When teacher shortages bite, fast-tracking trainees may seem logical. But any use of teachers who are not yet fully qualified requires properly resourced mentorships, writes Will Brodie.
The General Secretary of the IEU’s Victoria Tasmania Branch, David Brear, is thankful that the days when graduate teachers were thrown into the classroom “without any form of structured support” are mostly gone.
And yet, he says, there are still significant issues with the way mentorship is provided in Victoria.
“Prior to the establishment of the Victorian Institute of Teachers and the introduction of provisional registration, teachers in non-government schools were fully registered when they completed their initial teacher training,” Brear says.
“Provisional registration created an additional hurdle new teachers had to negotiate before they could be fully registered. Of course, what went with that was a greater call on schools to provide mentorship and support.
“There was not, however, an accompanying increase in resourcing to free experienced staff up to provide that support, so those same teachers who had always dug deep into their own time to mentor and supervise preservice teachers were called on to mentor graduates, again in their own time.”
In schools before study finished
Over the past few years, as the impacts of teacher shortages have played out to devastating effect in schools, there has been a big increase in graduate teachers conditionally accredited, or provided with permission to teach, before they complete their formal qualification, says IEUA Federal Assistant Secretary Veronica Yewdall.
“While this option has been available for some time, it was rarely accessed, and usually when a student teacher was in the final semester of their course,” Yewdall says.
“Teacher shortage pressures have, perhaps understandably, resulted in this provision being invoked earlier than intended, such as during the third year of a four-year degree, but the impact on both the graduate teacher and their school colleagues needs to be considered and addressed.”
In addition, Yewdall says, when early career teachers take on responsibilities for a class, sometimes before finishing the final practicum or professional experience placement, the expectation remains that they must complete their qualification.
“Early career teachers in this position, while no doubt gratified to secure early employment, can face the considerable additional burden of juggling study requirements with the demands of a classroom full of students,” she says.
Structures crumbling
Experienced teachers have always provided professional support to early career and preservice teachers, whether in a formal role related to accreditation at Proficient Teacher level, or as part of a team of experienced teachers who guide and direct those just commencing their careers.
But when experienced teachers are themselves drowning in administrative and compliance tasks, it is difficult for them to support early career teachers.
This direct link between workload intensification and the failure to retain experienced teachers is undeniable. “It has led to a crumbling of even informal mentoring and supervisory structures in schools, with many dedicated teachers having no option other than to refuse to take on this additional service to protect their own health and wellbeing,” Yewdall says.
Most mentoring has now come to depend on the goodwill of experienced teachers. “It has blurred the lines between formal and informal supervisory and mentoring roles and placed even more pressure on experienced teachers.”
Union action, AITSL resources
In December 2023, the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) published Induction Guidelines for Early Career Teachers and Induction Guidelines for New School Leaders (see References).
The guidelines emphasise the importance of a comprehensive, quality induction process to support teachers at varying stages of their careers. They also underline the necessity of engagement with systems and sectors, principals and other education leaders and unions, to implement appropriate support.
“The IEU is committed to playing our part in this shared professional responsibility,” Yewdall says. “We’re working with education authorities and agencies to develop structures that offer meaningful support to teachers and that utilise the valuable skills of seasoned professionals in a formal and effective way, for the benefit of the entire profession.”
The IEU welcomed the opportunity to participate in the 2023 Review of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) undertaken by the federal government’s Teacher Education Expert Panel.
However, the union believes moves to incorporate accelerated pathways to teaching qualifications need to be carefully managed to protect the integrity and rigour of teacher education.
Welcome news on paid practicums
IEUA Federal Secretary Brad Hayes says trainee teachers must be paid for practical placements.
“It’s a no brainer – no one expects to work for free,” Hayes says. “The cost of living is at a near 30-year high. Unsurprisingly, student teachers tell us that ‘placement poverty’ is a major reason so many are forced to drop out of their studies.”
Students on unpaid full-time placements are required to keep up with assignments and juggle paid employment (with many having to forego much-needed casual work), and it’s not sustainable.
Students and unions, including the IEU, who represent staff in essential services such as teaching and nursing, have long lobbied government for financial support during practicums.
On 6 May this year, this campaigning led to welcome news. The federal government announced a new Commonwealth Prac Payment of $319.50 a week for students in nursing, teaching and social work from mid-2025.
Mentoring in motion
In Queensland and the Northern Territory, since 2018, the IEU has offered its own mentoring program for members, which connects teachers in their first five years with experienced teacher mentors.
Experienced teacher and IEU member Heather Grundy, who supports the mentoring program, says mentoring is particularly important in the early years.
“Beginning teachers need to have the support of an impartial, professional classroom practitioner, who is tasked solely with supporting them,” Grundy says.
“Mentors provide a superb professional buddy role.
“They are colleagues who are experienced in the day-to-day life of a busy classroom, they’ve managed the juggling act of assessing, recording, reporting, they have hopefully found successful ways to manage their time and can listen to the beginning teacher and give them support,” she said.
Grundy says every mentoring relationship would be unique depending on the mentee’s requirements and the mentor’s availability.
“It can be a fortnightly planned hour in a far corner of the staffroom where the mentee can discuss what’s going well, what’s not going well, next steps on an assessment task or ask for a second set of eyes on a marked task.
“It can also be a text message to check in on a mentee, or an email if the mentee is absent from school.
“It could be a nod and a smile, on a difficult day. In the best cases, once the mentoring role is completed, it can look like a professional two-way collegial relationship.
“One where the two colleagues remain supportive for many years following the program,” Grundy says.
References
AITSL Guidelines for the induction of early career teachers in Australia: bit.ly/AITSLearlycareer
AITSL Guidelines for the induction of new school leaders in Australia: bit.ly/AITSLschoolleaders
Teacher Education Expert Panel: bit.ly/TeacherEdPanel
