I am, after all, the high school dropout of the Assembly. When I hear others tell the story of the school teacher who inspired them to their political careers or their careers in general, I must admit that I scratch my head.
I was inspired to get here in the classroom of hard knocks, not the classroom of an inspiring teacher, although as my mother is a teacher I am sure she tried to be inspiring. But, again, that is not a criticism of the teachers involved. They did their work. They worked very hard to make sure that I was engaged. I just was not interested. They tried really hard. I was just—what is the parliamentary term?—a little brat. Let’s go with that.
As we have all of these conversations, both in here and in society, it is important that we maintain respect for the teachers involved. Neither the children nor the teachers involved in education are robots that we as community leaders can program. Too often I hear people advocate that we make a rule that they must do this or demand that one approach or another be taken in education. The reality is that every kid is different and each teacher is also different. Therefore, how each teacher deals with each kid in each situation is going to be different.
Many of the solutions to how we, as community leaders and as the government of the ACT, manage education for our kids have to acknowledge that difference. Sometimes when I talk like this I get this really odd argument come back at me. It goes something like this: “If we are not going to stand around micromanaging teachers and curriculums and prodding and testing the kids to within an inch of their mental health, how will we make sure they get a good education?” I may have exaggerated the federal Liberal government’s approach, but I am sure you all get what I mean.
The answer is actually quite simple: encourage and respect the professionalism of teachers. Respecting teachers and students requires us to put a lot of trust in those teachers. But it requires a lot more than that. It also requires us to give them the tools to do their job. Those tools are not just buildings and books; they are also training and professional development. After students themselves, the single most significant factor in the outcomes achieved in schools is the expertise and professionalism of the teachers facilitating learning.
I recently had the opportunity to hear from Minister Berry about the future of education strategy. This 10-year plan values teachers and provides them with the support they need to provide the education we want our kids to have. The future of education initiative enhances teacher skill through induction, partnerships between universities and schools, as well as highly effective continual professional learning programs that teachers in the ACT engage in as part of their professional role. Indeed, one of the four foundations in the future of education strategy is focused on teachers, on creating and supporting empowered, skilled educators across the system.
This includes ensuring high quality initial teacher training as well as ongoing professional learning, mentoring, coaching and support for educators and school
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