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What are the real workplace concerns of Queensland classroom teachers?
| Posted on August 26, 2009 at 11:49 AM |
3000 pages of The Teachers Are Blowing Their Whistles have now been read.
If you have found this website you are probably -
- a Queensland teacher
- a student teacher
- a qualified teacher who is waiting to get a teaching position in Queensland
- a retired / resigned Queensland teacher
- a Queensland teacher who is working overseas
- an interstate or overseas teacher who is considering moving to work in Queensland
- a Queensland public servant
- a politician or political staffer with an interest in education
- a whistleblower with an interest in education
How can I be reasonably sure of this?
- Because of the links and the wording of the "google searches" that you used to find the website.
The following stats are based on the last 919 pages, read between 22 July - 27 August, 2009 -
- 76.39 % of the pages were read in Australia
- 7.83 % of the pages were read in the US.
- 4.35 % of the pages were read in the UK.
- Teachers Stories was read 150 times.
- The Home Page was read 137 times.
These are the only two pages that are linked to other websites - to the best of my knowledge - so they act as a filter to "weed out" people with no real interest in the working conditions of Queensland teachers.
- The Behaviour Problems was read 82 times.
- The Bullying was read 77 times.
- The Remote Areas was read 72 times.
- The Pay was read 62 times.
If you accept that people would want to read about issues that are of concern to them, then the number of times that a page has been read would seem to be an indication of the level of teacher concern about that issue.
Which seems to suggest that classroom behaviour problems, workplace bullying and being sent out to work in the remote areas of Queensland are of greater concern to Queensland teachers than their low pay.
(And if you consider the high profile of pay issues at the moment, you may wonder if pay would normally be of such concern to classroom teachers.)
- The Contract Work was read 58 times.
- The Asbestos was read 48 times.
- The Curriculum was read 46 times.
- The Promotion System was read 43 times.
- The Threats was read 41 times.
The last three pages were not on the website for the full period, so they may actually be of greater concern than the results indicate -
- The Investigations was read 28 times.
- The Marking was read 24 times.
- The False Allegations was read 24 times.
Obviously I have made a few assumptions here, but I think these results are interesting.
I would welcome comments on the conclusions that I have drawn from the stats.
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9 Comments
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Toni
01:07 AM on July 20, 2010
My biggest concern now is that I am reduced to supply work. How is it that after 6years of contract work (year contracts). I have now gone to 6 month contracts, down to 1 term contracts now down to supply work because I can't even get another contract? What is going on? I have an S1 rating, I have never had a bad experience from a HOD complaining to me about my teaching practices and the way I run my class. I only teach low level and behaviour management classes as they are my interest. Who else wants to teach them...seriously, especially working in Logan/Beaudesert.
I don't know what is going on anymore. I think I am too good for the education department...not big noting myself...just that I am not willing to kiss butt...but that I am willing to call a spade a spade and do what is right.
What happened to doing the right thing?
Toni
I don't know what is going on anymore. I think I am too good for the education department...not big noting myself...just that I am not willing to kiss butt...but that I am willing to call a spade a spade and do what is right.
What happened to doing the right thing?
Toni
The union needs to listen to teachers as the pay is not the issue.
Working conditions such as: role descriptions, work-load and the classroom and school environment with regard to basic manners is the main issue. If schools are supposed to have zero tolerance regarding bullying amongst students then it is IMPOSSIBLE to implement, as many in the system (teachers, admin and parents) who are supposed to be role models cannot stop bullying each other in the daily rush to accomplish 1000's of tasks and less time than it takes to do those 1000 tasks per day.
It would be interesting for the Union, QCT, EQ or UQ or QUT or the Health Dept. could study the costs accruing with teacher illness and job loss .
Working conditions such as: role descriptions, work-load and the classroom and school environment with regard to basic manners is the main issue. If schools are supposed to have zero tolerance regarding bullying amongst students then it is IMPOSSIBLE to implement, as many in the system (teachers, admin and parents) who are supposed to be role models cannot stop bullying each other in the daily rush to accomplish 1000's of tasks and less time than it takes to do those 1000 tasks per day.
