r/AskAustralianTeachers

I'm about to start my Masters of Primary Teaching in Victoria with Swinburne as I need the online study model. I've been wanting to start for a few years now and am about to start.

I have seen posts that due to the CSPs on teaching degrees more people are going through the system to get qualified. I know there was previously a teaching shortage - has that now been addressed and are we getting to the point where we have too many to make this reliable and ongoing work?

ty in advance

My child has come home all year regularly telling me that they hate their teacher, and they would prefer to be in the other class.

I as the adult have taken the tough stance and said we are all human and you just have to suck it up.

It is quite obvious that this teacher has favourites in the class, let’s call them Jack and Jill.

This has been going on all year but lately it been escalating here are some examples;

1. the teacher gave certificates to every kid in the class, even the naughty kids, and my kid was the only one left out. The teacher was double checking that Jack and Jill got one??
2. They did a writing task and the teacher asked the children to put up their hands if they wanted to share, my child put up her hand, every child that put up their hand got to share expect my child. Jack and Jill got to share first though.
3. The teacher uses some randomiser to change seating every few weeks, there‘s few kids that never show up and it placed my child sitting alone at a desk, when the randomiser has Jack or Jill sitting alone the teacher overrides it and puts them together. My kid still sat alone for 2 weeks.
4. My child and another child asked if they could do some highly sought after job in the classroom one week, the teacher said yes, and then when it was time to do the job she asked Jack and Jill.
5. My child was doing artwork and the teacher asked rubbed out her drawing and the teacher redrew it, it was a Mother’s Day drawing and she rubbed out the eyes and lips and redrew them -my kid came home and put the artwork in the bin.

The above is just the last few weeks but there’s been complaints all year. Also i am not the only parent who is hearing complaints about Jack and Jill. Other parents are sick of hearing about Jack and Jill and think there should be some separation like picking Jack and Sam, or Jill and Joe to break it up.

Should I say something or will I look super petty. I should add that the school seems pretty toxic at the moment amongst the staff because of a new principal that some staff are chummy with and others are not. Edited to add: Jack and Jills parents are local well known prominent business owners/professionals in our local area so other parents think they get preferential treatment because of the teacher sucking up to the parent.

For reference this is a year 6 clas.

Hi teachers!

I'm a mid-career freelance communications professional considering enrolling in a teaching degree. I'd like to teach English at high-school level, but I wouldn't be seeking a permanent teaching position. Instead, I'd be looking for casual teaching jobs, just filling in here and there as a way of supplementing my freelance income and doing something new and challenging.

I've been doing a bit of reading about teaching careers and it sounds like casual teaching roles are pretty plentiful, but I'd love to hear from people who are actually in the education system about the realities of the work.

If you're willing, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the following:

- Is there any point in someone like me (mid 40s, non-education background) completing a teaching degree, given that there's a steady supply of new, younger grads available?

- How difficult is it to secure casual teaching positions in metropolitan Sydney?

- Because I'm already established with work and family in Sydney, I don't have the option of taking on a rural placement, which I know is a smart pathway for teachers looking for permanency in the public system. Will this matter if I'm only pursuing casual opportunities?

- I've heard that there's an oversupply of English teachers. Is this true, and would this impact on my ability to secure casual work? I've also read that being willing to teach outside your subject area increases your potential as a casual—how does this work?

- Is this (casual teaching only) an insane idea? And, does a few years of casual teaching potentially lead to permanent work down the track, if that was a route I eventually decided to pursue?

TIA for taking the time to read. I would really value your insights.

Hi everyone,
I’m currently on a temporary partner visa and trying to figure out my career path in Australia.
I have a linguistics/interpreting degree (English and German) from a non-English-speaking country, but most of my work experience is in English teaching, tutoring, and college training.
I’m thinking about taking IELTS Academic and applying for an AITSL assessment, but I’m not sure if it’s realistic with my background.
Has anyone here been through something similar? Was it worth trying?
Would really appreciate any advice or personal experiences 🙏

Hello. Keen to hear from anyone who is doing / done their masters of teaching while also managing care for their young children

I have an 18 month old, and work part time / she is in daycare 3days/wk. I am more interested in multi-modal than fully online learning, but understand that may be necessary if I require the flexibility.

Parent-students, how did you find the workload of the masters? Did you do part or full time?

Thank you.

Hi there, are there more vacant positions (generally) in primary or secondary in the Brisbane area? And how likely are you to find a permanent position in a school in the Brisbane LGA as a new grad?

Hi there amazing teachers,

Firstly, thanks in advance to everything you do!

Secondly, I’m after feedback on class sizes as my child is starting school next year. We currently have two options, as we’re moving rural.

