Parliament learning from teachers

AS PART of Valuing Australia’s Teachers, community forums will take place around Australia next week.

A Federal Parliamentary committee has been asking about the status of the teaching profession, and as part of its work, plans to hold meetings in Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Rockhampton next week. Details of venues and times are included below.

Chair of the House Education Committee, Andrew Laming MP, explained that the inquiry is about what it takes for Australia to have a world-class education system.

"Australia’s teachers inspire, engage and challenge students to be the best they can. Although there are more teachers in Australia than ever, the attrition rate from the profession is rising," Mr Laming said.

"We are looking at building better career structures and pathways for teachers to ensure that the profession remains fulfilling and rewarding for educators. We are also hoping to hear about ways to support teachers more generally, in and outside the classroom, to reduce the amount of time spent on out-of-hours work," Mr Laming said.

"We also want to overcome constraints such as inflexible curriculum delivery; reporting and assessment practices; lack of evidence-based research and readily available classroom applications; as well as time pressures and a lack of support for principals to develop professional autonomy," Mr Laming said.

"We have had submissions from around Australia, and had to make some early decisions about who we could speak with first. I hope that this important work can be continued regardless of any election result – it’s important public policy for Australia. In announcing these first hearings, we hope to keep the discussion going, and learn from teachers at the coal face, about what they want and how their expertise and their profession can be better valued," Mr Laming said.

All hearings will be streamed live via the Parliament’s website.

4 March Brisbane
8am – 11.15am, Commonwealth Parliament Offices Boardroom
Level 36, Waterfront Place, 1 Eagle St, Brisbane

4 March Bokarina (Sunshine Coast)
3pm – 5pm, Lake Kawana Community Centre, Lake View Room
114 Sportsmans Parade, Bokarina

5 March Sydney
10am – 1.15pm, Commonwealth Parliamentary Offices, Meeting Room, Level 21
1 Bligh Street, Sydney

6 March Melbourne
9.30am – 1.15pm, The University of Melbourne, Dean’s Boardroom
Level 12, 198 Berkeley Street (The Spot Building), Carlton

7 March Adelaide
10am – 12pm, Old Parliament House, Watarru Room, 1st Floor
North Terrace, Adelaide

8 March Rockhampton
10am – 12pm, Rockhampton Leagues Club
Cambridge Street Rockhampton

ends