Imagine a public education system where every student with learning needs received the individual support they need in a timely manner? Where those in power cared enough to acknowledge that classrooms are increasingly complex and that far greater levels of investment are needed to reduce class size to ensure teachers spend the time each student needs to be successful? What would it be like if our professional judgements were respected and the rhetoric about the importance of educators was reflected by high levels of permanent employment?
Following extensive member feedback the AEU has identified the following campaign priorities for 2021:
- increase student support;
- reduce class size and acknowledge complexity;
- reduce workload; and
- increase permanent employment.
Student support
What’s the Problem?
Excessive waiting times for essential learning, behaviour and wellbeing support for children and students is compromising their education. These unsupported, unaddressed or undiagnosed issues faced by children and students compound class complexity and increase workloads that detract from teachers’ capacity to teach.
What’s the answer?
Children and students need access to timely, targeted and sustained learning, behaviour and well-being support to maximise their education opportunity and success. This means the government must immediately invest to:
- increase student support for learning, behaviour and mental health;
- reduce wait times for student assessments;
- significantly increase the base level of Inclusive Education Support Program (IESP) funding; and
- fix the IESP application process.
How will we win?
- By educating members and community about the detriment to student learning and education success because of a lack of support.
- By members, parent organisations, interest groups and the broader parent community actively and publicly demanding appropriate and timely support for children and students.
- By gaining party commitments to address inadequate student support in the lead-up to the 2022 state election.
Reduce class size and acknowledge complexity
What’s the problem?
South Australian data on school readiness from the Australian Early Development Census has shown a declining trend in readiness since 2009 in all socio-economic areas. Educators have seen a significant increase in the levels of complexity of student cohorts in the last decade. At the same time, expectations to deliver personalised learning have increased. Personalised learning requires more individual support during class time but class sizes have not decreased.
What’s the answer?
Class sizes need to be reduced to increase time for individual support, and to take into account those students requiring additional support or modified learning programs. Classes that are vertically grouped also require a reduced class size in recognition of the greater range of learning abilities and the time needed to support students in this environment.
How will we win?
- By educating and activating our community about class size and complexity issues and building support with vocal leader associations, parent and disability groups.
- By ensuring that political parties’ election platforms acknowledge the impact of class complexity and size on learning, and commit to a cap on class size with a formula that takes complexity into account.
Reduce excessive workloads
What’s the problem?
Educators’ already unmanageable workloads continue to increase as a range of unfunded or underfunded initiatives are introduced without consultation regarding their impact and management. Politically driven requirement for data also adds to an already onerous daily workload.
Educators are sacrificing family and personal time for their jobs.
What’s the answer?
AEU members acting together in each site can utilise the workload provisions in the 2020 Enterprise Agreement to address workload concerns. In addition, each school has been allocated Complexity Funding won in the enterprise bargaining to address workloads and increase classroom support. Members can work together to ensure this funding is used to address local workload and complexity issues.
How will we win?
- By members working together to identify those initiatives, tasks and duties that require more funding to implement successfully without drawing upon personal and family time.
- By supporting members in sites to utilise Clauses contained in the 2020 Enterprise Agreement to control and remedy excessive workloads.
Permanent employment
What’s the problem?
Staffing stability is good for learning continuity and the wellbeing of educators. However, a strategy to identify and keep preferred employees is to initially employ contract education workers. What follows is an exploitative working relationship where the employer maintains the employee on contract in order to keep that person at the site year after year, even if the position is permanent. The employee submits to this arrangement to ensure continuity of work.
What’s the answer?
Provisions exist in the Department’s Recruitment and Selection of Teaching Staff in Schools Policy and Procedure and the companion policy and procedure for preschool teachers and non teaching staff to convert contract staff of two or more years to permanent employment if meeting specific criteria. Members in sites can work together to identify those contract staff and engage their Personnel Advisory Committee (PAC) to commence a conversion process.
How will we win?
- By members working together to identify eligible members and utilising documented processes to convert members to permanent employment.
- By gaining election commitments to address permanency in the lead-up to the 2022 state election.