vanna,

Of course, different teachers use the same comments on students’ reports (not “report cards” – a term which I never heard used in a school in 33 years of teaching but is now heard from non-teachers because of the Americanisation of our language). They are probably using comments databases, a most efficient way to cope with the heavy workload imposed on teachers. As English coordinator in one school, I devised a very effective comments database that also automatically calculated the students’ level on the CSF, with a manual override available.

Given the renewed push to increase class sizes, now emanating from the Grattan Institute, you had better prepare for even fewer comments on students’ assignments. After all, it all takes time, something that the legions of teacher-bashers have no understanding of.

The more money that teachers ask for may be that required to restore their salaries to the comparative levels that applied 35 years ago (something over $20,000 for a teacher on the top Victorian classroom level) or that required to restore secondary staffing to the level that applied 29 years ago (10.9:1, compared with 11.9:1 now). You don’t specify which or any time period – naturally.

I am not a teacher basher Chris and fully acknowledge all of the hard work and personal dedication and sacrifices made by many teachers including my sister, a long term neighbour and friends.

I have compared curriculums [including assignment tasks/request' setting, class work with respect to the type of work covered, the volume of work conducted during class time, marking, class settings/environment]compared to the 70's - 90's.

There have been fantastic changes made within the education arena although I feel some extra concepts should be introduced to take the pressure off teachers nationwide allowing them to get on with teaching and educating our future children with some extra concepts introduced.

To address the timing element for marking both during class and teachers after hours leisure time; each class in secondary education should have another teacher [either 3rd year prac or qualified editor to assist teachers marking English, Maths, Science, Biology, Commerce type subjects]; primary subjects where students rely upon those subjects for university and apprenticeships after Year 12 completion.

One teacher per 1-33 ratio should have changed years ago.

Competitions and prizes/trips donated by government to acknowledge and reward years 9, 10, 11 and 12 students who read a certain quantity of books annually [spelling and grammar will improve], study well, complete and pass all of their maths, english and science while working with a careers adviser from the beginning of year 9 for encouragement. It is far too late for Year 10 students to be chatting about careers or workforce placement half way through Year 10. I discovered lately this is still occurring in some schools.

A couple of security guards employed and installed within each secondary school to turf out kids who are troublemakers, defiant, wasting teachers and principals time and resources, taking it away from those who choose to learn. The mere presence of security guards psychologically poses a warning and threat to those time wasters and would benefit secondary school security during terms.

"Security guards" - "effective comments databases" - "automatically calculated CSF levels" - "competitions and prizes/trips donated by government"....brrrrr.
So this is the reality and promise of institutionalised education in the 21st century. All very well for the bureaucracy involved, but you wouldn't want to send a child to one of those places to become a well-rounded individual - would you?
I employed my "manual override" and decided to homeschool.

Chris C

Re heavy workload.

I know of a high school that offered over 30 subjects to grade 11 and 12 students, and many classes were down to about 10 students, and some subjects were eventually dropped because of lack of students, but still the teachers were giving the same comments on the report card, and giving few or no comments on assignments.

This minimal lack of communication showed absolutely no effort by the teacher, and gave the student any real guidance as to what to do.

I also know of a married couple who are both teachers.

They go on overseas holidays in their ample holiday time, and they often spend their weekends camping. If the surf is up during the week, they are at the beach by 4.30 in the afternoon. In fact, between them they now have about 8 surfboards and windsurfers.

For lesson plans, they just repeat what they did the year before, and if a student does badly, they recommend to their parents to send the student to a tutor.

Not ironically, tutors charge about $100 an hour and are often teachers doing tutoring as a side line.

We even had our kids school refuse to let the year 11 & 12 kids take their math test papers home. WE considered it would be a good idea if parents, & tutors used test results to find the kids weaknesses.

It turned out the hard working teachers had been using the same tests for 5 years, & wished to continue this practice, hence did not want to let it out for public perusal.

After I sent a copy of the letter I had prepared for the local paper to the head, the practice changed.

I think we should give these hard working teachers an extra 6 weeks non contact time each year, to allow them to do all this marking, & preparation.

How? Give them 4 weeks leave, like every one else, & have then work the other 6 weeks they now have off. That should make the poor little dears a bit less time poor, & stressed.

we are unique,

It is important that a teacher mark his or her students’ own work because the teacher needs to know his or her own students and because part of the learning from it is for the teacher, who may seen certain concepts not widely understood and therefore decide to reteach them .

I don’t know where the 33:1 ratio comes from. The PTR in Victorian primary schools is 15.7:1 and, in secondary, it is 11.9:1, though the secondary one ought to be restored to the 10.9:1 it was three decades ago.

vanna,

I see you have decided to ignore my comment about the non-existence of “report cards”.

Has been,

You haven’t got a clue, have you?

It is a reasonable efficiency measure to use the same test papers year after year, but it has the downside that you allude to. I guess the school will have to become twice as inefficient and swap papers year-about.

I’ve heard the usual garbage about how easy teachers have it for over 35 years now. I have given the figures on working hours before, but as they are facts they cannot compete against the ridiculous bile and anecdote that spew forth whenever teachers are discussed. I suggest that, instead of resenting people whom you – falsely – think have it easy and wanting to make their working lives worse, you get your union to improve your own working conditions.

If you cared to think a bit more, you would realise that the attitude displayed by people like you is one reason that people do not want to be teachers. Why join a profession that will be denigrated on a daily basis by people who would not last a day in the classroom?