Page 1514 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 2 May 1990
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
QUALITY TEACHING
MR WOOD (12.17): I move:
That this Assembly recognises the importance of maintaining quality in teaching and accordingly urges the Government to support measures already approved by the Commonwealth Minister to increase teachers' salaries.
Mr Speaker, I am sure that members here today would agree that the occupation of member of parliament and member of this Assembly is a very stressful one. We have debates that raise the temperature somewhat. We are constantly faced with the community presenting us with conflicting views which place considerable demands on us. We are never sure what is happening in the future or whether we will get elected again. We do not know what the future holds for us but we do know the stresses of the moment. I am a former teacher. The stresses of this job, great as they are, are nevertheless much less than the stresses I encountered as a teacher. I will explore the issue of teacher stress at some stage in the future but I want to use those comments to introduce this debate today.
There have been great changes in society in the last 20 years, accelerating changes that have imposed new problems on the teaching profession. These changes have made that profession much more challenging and much more interesting as well as much more stressful, but they also place great obligations on those responsible for education to see that what happens in schools is adequately supported. We must never get away from the fact that the work of teachers in schools is concerned with our children and this has the most significant impact on what happens in this country in future years.
There are a number of areas that I will isolate and discuss today, one in more detail. I will consider the improvement in teaching and in teaching quality. Obviously it is important that teachers are aware that they have the full support of the public in what they do. That work needs to be recognised and, of course, this is true of any occupation. They do not have that on their own. But when you are dealing face-to-face with 30 children all day I think the pressures are such that you do need to know that you are supported by those who employ you. That support needs to be expressed in a variety of ways, not the least of which is in their professional training and the support for subsequent training once teachers become qualified.
A most important factor in improving the quality of teachers is to improve their morale, and that is related, of course, to what happens in schools. Teaching can be a very rewarding occupation. I think there are few
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .