13 September 2023

September Update

Hello Colleagues

I trust all is well.

This will be my final update to you as this Friday 15 September I commence Long Service Leave ending in mid July 2024, when I will retire. Andy Mison is the new ASPA President – I wish him well.

I cannot express the pride that I have in representing you and Government education over the last six years. ASPA has had significant influence in the National education landscape, to list a few –

• We now have programs across our country that address School Leader Health and Wellbeing
• We have raised the profile of Government education – within the Federal Government and publicly
• We have increased the Principal voice – we are now sought after and asked our thoughts BEFORE a new policy lands – this is very significant.

I have enjoyed the role and the challenges immensely.

Most importantly though, the School Leaders and other people I have met have extended the warm hand of friendship to me – it is the relationships that are the most important thing.

I am proud, content and grateful.

Farewell and be well.

1. As you would be aware, I have worked very closely with the Education Leadership team at Monash University for some time. With your assistance, we have produced research papers around Principal Recruitment and Selection and Principal Autonomy. These papers have attracted a great deal of conversation in and out of Federal Government circles. Our next piece of research is around the emotional capital that Principals bring to their job – and your assistance is vital to this research.

Invisible labour:  Principals emotional labour in volatile times

This is a project funded by the Australian Research Council. It is being conducted by education researchers from Monash and Deakin Universities and the University of Sydney.

We are asking public school principals from across Australia to assist us by participating in this survey.

This is not your typical survey. We want to collect your stories about the more invisible but crucial aspects of your work as a government school principal – the “emotional labour” of doing the job.

The main thing you will be doing in this survey is telling a significant story about a critical incident that you have experienced as a principal. We think these stories are crucial to collect to capture the extent and diversity of this invisible work and expand public understandings about the complex nature of the principal’s role.

2. From our partner and friend Prof. Jenny Gore –

Dear Andrew

Since I last reached out, you may have seen that the Australian Government announced an expansion of the Quality Teaching Rounds program. You can see Education Minister Jason Clare’s announcement here and our media release here.

This new project, Strengthening Induction through QTR aims to address the teacher shortage and lift outcomes for both students and teachers, based on the compelling evidence base that participation in QTR improves teacher efficacy and morale and student literacy and numeracy achievement.

The project will support 1,600 early career teachers and their more experienced colleagues from schools across Australia to take part in QTR over the next four years.

We would be grateful for your support in sharing this opportunity across your networks and with your members.

If interested, my team and I are available to present at any forthcoming events, conferences, committee meetings, etc.

Alternatively, the following text can be used in newsletter or email communications with your membership groups.

Strengthening Induction through Quality Teaching Rounds 

More than a thousand beginning teachers are set to benefit from a $5 million four-year agreement between the Australian Government and the University of Newcastle to expand the award-winning Quality Teaching Rounds (QTR) program. 

QTR brings teachers together to learn from each other and improve their teaching. It involves groups of four teachers working through a process of observation and analysis of teaching practice. Over the past five years, a series of randomised controlled trials have demonstrated that QTR improves the quality of teaching, teacher morale and student academic achievement in mathematics and reading.  

The project, Strengthening Induction through QTR, is a commitment of the Government’s National Teacher Workforce Action Plan and aims to address the teacher shortage by improving beginning teachers’ confidence, morale and job satisfaction as well as address teaching quality and lift students’ academic achievement. 

Principals who sign their schools up to the project will be able to nominate their beginning teachers to participate alongside experienced colleagues in QTR professional development for free. Workshops are usually valued at $880 per teacher. 

Importantly, QTR does not replace existing induction practices or professional development approaches but can work alongside those strategies to enhance teaching and learning experiences. 

Find out more and register interest via the University’s website. 

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Kind regards
Jenny

LAUREATE PROFESSOR JENNY GORE (she/her)
Director | Teachers and Teaching Research Centre  | http://www.newcastle.edu.au/teachers-and-teaching
Fellow | American Educational Research Association

Another piece of interesting work I do on behalf of ASPA is part of a research team from Queensland University of Technology (QUT). The research is into the way vertical schools operate (the pedagogy, staffing, student operations and school culture development etc) – Fortitude Valley State Secondary College in Brisbane, Adelaide Botanic High School and Prahran High School in Melbourne are the schools in the trial. It is really fascinating work. The team recently visited Adelaide Botanic for two days where we collected some every meaningful data. I look forward to sharing research insights with you when they become available.

