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The great student swindle

Students getting underpaid and ripped off by big franchise businesses around the country:

Lubna: And its because of such situations that unionism is so vital. It’s incumbent upon older people to highlight the work of unions historically and their relevance now to maintain workers’ right in the face of constant attacks to undermine them

Jan: As educated peoples you would think you would be able to look at things explore, realise and act if you believe you are being unfairly treated. That’s what Fair Work Australia is for. Put in by unions to assure you’re being fairly treated.

The snowflake generation

A report from the UK describes British students ‘bullying’ their teachers into helping them outside the classroom with unpaid tuition.

Louise: This sounds familiar.

Kathy: It is happening far too often now. In many places I know.

Christine: And the research indicates these individuals do not fare that well in post compulsory education or careers!

Lubna: Yep... and some schools now make it a routine expectation, especially in the holidays.

Mary-Jean: School down the road puts pressure on HSC teachers to offer these holiday classes for student revision, and advertises it to prospective parents as a selling point.

Parker: All the time! Before and after school. Even in Years 7 and 8. HSC school holiday classes. Practice essays emailed to staff at night for marking.

What do you think is the number one reason for poor student performance?

James: My former HSC students tell me Year 11 and 12 are a lot harder than university. What does that tell us?

Michael: Hattie says 50% result affected by socio-economic status / home life factors.

Teacher stress leads to higher rates of addiction

Now we have more evidence that not only is teaching rather stressful, but teachers are increasingly searching for other ways to deal with this stress.

Phil: I never really drank coffee before I started teaching.

Simon: So, we know the causes. What can we do? It’s a ‘risk’ model, not a ‘support’ model that teachers are employed under.

Teacher stress causing relationship breakdown

Broken relationships, mental health problems and suicidal thoughts - these are the very unsettling ramifications caused by teacher stress according to a recent UK education union survey.

Steve: You’re either working, thinking about working, or feeling guilty because you’re not working . . .

TJ: It’s not worth it. It might be a ‘vocational calling’, however in reality it is a job that pays the bills. Put you and your family before your employer.

Leonie: The increasing expectations and ever growing workload ... there is just so much to do and not enough time to do it all! The actual ‘face to face teaching’, which is why most teachers became teachers in the first place, is such a small component of the job these days. What is currently happening in not sustainable and that is why I, like many teachers, resigned from my school.

Emma: Stressed teachers makes for stressed students and poor learning outcomes. I truly believe that increased workload is the reason for the lowering of our international standing results.

Mary-Jean: And then the government, community and families want teachers to be the ones to provide ‘well being’ education to students, with little training, even less support and no consideration of whether they are able to undertake this

Dianne: And then NESA add to it by giving us an impossible timeline to implement a new HSC. Is the Union planning on doing anything about this latest ridiculous mandate?

Stressed Aussie students

Spare a thought for Aussie students - apparently among the world’s most stressed, according to a recent report.

Emma: Stressed teachers create stressed students. It’s as simple as that.

Robin: Over emphasis on assessment creating anxiety, bullying, poor self esteem, a curriculum and schools that do not meet the needs of students who are struggling and which fails to address the talents of non academic students and Indigenous learners.Teachers who are stressed by endless paperwork, meetings and a constantly changing curriculum

Imogen: As a teacher I can honestly say that the stress teachers feel about student achievement comes from both school leadership and parents. School leaders have a reputation to uphold and academic achievement and improvement weighs heavily into that. They also have demands from parents. Teachers directly have pressures from confrontational parents about their child’s academic achievement or should I say perceived achievement or lack thereof. Students also report great pressure from parents and ask frequent questions about their grades.