It would be interesting for the Union, QCT, EQ or UQ or QUT or the Health Dept. could study the costs accruing with teacher illness and job loss .
Some of us are just too logical or practical for teaching with EQ now. Some of us see so much waste and try to speak up about better ways to do things and are shot down, shut out. Greedy teachers who have been at schools for ages have all of the few resources in the school to themselves. They don't share. You have to ask and ask and ask for resources which one school has, yet another school does not have. I have worked over my time teaching with at least 5 phonics programs, ten reading schemes and none complete. Just the other day I saw that the maths 100's board which I have had for years actually has 4 extra components to it to make it complete. No school that I have been in has had these or one particular teacher has these items for themselves and they don't share. You have to ASK if you know it is there. How would you know ??? You don't actually case each others' rooms. Anyway, many teachers have so much personal stuff because schools NEVER have adequate BASIC resources.
There seems no trust by some school principals in the selection and training of teachers. Gossip is rife, and gossip is usually untrue but it is taken as gospel.
I have paid my taxes and I can't stand the waste and lack of basics any more. Thank God my children are through school and none are teachers. I encourage all I see to Home School their kids. e.g. Bindy Irwin is doing ok. Your kids can socialize with other kids with similar values, etc.etc.
There seems no trust by some school principals in the selection and training of teachers. Gossip is rife, and gossip is usually untrue but it is taken as gospel.
I have paid my taxes and I can't stand the waste and lack of basics any more. Thank God my children are through school and none are teachers. I encourage all I see to Home School their kids. e.g. Bindy Irwin is doing ok. Your kids can socialize with other kids with similar values, etc.etc.
Toni says...
Just read about the 'Secret Files about You'...had an idea that it existed. After talking to a teacher friend of mine I now know that it is true. Apparently I ticked off the Principal at the school that I had been working at for the past two years (now at a different school), and was not asked back. I have been stuck on contract for the past 6 years and I am starting to believe it is because I am good at what I do, have too many good ideas and speak up too often. There were contracts to fill at the school I had been working at and a permanent job available at that school also, but as I 'ticked off' the Principal as my friend was told by the Middle Schooling HOD who is involved in the staffing meetings it doesn't look like I will be returning to my school and I think I will be blacklisted from there and possibly the local schools in the area. Courtesy of a simple comment I don't even recall making.
I have been busy looking for work outside of the system as I am tired of fighting for work within EQ, it is a truly crap department to be working for, they really don't tell you any of this at UNI.
Reply
Toni
02:24 AM on July 11, 2010
Just read about the 'Secret Files about You'...had an idea that it existed. After talking to a teacher friend of mine I now know that it is true. Apparently I ticked off the Principal at the school that I had been working at for the past two years (now at a different school), and was not asked back. I have been stuck on contract for the past 6 years and I am starting to believe it is because I am good at what I do, have too many good ideas and speak up too often. There were contracts to fill at the school I had been working at and a permanent job available at that school also, but as I 'ticked off' the Principal as my friend was told by the Middle Schooling HOD who is involved in the staffing meetings it doesn't look like I will be returning to my school and I think I will be blacklisted from there and possibly the local schools in the area. Courtesy of a simple comment I don't even recall making.
I have been busy looking for work outside of the system as I am tired of fighting for work within EQ, it is a truly crap department to be working for, they really don't tell you any of this at UNI.
I have been busy looking for work outside of the system as I am tired of fighting for work within EQ, it is a truly crap department to be working for, they really don't tell you any of this at UNI.
Reply
Sand
06:59 AM on October 16, 2009
Jan says...
The stats show the issues discussed here are (a) widely relevant and (b) largely ignored by those who should be addressing them.
My mother was a teacher for over 30 years, and after 15 years' working in researach I wanted to try to make the same sort of direct contributions she had. I thought I had no unrealistic illusions about the Department, school politics, behavioural issues etc.
