Young teachers ask the questions

Issues of workload, financial security and gaining permanent employment dominated the discussion at the recent IEU/ TMB Preservice and Early Career Teachers Day.

This event, held on Wednesday 17 July, was co-hosted by the IEU and TMB at the Briscoe Building.

More than 30 early career or preservice teachers listened to sessions on financial security and cybercrime, presented by TMB, as well as issues related to gaining and succeeding in employment.

Peter Grace, the Executive Director of the Catholic Council of School Parents, spoke about working with parents as a young teacher. David Browne, Executive Officer for the Professional Teachers Council, encouraged young teachers to join their professional associations and Amy Cotton, IEU Professional Officer, fielded lots of questions about accreditation, and the responsibilities of new teachers and their employers in this area.

However, the most popular part of the day were the two Ask Me Anything sessions. In the first session, Julie Terry, principal of St Brigid’s College in Lake Munmorah and Warren Poole, retired principal and now tertiary supervisor at UTS, spoke about what they look for in candidates. The key attributes were passion for working with children and knowledge of what the school or centre was like.

Following this, two of the IEU’s Young Member Initiative, Phoebe Craddock-Lovett and Marco Cimino spoke about their recollections of the early years of their teaching careers. In particular, they explained how they sought permanent employment, whether they thought accreditation was valuable, and how to navigate staffroom politics.

Some of the sessions were recorded and the Professional Development team will try to make these available on The IEU Zone (www.theieuzone.org.au) as soon as possible.

Keith Heggart
IEU Organiser