3. The following resources I can highly recommend – I have a copy of the set myself. The series is aimed at supporting students and their families through trauma or difficult times.

THE SQUISH BOOK SERIES: Advanced Psychological Skills for Children

Dr Kirsten Hunter is a clinical psychologist and best-selling author, who for 21 years has had the great fortune of child clients letting her into their worlds to hear their struggles, confusion and joy. The Squish book series represents these thousands of children who have shared their world with her, and now hopefully Squish can help thousands more. With relatable illustrations from Emma Moorman, a talented young adult with, and advocate for Autism, this Squish Book Series beautifully and lovingly delivers advanced psychological skills to children. We are all in this together; let’s start some vulnerable and brave conversations.

Age range: In sample populations, children aged 6 through to 14 have related and responded well to this material.

Book 1 – My Thoughts are Trash or Treasure  -  How do we master our thoughts so that we can take charge of our fears? Welcome to your trash or treasure hunt. 

Book 2 – Grit Superhero  -  We don’t get strong from our good times. How do we celebrate the reward of hard earnt grit?

Book 3 – I am an Outsider  -  If we look into the hearts and experiences of others, we find out we are all outsiders. This is how we find our sense of belonging.

Book 4 – You are Gold  -  Your worth is within you. Let’s celebrate your unique mould and your inherent value!

Australian School Orders available at: 

Sold separately or as a Complete Collection. SQUISH COLOURING BOOK also available.

Research Corner

Forum on Research into Teacher Retention

Teaching workforce issues are high on the agenda of governments and no doubt many school leaders. There have been recent calls for a focus on teacher retention as the numbers of teachers leaving their career seems to be at a crisis levels. 

In late April, the Teachers and Teaching Research Centre at the University of Newcastle hosted a forum to bring together Australian educational researchers who are looking into issues associated with teacher retention. Participants shared information about the six significant research projects that are underway across the country. The forum provided opportunity to discuss ways to connect and collaborate in order to have the most positive impact on these crucial issues for school education in Australia.

If you are interested in finding out more about any of these projects, please see the information below. I will also be sure to share any further developments from across this network of researchers over the coming years. If you are interested in contacting any of the project teams or have any questions or comments, please feel free to email me - fiona.longmuir@monash.edu

Project:                Strengthening induction through QTR

Researchers:      Prof Jenny Gore, Dr Sally Patfield, Dr Leanne Fray and Dr Drew Miller (Teachers and Teaching Research Centre - University of Newcastle)

Summary:

Given the high rates of attrition among teachers in the first five years of their careers, this project will investigate the extent to which Quality Teaching Rounds professional development supports early career teachers and improves levels of confidence, belonging, and self-efficacy. This national, cross-sectoral project will attract 1,600 teachers, a combination of beginning teachers and their mentors or more experienced teachers over the next four years and will aim to inform and improve early career induction processes, build a strong culture of collaboration, and reduce attrition rates of early career and experienced teachers alike.

Project:                Early career teacher induction: Supporting precarious teachers

Researchers:      Prof Anna Sullivan (UniSA), Dr Neil Tippet (UniSA), A/Prof Stuart Woodcock (Griffith), Prof Andrea Reupert (Monash), Prof Simone White (RMIT), Prof Michele Simons (WSU)

Summary:

Early career teacher induction: Supporting precarious teachers. This project aims to investigate the ways in which Australian induction policies support precariously employed early career teachers to effectively manage student classroom behaviour. This project expects to generate new knowledge of workforce development and induction experiences of early career teachers employed on casual and short-term contracts. Expected outcomes of this project include alternative policy and practice recommendations to support the transition of insecure replacement teachers within the profession. The benefits of this research include, improving teachers’ classroom management practices; the retention of new teachers; improving teacher workforce development; and building a healthier education system.

