The teacher shortage crisis: recruitment or retention?

There is an ongoing debate around what is causing the teacher shortage crisis and what we should be doing about it. Teacher and IEU member Jack Andrews says it’s time to move past band aid solutions.

We hear arguments and solutions about this issue from journalists, politicians, and parents, but rarely from educators working in the profession.

Policy-makers emphasise recruiting better, by luring University students with cash grabs to enrol in teaching degrees or by offering overseas teachers huge sums of money to teach here. These are short-term, band-aid fixes that don’t address the mass exodus from the profession and mask the true extent of the problem.

Recruitment isn’t the answer, retention is.

I don’t believe there is a teacher shortage, but an enormous number of educators who have moved into other professions for a better work-life balance. A 2021 AITSL survey found that teachers typically work 55 hours a week, 45 percent more hours than they are paid for. Teachers will always go above and beyond, but goodwill only lasts so long, especially if it isn’t being reciprocated.

The Federal Government predicts that there will be a shortfall of 4,000 Secondary Teachers by 2025, with the Australian Journal of Education finding that 59 percent of surveyed teachers planned to quit the profession. The survey was conducted pre-COVID; the statistics are likely worse now.

We need to retain our established teachers by listening to their needs and fostering their ongoing development.

We also and need to retain the trainee teachers who leave their university courses after teaching rounds due to the overwhelming demands and expectations they encounter. If we want to increase university enrolments and retain these University graduates we need to ‘sell’ the profession with visibly happy, motivated, and enthusiastic staff who feel the love of the industry and adore the work they do.

The message to the profession is: don’t refuse to change and then wonder, where have all the teachers gone? To retain staff, we must lower the drowning volumes of administration, reporting and curriculum overload, and ensure the profession is valued by society.

If we value teachers’ health, needs, and wellbeing they will be happier in the industry and  become walking, talking advertisements about the attractions of teaching for VCE students who are considering the profession.

We don’t need band-aid solutions to fix our staffing issues, but a reflection on why teachers are struggling and what we can do to ease their workloads. As educators we always prioritise the wellbeing needs of our students, modifying and adjusting assignments and timetables, creating self-care plans and caring for their mental health, but who’s caring for ours?