I did a Dip Ed, majoring in areas widely reported to be lacking teachers, loved my pracs, and ended up with a top rating (more on that later#. I actually wanted to move from Brisbane and work somewhere remote/regional, the only caveat being it had to be somewhere my husband could find work. As he is in healthcare, we did not think this would be too difficult. I indicated my willingness to go anywhere in Queensland.
The bureaucrats scheduled to come to talk at uni about the employment process did not turn up. The interviewers in my area were sick/busy and ran late with interviews, which were arranged by emails from unknown email addresses and went straight to junk mail on the uni email system. Uni finished in November, and I waited on the Department through November and December before following up in January.
The teacher ratings are withheld by the Department, apparently to make it difficult to obtain employment with private schools. I am not sure what possible justification there can be for this, as #even running as late as they could) the entire assessment/interview process was completed in November. The Dept apparently thinks it is back in the 60s dealing with young teachers on scholarships who were necessarily subject to Dept whims. I paid for my Dip Ed myself, upfront, on full HECS fees.
I could not get anything from Mary St about when ratings would be released, job offers made, prospects of employment, or anything else, other than that I should ring back at the end of January if I hadn't heard anything. Um, the school year starts at the end of January! If I was going to be offered a job, what timeframe would be available to get to it, let alone pack up my house, rent it out, move and set up again - not to mention (wild and crazy, I know) time for my husband to give notice and even find a new job. (Like most people, we rely on two incomes - especially as I had just studied full-time for a year, using our savings).
I caved in and took a private school contract which was at least a guarantee of work. Maybe I would have received a job offer if I had waited longer, but based on the statistics above there does not seem to be any certainty about this. I spent a year rolling around private school contracts and always received excellent feedback and references, and the offer of supply work.
Towards th
Jan,
Yes I have paid for my B Ed and MEd upfront. Yet it is cheaper to employ ist years and Contract teachers.
The Union needs to look after teacher conditions more. The system is not transparent or logical any more. Duty of Care to Teachers is a serious issue but noone wants to own this problem and working teachers are way too busy to find this Blog and become "informed". Teachers need to do a few legal studies as part of their degree to realize earlier how badly they are being ripped off..
Reply
Jan
11:11 PM on October 12, 2009
The stats show the issues discussed here are (a) widely relevant and (b) largely ignored by those who should be addressing them.
My mother was a teacher for over 30 years, and after 15 years' working in researach I wanted to try to make the same sort of direct contributions she had. I thought I had no unrealistic illusions about the Department, school politics, behavioural issues etc.
I did a Dip Ed, majoring in areas widely reported to be lacking teachers, loved my pracs, and ended up with a top rating (more on that later#. I actually wanted to move from Brisbane and work somewhere remote/regional, the only caveat being it had to be somewhere my husband could find work. As he is in healthcare, we did not think this would be too difficult. I indicated my willingness to go anywhere in Queensland.
The bureaucrats scheduled to come to talk at uni about the employment process did not turn up. The interviewers in my area were sick/busy and ran late with interviews, which were arranged by emails from unknown email addresses and went straight to junk mail on the uni email system. Uni finished in November, and I waited on the Department through November and December before following up in January.
The teacher ratings are withheld by the Department, apparently to make it difficult to obtain employment with private schools. I am not sure what possible justification there can be for this, as #even running as late as they could) the entire assessment/interview process was completed in November. The Dept apparently thinks it is back in the 60s dealing with young teachers on scholarships who were necessarily subject to Dept whims. I paid for my Dip Ed myself, upfront, on full HECS fees.
I could not get anything from Mary St about when ratings would be released, job offers made, prospects of employment, or anything else, other than that I should ring back at the end of January if I hadn't heard anything. Um, the school year starts at the end of January! If I was going to be offered a job, what timeframe would be available to get to it, let alone pack up my house, rent it out, move and set up again - not to mention (wild and crazy, I know) time for my husband to give notice and even find a new job. (Like most people, we rely on two incomes - especially as I had just studied full-time for a year, using our savings).