I know it’s hard to give recommendations without lots of specifics but any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

My child is 5 in September, has only recently shown an interest in drawing/cutting/writing, has some speech issues (eg can sound immature due to basic sentence structure, esp when tired or hungry), social/emotional he does well at school but is a struggle at home eg easily upset, highly sensitive, needs a humorous/playful approach to engage sometimes. Has been screened by Paed/OT/SP at community health, no concerns for diagnosis atm but will keep an eye during the upcoming block of SP/OT. Querying Developmental Coordination Disorder but will also keep an eye.

1. Private school (8k tuition, essentially 11k with additions and increasing throughout) but class sizes capped at 20 (and remain so until year 5). External therapists allowed in but diverse learning needs support appears minimal. The school in general is well resourced, especially the library and STEM. In addition, the expectations are high and quite a few children seem high achieving eg playing 3-4 instruments. Space wise the facilities are more spread out and I know he’ll be the one they’re always stopping for the teacher to yell hurry up 😓 one upside is his uncle is good friends with the principals son and the principal himself

2. Local catholic school (3K tuition, not much for extras). Very much about community and families, embracing the child for who they are. Have a diverse learning needs support team and break out rooms off kindy space. Have a home corner/play items in the room for play based learning with social/emotional focus. However, they’ll have 3 classes with 31 students each. Teachers aide but not full time. School size is currently 430 but growing rapidly with nearby development. Construction works will occur for a number of years. Concerned about crowding and volume of children. Also common to do 2 masses per week 🫣

Love the vibe of the second school (minus the religion) and think they’ll meet him where he’s at better but concerned about time they’ll be able to spend and volume of children in the classroom. Flipside, the private is expensive and I’m worried they won’t be able to lean into fun/playful as much and will have higher expectations. They did have a better playground though with slides/swings/climbing/sandpit/cubby house. He seemed comfortable at both when we did the tours - enjoyed the play kitchen in catholic school and stem resources and library at private.

Thoughts on how we make this decision/what we need to know more about?

Thanks for reading this far!

There's always posts about what parents do wrong or what makes teachers' lives harder. But what about the other side- the small things that actually make a difference or make the job feel worth it. Even the little stuff like a quick email or how a kid shows up on Monday. What are some real examples from people who've been in the classroom?

I’ve been reading a lot about various state departments doubling down on highly structured, evidence-based "Explicit Instruction" models for reading and maths, moving completely away from student-led inquiry styles. As the educators who have to deliver these rigid, heavily scaffolded lessons every day: how do you actually feel about it? Do you find that the structured repetition is successfully closing the literacy gaps for struggling students, or does it feel like you're losing the autonomy to run creative, spontaneous projects that keep kids genuinely excited about coming to school?

I will be single for the rest of my life.

I have no social media.

I am completely work/career-oriented.

I have no hobbies.

I like reading and sending emails.

I like touching paper and doing maths.

I feel safe in a school-based environment.

Happy to take work home with me.

Happy to spend a coin here and there to provide student resources for the 'I don't have a book and pen'.

Ready to document every email and have evidence ready to convince teachers/parents/admin that I am doing the best I can for students.

Things I am unsure of yet:

Can I manage classroom behaviour?

Will I get along with other teachers and admin?

How dependent would I be on the HoD?

How well will students understand what I teach?

How well can I handle parents' disapproval and complaints?

Would I be replaced by AI?

What should my minor be given that I choose maths?

Problem: I don't like driving.

The workload lately has hit a massive wall and I honestly feel overwhelmed. I’ve got multiple major assessments due at the same time, and I had to work all weekend to help my family with expenses. I missed a draft deadline few days back for a teacher I really respect, and I feel awful about it. I don’t want them to think I’ve stopped caring or that I’m making excuses, but stress has completely frozen me mentally. From a teacher’s perspective, what’s the best way for a student to ask for an extension or support without sounding lazy or dishonest?

As the titles says - why did you choose this career? I’m particularly interested in those who have changed to this career later in life…
I’m pretty certain I want to pick teaching, I understand the down sides, hell, it’s all anybody seems to talk about on here. But from where I’m at in life - it sounds like a great option. However, it’s hard not to get discouraged with all the negative feed back.

I know teaching teenagers suits my personality, I have the time to study and do the extra work when I actually graduate, and the motivation to leave my current role.

I’m 33, have 2 young kids but lots of support to help get me through.

Thanks for reading

Hi, I'm currently a first-year education student and was wondering how I could get qualified to teach just Math Standard/General. I was really good at in high school and currently tutoring students in the subject but I just can't go higher than that. If I try to major in mathematics in uni I'd have to do a whole lot of higher level math that I'm not interested in nor good at. It also wouldn't be relevant when teaching math standard too. Is there any way to be able to be a math teacher and just teach math standard and junior level maths?

Sorry if this is really wordy!

Since I was in Year 7 I knew that teaching in the future would crumble because of poor student behaviour and poor leadership and management. Fast forward to me in Year 12 and a few years onward I see my prediction was indeed correct and being a teacher has come with more than responsibilities than just teaching, marking, reporting and lesson planning.

