Investigating the Experiences of Beginning Teachers Employed Casually So as to Match Supply to Demand
Many challenges exist for teachers trying to secure employment in schools, particularly for those beginning their teaching career. Expectations are high from teacher education graduates that they will make an immediate transition to their 'own' classroom, as a permanent full-time teacher, once graduated. The reality is, however, that most beginning teachers in New South Wales enter the teaching profession initially on a Casual basis. This paper highlights a number of issues that contribute to the difficulties casual beginning teachers experience by exploring the supply and demand of school teachers, the increasing casualisation of the teaching workforce, and other issues compounding on casual beginning teachers. The paper concludes with the recommendation that, inter alia, different stakeholders should share information, which will result in better supply and demand relationships within the teaching profession.
The Role of Parents, Teachers and Social Workers in the German and Australian Education Systems
Inclusivity is the fundamental right of every student enrolled in New South Wales (NSW) government Primary and/or Secondary schools in Australia (Cologon 2013, p.ll). This chapter compares the German Primary and Secondary educational systems against the equivalent New South Wales settings through an 'inclusive practice' lens. The data comprises the roles and perspectives of inclusion from Parents, Teachers, School Social Workers in German schools and School Counselors in Australian schools. This paper contextualizes both NSW and German education systems, and reports the significant findings and points of difference that may be used to inform current educational practices in NSW.
IT support for the learning of beginning Teachers in New South Wales, Australia
New or beginning teachers are well received by the education profession, yet for a large portion of new teachers the assessment of how successful their transition into the first year of teaching tends to be overtly negative. Research reports indicate that the often traumatic and difficult nature of new teachers’ experiences is not a new phenomenon and is a problem shared by many new teachers nationwide and in the western world. Consequently, the retention rate for new teachers is decreasing at an alarming rate and is currently reported that 33% of beginning teachers in New South Wales do not expect to be teaching in public schools within the next 10 years. While literature about how to teach is prolific, yet according to new teachers, managing the real life situation is often more daunting than first envisioned. This paper reports on the experiences of education graduates of the University of New England teacher in their first year of teaching based on their postings to an on-line support network launched by the University of New England in 2005, entitled the Professional Development Support project. Analysis of the postings revealed that these beginning teachers sought support from the network on a number of specific topics at different times of the school year. This paper presents the findings of this analysis in terms of the categories of their inquiries and the variations in their experiences. The paper provides recommendations for teacher education programmes in response.
The Reality of Beginning Teachers: Trials and Tribulations
New or beginning teachers are well received by the education profession, yet for a large portion of new teachers the assessment of how successful their transition into the first year of teaching has been tends to be overtly negative. Research reports that the often traumatic and difficult nature of new teachers' experiences is not a new phenomenon, and is a problem shared by many new teachers nationwide and in the western world. Consequently, the retention rate for new teachers is decreasing at an alarming rate and it is currently reported that 33% of beginning teachers in New South Wales (NSW) do not expect to be teaching in public schools within the next 10 years. While literature about how to teach is prolific, managing the real lift situation for many new teachers is often more daunting than first envisioned. This paper reports on the experiences of the University of New England (UNE) teacher education graduates in their first year of teaching based on their postings to an online support network launched by UNE in 2005, entitled the 'Professional Development Support (PDS)' project. Analysis of the postings revealed that these beginning teachers sought support from the network on a number of specific topics at different times of the school year. This paper presents the nature and patterns of their inquiries and puts forward recommendations for teacher education programs in response.
Understanding Current Situations: Facilitating Inclusive Education Implementation
This paper aims to highlight the current gaps in practices among Secondary schools teachers who are involved in the Malaysian Special Education Integration Program (SEIP). A one to one interview was conducted on 13 teachers who teach the inclusive classes at one secondary school to identify their individual needs with respect to successfully integrating special needs students into mainstream classrooms. Findings were discussed in relation to several aspects of teaching and learning, including inclusive students' characteristics, appropriate and inappropriate school based practices, and challenges faced by inclusive teachers. Based on the findings, recommendations are made for school-based improvement and teacher-professional developments that inform policymakers on future development plans.