I caved in and took a private school contract which was at least a guarantee of work. Maybe I would have received a job offer if I had waited longer, but based on the statistics above there does not seem to be any certainty about this. I spent a year rolling around private school contracts and always received excellent feedback and references, and the offer of supply work.
Towards th
My mother was a teacher for over 30 years, and after 15 years' working in researach I wanted to try to make the same sort of direct contributions she had. I thought I had no unrealistic illusions about the Department, school politics, behavioural issues etc.
I did a Dip Ed, majoring in areas widely reported to be lacking teachers, loved my pracs, and ended up with a top rating (more on that later#. I actually wanted to move from Brisbane and work somewhere remote/regional, the only caveat being it had to be somewhere my husband could find work. As he is in healthcare, we did not think this would be too difficult. I indicated my willingness to go anywhere in Queensland.
The bureaucrats scheduled to come to talk at uni about the employment process did not turn up. The interviewers in my area were sick/busy and ran late with interviews, which were arranged by emails from unknown email addresses and went straight to junk mail on the uni email system. Uni finished in November, and I waited on the Department through November and December before following up in January.
The teacher ratings are withheld by the Department, apparently to make it difficult to obtain employment with private schools. I am not sure what possible justification there can be for this, as #even running as late as they could) the entire assessment/interview process was completed in November. The Dept apparently thinks it is back in the 60s dealing with young teachers on scholarships who were necessarily subject to Dept whims. I paid for my Dip Ed myself, upfront, on full HECS fees.
I could not get anything from Mary St about when ratings would be released, job offers made, prospects of employment, or anything else, other than that I should ring back at the end of January if I hadn't heard anything. Um, the school year starts at the end of January! If I was going to be offered a job, what timeframe would be available to get to it, let alone pack up my house, rent it out, move and set up again - not to mention (wild and crazy, I know) time for my husband to give notice and even find a new job. (Like most people, we rely on two incomes - especially as I had just studied full-time for a year, using our savings).
I caved in and took a private school contract which was at least a guarantee of work. Maybe I would have received a job offer if I had waited longer, but based on the statistics above there does not seem to be any certainty about this. I spent a year rolling around private school contracts and always received excellent feedback and references, and the offer of supply work.
Towards th
What pro active activity can teachers take?
The problem has been identified. The Union is not on the same page. They just talk about more money. I tell you ,even if I was paid $100,000.00 the conditions are still TOXIC. Interpersonal Communication skills are lacking. Values have declined, But what do we do to change the decline. Teachers have NO VOICE. How do we get a voice? This Blog is providing an avenue and many thanks to the person/persons who set this up. Thanks for giving me a voice. ): //(*_*)\\
The problem has been identified. The Union is not on the same page. They just talk about more money. I tell you ,even if I was paid $100,000.00 the conditions are still TOXIC. Interpersonal Communication skills are lacking. Values have declined, But what do we do to change the decline. Teachers have NO VOICE. How do we get a voice? This Blog is providing an avenue and many thanks to the person/persons who set this up. Thanks for giving me a voice. ): //(*_*)\\
Reply
Anon
11:21 PM on September 18, 2009
Where is the Duty of Care to an employee??
Safe and supportive Environment for the students yet toxic for staff, how can these environments exist together?? They can't.
Like we tell students for Bullying...Don't be silent. Speak up. Silence is the Bullies best friend. Tell and tell until you find someone who can help(not Listen) as plenty will listen and DO nothing. 18-20 people keep talking!!! Awareness and knowledge is an educational principle so highlight the issue.
Safe and supportive Environment for the students yet toxic for staff, how can these environments exist together?? They can't.
Like we tell students for Bullying...Don't be silent. Speak up. Silence is the Bullies best friend. Tell and tell until you find someone who can help(not Listen) as plenty will listen and DO nothing. 18-20 people keep talking!!! Awareness and knowledge is an educational principle so highlight the issue.
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