Hello, Teacher deputy editor Rebecca Vukovic here and I'll be your host for today. But before we get into this episode, a reminder to hit the follow button to make sure you stay up to date with the latest content, and please leave a review – it helps people like you to find the podcast and it's a big support for the team.
Hello and thanks for listening to this Teacher Staffroom podcast from Teacher magazine, I’m Rebecca Vukovic.
Earlier this month, Australia’s results from the Teaching and Learning International Survey were released. The OECD’s TALIS is the largest international survey of teachers and leaders, delving into teachers’ professional practices, school learning environments and working lives. Here at Teacher, we covered the results in several different formats. In this episode I’ll run you through the highlights, including an overview article of key findings on staff wellbeing, collegiality and mentoring support; and an infographic that shares some teacher views on the use of AI. I’ll also share an audio grab from our podcast episode with lead author of the Australian report, Dr Tim Friedman, who shares insights on the theme of wellbeing. Of course, I’ll also run through all the other highlights from this month on Teacher that I wouldn’t want you to miss. I’ll be posing questions throughout the episode so I’d encourage you to take a few moments to pause the audio, gather some colleagues, and consider how you could use our content to inform your own practice. Okay, let’s jump in!
Let’s start by talking all things TALIS. The survey is a really important one in terms of capturing the views and experiences of those in the profession. It’s also the largest international survey of teachers and leaders with 280,000 educators from 55 countries and economies taking part in 2024, including 359 schools and 6,040 teachers here in Australia. Australia’s participation in TALIS 2024 was managed by the Australian Council for Educational Research, who released the Australian report to coincide with the OECD global release. Of course we covered the findings here on Teacher to ensure you were across it.
In that article, Teacher editor Jo Earp explores the key findings on staff wellbeing, collegiality, mentoring support and the use of AI. In fact, artificial intelligence featured as a survey topic for the first time in 2024, with teachers asked about their use of AI, and their views on the benefits and challenges.
I’d encourage you to check out both reports. If you need help finding them, the Australian TALIS 2024 report was published by ACER on behalf of the Australian, state and territory governments and is available download at the ACER Repository. The international TALIS 2024 report was released by the OECD and is available to download from the OECD publications web page. Both of those links will be in the transcript of this episode over at our website, teachermagazine.com.
Still on TALIS, Jo Earp also put together an infographic that shows the percentage of Australian teachers who ‘agreed’ or ‘strongly agreed’ with several statements about the benefits and challenges of using AI tools in education. It displays the data in a really clear and succinct way, so I’d encourage you to check it out.
This month, Jo also sat down to record a podcast episode with Dr Tim Friedman, Senior Research Fellow here at the ACER and lead author of the Australian TALIS 2024 report. Their conversation explores how we're faring here in Australia on staff wellbeing, collegiality, mentoring, and induction support, and also how the findings from TALIS could inform some of the conversations that educators are already having in their own leadership teams and staffrooms.
Here's a quote I’d love to share with you. It’s Tim talking about job satisfaction and how the data shows that Australian teachers remain positive about the profession.
I think this is really important to understand that the report does show that while our teachers are stressed, they are showing a lot of job satisfaction. They became teachers for the right reasons, they want to make a positive contribution to society, they like working with young people, and they generally show that they actually get a lot of job satisfaction. And that's really important. We know that job satisfaction, and the TALIS report shows this, that job satisfaction and things like the joy of teaching, these are predictors of teachers that want to stay in the profession. These are predictors of teachers that have higher levels of wellbeing. So, finding ways to encourage teachers to have job satisfaction really acts as sort of a protective measure. And the results sort of show that we're getting the majority of our teachers, something like three-quarters of them, say that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. A similar amount would say that if they could decide again, they would still choose to be a teacher.
That’s Dr Tim Friedman there. After listening to the podcast in full, here are some questions to consider in your own school context:
What does effective mentoring look like in your school context? Are there opportunities for more experienced staff to mentor others, and how are these supported?
What aspects of your induction program helped you feel welcomed and supported when you joined the school? As a school leader, what ongoing support is provided for teachers beyond the initial induction period?
And finally, if you’re listening to this on the day it comes out, tomorrow we will be publishing a special World Teachers’ Day infographic celebrating why Australian educators are drawn to the profession. Make sure you don’t miss it by keeping an eye on the Teacher magazine website or on our social media channels!
Moving on from TALIS now, we published a really interesting piece on modifying the school calendar to meet student needs. Dominique Russell from the Teacher team spoke with 2 principals trialling major changes to their school calendar – one by moving to an 8-term model and the other by introducing a 4-day learning week.
In the article, Principal Dimitri Nicolaou from Central Coast Montessori explains that the new 8-term model was introduced as a strategy to meet wellbeing and learning needs. Families, students and educators all reported feeling tired at the end of term, and the 8-term model aims to address this energy dip by creating shorter cycles punctuated by regular pauses.
Here's a quote from the article:
It replaced the traditional New South Wales calendar of long 9-11-week terms and extended breaks with an 8-term structure. Learning is now spread across shorter, more focused cycles, giving students and [educators] regular chances to pause and recharge.
After reading the article, here are some questions to consider:
What are the current strengths and challenges of your existing school calendar and timetable?
How much choice is available to students and staff to decide how the school day and week is organised?
As a school leader, what feedback mechanisms could you use to involve students, staff and families in the decision-making process?
This month I had the pleasure of talking to Dr Jennet Hansen from Sevenoaks Senior College in Western Australia. Jennet is an incredible educator who has dedicated 2 decades of her career to improving outcomes for Aboriginal students and their families. As the Coordinator of the Follow the Dream program at her school, she focuses on supporting students with their experiences at school, while strengthening cultural identity and engagement at the same time. The result? Aboriginal students in the program have gone on to thrive in a wide range of careers after graduation. In the article, Jennet shares more about the program, some of the initiatives they do to encourage students’ connections to their culture and Country, and the impact it has had on their learning, achievement and post-school pathways.
Here's a quote from the article, it’s Jennet telling me why it’s important to role model what success looks like and build students’ confidence.
It's the little things that we do that can make such a difference to a child's life. It has worked for us here at the college and in my program. We've got amazing students and alumni … they are building stable, fulfilling lives, buying their own first home, owning vehicles, and experiencing the world through international travel. It is deeply rewarding to see them walking their own path, reconnecting with culture, embracing opportunity, and stepping into their future with pride and purpose. It gives me a quiet sense of peace, knowing I’ve played a small part in that journey.
And finally, we’re delighted to announce that our annual reader survey is now open. Each year, our survey asks you about how you use and access Teacher content and the topics you’d like us to cover in the future. You also have the opportunity to share any feedback on Teacher directly with our team.
And the best news? If you’re based in Australia and complete our survey, you’ll also go into the draw to win a book bundle prize pack valued at $550 from our friends at Amba Press. The link to get involved will be in the transcript of this episode over on the teachermagazine.com website. We look forward to reading all your responses!
That's all for this episode, thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this podcast, please take a moment to hit follow on your podcast app and leave us a review. Both of those things help more people like you to find our podcast, and they're a really big support for the Teacher team. We'll be back with a new episode very soon.
