On-the-job training would grow teachers
Enthusiastic and capable people should not have to lose earnings
There is a teacher shortage in New Zealand and it will get a lot worse before it gets better. However, it has very little to do with salary. While the wider world deals with the incredible opportunities of life-long learning, open access to skills and information and several career changes in a lifetime, the Ministry of Education and teacher unions have put their heads deep in the sand and backsides high in the air.
These vested interests, and the faculties of education in our universities, want to pretend that the art of teaching is a technical skill set that requires a qualification pathway mimicking that of medicine. It misses the point that every eligible adult has approximately 13 years as a critical consumer of education.
The first step to solving the teacher shortage is to get rid of the year of secondary teacher training. The need to take a year out of earning an income to become a secondary school teacher is an outdated barrier that keeps the brightest, most innovative, experienced and capable New Zealanders from working with our children.
New Zealand desperately needs a direct and paid pathway into teaching. Consider this from two perspectives: Firstly, the view of a university graduate from a four-year degree that has now spent at least 17 years in the education system.
They know a thing or two about learning and what makes a good teacher. They are faced with a high employment and high remuneration economy. They have opportunities for adventure through travel and employment overseas. Our system asks them to take another year of zero income while they learn how to pronounce the word pedagogy.
Secondly, the perspective of a second, third, or fourth career individual who has added experience to a degree or has forged an effective life pathway without a tertiary qualification. They are likely to have family and financial commitments but feel that contributing back to young people is the next step in their lives.
Our system asks them to give up a full year’s income and pay full fees for the privilege of making a contribution to our youth. These people may have incredible value to offer but the barrier to them is insurmountable. Through the arrogance of the teaching profession we demand outstanding individuals start from scratch.
The above system is the main reason we have a quantitative and qualitative teacher shortage.
In public, teachers often do the sector no favours. They complain about conditions. They complain about student behaviour. They complain about pay. They complain about workload. They complain about policy change.
In terms of what they present to the children in their classes on a day-to-day basis, they would do well to remember they are representing a future career opportunity to these young people. If they do not like their job and cannot speak highly of it, they should do something else.
I learned nothing through my College of Education and it was not worth a year of lost income. My main lecturer was a burnt-out biology teacher who couldn’t remember when he last had an inspired idea. He put half of my course off teaching.
My only real learning that year was in my teaching practices at schools. The pathway to teaching in New Zealand should be a well-paid apprenticeship for tertiary or industry qualified individuals. There can be a rigorous application and interview process to ascertain suitability and significant ongoing professional development.
The year off earning an income is neither desirable nor tenable. We must also recognise that 21st century humans are unlikely to stay in one vocation for 40 years and have exit and return pathways for teachers that value the things they do outside the classroom.
There is a solution to the shortage. But is it palatable to the current teachers and their representatives?
New Zealand desperately needs a direct and paid pathway into teaching.