Project:                Impact of teacher shortages on teachers remaining in hard to staff schools

Researchers:      Prof Jo Lampert (Monash), Prof Bruce Burnett (ACU), Dr Amy McPherson (ACU) 

Summary:

Impact of teacher shortages on teachers remaining in hard to staff schools. This project aims to investigate the lived experiences of teachers in a time of unprecedented teacher shortages. While previous studies have examined the causes of teacher shortages, the project is significant in its review of the issues of teacher retention focusing instead on those teachers who remain. By addressing the problem of retention this way, the expected outcomes of this project include developing a much deeper understanding of how educational systems, as well as individual schools, can support those teachers remaining in the profession. This will provide significant benefits such as informing policy on how to facilitate greater teacher retention at a time when maintaining support for a declining teaching workforce is urgent.            

Project:                Invisible Labour: Principals’ emotional labour in volatile times

Researchers:      Prof Jane Wilkinson (Monash), Prof Lucas Walsh (Monash), Prof Amanda Keddie (Deakin), Dr Fiona Longmuir (Monash), Dr Christine Grice (USyd)

Summary:

Invisible labour: Principals’ emotional labour in volatile times. Schools face a major principal recruitment and retention crisis due to intensified workloads and the emotional labour of managing diverse communities. This project aims to improve leadership preparation and development for school principals to help them manage complex emotional workload demands. The project expects to generate new knowledge about principal workforce development and to create a framework for policymakers that identifies the knowledge and practices required to develop leaders’ emotional skills and build bridges across diverse communities. Anticipated benefits include reduced principal turnover, improved teacher retention, improved student outcomes and greater social cohesion.

Project:                “I left the teaching profession… and this is what I am doing now”: A national study

Researchers:      Prof Robyn Brandenburg (Federation), Dr Ellen Larsen (USQ), Prof Alyson Simpson (USyd), A/Prof Richard Sallis (UMelb)

Summary:

There is already extensive research on teachers who intend to leave the profession. We know the reasons teachers say they want to leave include work intensification, salary, increasing levels of administration and a general lack of respect for the profession – there's a lot of research that has been done in this area. But we really need to hear from the people who have already left and find out why they left, what they are doing now, and whether they intend to return to teaching in the future.

4. New Free Resources Available

The latest issues of Teenfinca® (teenage financial capability) e-zine and Teenfinca® Entrepreneur are available from The Wealth Academy’s website. 

Financial Capability for School Leavers

TWA’s online courses have many topics and activities that school leaders can use to prepare students for life after school.

School leaders can pick and choose activities to match the needs of various student groups within the school from the various courses available.

	This bundle provides 7 courses, with over 80 different financial life skill topics for teachers to use across the school. Teachers can pick and choose across the courses to develop their own specific life skills programs.
“I can use these resources and courses within the school, but they also enable me to provide some community and outreach support. We want to help our community partners and delivering these courses in the community will benefit everyone. (Darren)

	This course shares the financial world opinions, beliefs, views and perspectives of students from 15 schools around Australia. Your students will engage! Your students will react, agree, disagree and perhaps be challenged.
“We have many students in at-risk situations, with some in designated support classes. Courses like this one, reassure our students, that there are teenagers across Australia equally confused about the financial world and that they are not alone. This course will give our kids hope for the future. For many of them, they are looking for that hope.” (Jenny)

All courses are facilitator (educator) led. Students do not log in. The teacher/facilitator leads the students through the course, choosing those topics and activities that meet their needs.

All courses include:

• Facilitator notes and sample responses
• Supplementary extra activities
• E-posters to use as visuals around the classroom.

Peruse TWA’s online courses here. 

1. The university of Wollongong is conducting a study into professional learning. The response to this study has been impressive, if you would like to contribute please do.

Our Phase 1 survey saw a great deal of interest from principals and we sincerely thank members for their participation. The findings of this survey will be made available in the coming months. 

Now, we are moving into Phase 2 and want to find out more about how digital technologies are influencing the way you work and how you are continuing to develop yourself as a school leader. 

If you're interested in participating in our study, click here.

Some Readings

Reading 1