Why Kiwi teachers burn out
Belinda Buchanan’s article ‘‘Why I gave up teaching ...’’ (April 30) outlining the reasons she is moving out of teaching and into an alternative career sadly reflects post graduate research I did more than 20 years ago.
The philosophy which has underpinned political policy since neo-liberalism was implemented by David Lange’s government, adopted by subsequent Governments, has done more harm than good in the delivery of social services.
In education, reductionist, poorly conceived curriculum reforms, endless assessment and lack of appropriate resourcing into learning environments, have created increasing stressors for teachers. Wider societal dysfunction is reflected immediately in schools. Diverse problems are now expected to be treated within the school environment and the range of distractors away from the core business of learning have increased in complexity and are more sophisticated than ever. This is all reflected in increased workload for teachers and is not reflected in commensurate, adequate pay. the Prime Minister and Governor General, and a wealth tax for those with annual incomes exceeding $250,000 would be a start.
And stop paying anything but a salary in the private sector. Incentive schemes and performance pay are myths – just read the academic research on the topic. been taking for years?
They won’t call banks in when it is public knowledge the banks charge us more to prop up their Australian business where they have had a price war for years. Or electricity companies having different pricing structures throughout the country. In fact, almost every company does it.
Still, kudos to Labour for at least having the balls to do this.