Why Every Teacher Should Support Today’s Strike Action

 This Thursday’s strike by teachers in NSW brings together teachers from Public and Catholic systemic schools after a historic, joint meeting between the NSW Teachers Federation and the IEU.

 There is no doubt in my mind that if it has been held a week earlier, thousands of Independent Teachers would have joined them to make a triumvirate of teaching organisations protesting against the ludicrous administrative demands placed on teachers. Demands that prevent them from doing what they became teachers to do. That is, teach children.

 For, this is not just action about the decline in real wages for teachers in both government and non-government schools, it is about the existential threat to a profession that is as much a calling as it is an occupation.

 It is hard to imagine there are many teachers working in schools for any other reason than they are devoted to helping children reach their potential. Anyone who doubts that has never stood in front of a class. The biggest reward a teacher can have is to see the lights go on in a student and to witness that student achieve something they never dreamed of. Because that is what we do and that is why we teach.

 It doesn’t matter what sector a teacher works in; the motivation is the same. To bring the best out of their students. Nor does it matter what kind of a teacher they are. Nor what subject they teach.

 There are thousands and thousands of teachers who have walked away from the profession because they have been fed up with doing meaningless, repetitive paperwork that has prevented them from spending time nurturing their students. Many are ex Principals whose have been imprisoned in their offices doing paperwork instead of getting around their schools supporting their fellow teachers and making genuine contact with their students.

 Many, who are dreaded baby boomers, could be mentoring young teachers or doing casual work if educational bureaucrats had the vision to see beyond their short sighted demands for “accountability” in the shape of things like accreditation.

 The only accountability that matters is what actually happens in the classroom and on the sporting fields and in creative pursuits. By their very nature, students make teachers accountable. Otherwise, they will have riots on their hands. Accountability in schools simply cannot be measured by form filling. Anyone who thinks so clearly has had no experience in the classroom.

 Every teacher wants the best for their students. That is what makes teachers very special people. Every teacher wants their students to do well. Every teacher wants their students to achieve their best in examinations.

 What this requires is spending time communicating, often one on one. It requires understanding and, sometimes, cajoling. It requires getting to know students beyond just giving them information. This is what teachers do when they are freed up to. It is what they used to do outside class time before the bureaucracy instituted so much form filling, like often nonsensical “Risk Assessment” forms that resulted in teachers throwing their hands in the air and saying, “enough”.

 What is frightening is that the people who institute these demands have absolutely no background in teaching and think that KPI’s will tell us what makes a good teacher.

 Teaching is a people led profession. Writing anodyne reports, checked and re-checked to remove anything “controversial” serve no purpose other than fulfilling a task. They don’t tell parents about their children. They aren’t an honest reflection of a child’s progress. They are an example of how far we are removed from doing what we want to do.

 The action this Thursday is an indication that teachers, across all sectors, have had enough. It is high time Ministers of Education and educational bureaucrats started listening to the people on the ground. Endless reports like Gonski have come and gone. Ministers who really tried to understand teachers’ concerns have resigned, frustrated that political and ideological argy bargy has got in the way of them achieving anything.

 Many people reading this have had their lives changed by teachers. Many applauded us for our efforts during lockdown. Many parents are appreciative of our efforts and understand out frustration.

 A line in the sand is being drawn. Which side we stand on will determine the future of education in this country.