Unfortunately the job I am doing as an industry lab tech repetitively doing the same thing over again for half the day with erratic staff rostering isn't something that suits me and I'm feeling driven back to do something education-related as most of my casual and part-time work was also education related, tutoring, some also being with the DoE. The idea of looking at a school maths curriculum and term plan for what students are going to be learning soothes my mind but if I multiply that by 5 classes I would easily lose track and have to constantly go back and forward based on what my teaching timetable were to look like.

I would be applying for a Graduate Diploma of Teaching as I can afford the one year of full-time study and to see how I would do in my prac, but I am concerned of all the problems that come with the teaching profession. Taking home unpaid work and marking is something I can go along with but then come the meetings and all the other impossible teacher crap that I never pictured my teachers doing until I researched.

Students' and parents' unruly behaviour is one thing that I have feared, but now after doing research, it also appears there are also problems between other teachers themselves and admin as well as leadership. I naturally have a very pessimistic mindset and I'm very organised, so the thought of all these issues would be enough to make me never take a minute to breathe and to be wary of teacher coworkers or leadership who could be out to get me in the future should it happen.

All I know is that I am not going to be a science teacher as the memories of my Year 7 and 8 science teacher not being able to get a second of our class' attention for the whole hour while having to guide them through an experiment are still very fresh in my head even after 10 years.

There is a teacher shortage and I would happily become one but fall terribly if I didn't know about all these issues. Now that I am aware of these other admin and between staff members issues, I feel slightly more prepared if I were to ever enter a workplace like that. My alternative was to become a school lab tech but the contracts and job security along with pay push me away a bit. Honestly speaking, however, I enjoy any work involving pen and papers (maths) than with chemicals and glassware, which prompted me to think about a career as a maths teacher.

What, in case there was anything I missed, do I need to look out for or be wary of if I ever do become a teacher? Is it ok to commute by public transport as a teacher. What is the worst part of teaching?

I’m a Victorian 4th year secondary Education student, and in my last few placements, I’ve slowly come to realize this profession is not for me.

I’ve got a casual job working at the Uni, but I feel a bit lost now that I’m not set on teaching.

I was wondering if there were other professions that use an Education degree.

I’ve heard about curriculum designer but J don’t know much about it.

I know some people might say that I’m having a sook or whatever, but I genuinely feel like this career choice would just eat away at me, ( I do care about helping and teaching others)

Could someone educate me on what options are available?

Cheers!

hello teachers of Australia :) I was just wondering… if a 17 year old student (vic) came up to you and said ‘hey sorry to bother you but I know someone who thinks that they’ve been subject to years of physical and psychological abuse at home/from a parent but they don’t know what to do because they don’t think anyone can help them because their abuse has been so covert, I was wondering since you are a trusted adult if you could give me any advice to pass on’, would this be something that you would need to report as a mandatory reporter?

thank you for your time!

I was wondering if woodwork and metalwork teachers in particular have to have experience working in trades prior to teaching those classes full-time?

I ask because it’s a very specific class being taught and you’re working with different machinery etc. so I have to imagine when these people go to Uni to get their teaching degrees they’d probably be recommended to have done a trade in something like carpentry perhaps?

Hello all,

I am getting sick of the corporate drudgery and the pointlessness of my position, as well as wanting to now live in the regions for a lifestyle change.

I am definitely considering teaching, notwithstanding the horror stories that I do see on this board. My question I'd like to pose: Masters of Teaching - Secondary or Primary for Regional NSW? I am leaning towards secondary, and for the harder subjects; However, I see that there are a lot more primary schools than secondary ones. Would it be possible to teach in a primary school with a secondary masters if push comes to shove?

Hi everyone,

I’m currently considering a career change into primary teaching and would really appreciate hearing from people who entered the profession later in life, especially male primary teachers, teachers from culturally diverse backgrounds, or anyone who studied a Master of Teaching in Sydney.

I’m 38, based in Sydney, and currently work in administration/member support and student services. I also have a BA in History and Politics/International Relations plus First Class Honours in Politics. Over the last couple of years I’ve found myself increasingly drawn towards teaching because I want work that feels more meaningful, community-oriented and people-focused long term.

At the moment I’m mainly looking at the Master of Teaching (Primary) programs at UNSW and USYD, though I’m also open to hearing thoughts about Macquarie or CSU. I’d most likely continue living in inner Sydney (probably Glebe) while studying.

A few things about me that shape the decision:

• I’m a gay male person of colour with an accent despite living in Australia for 18 years
• I don’t drive and rely heavily on walking/public transport
• Routine and community are very important to me
• I’m very involved in group fitness and gym culture outside work, and maintaining balance matters a lot to me

I’d especially love to hear from:

• people who entered teaching in their late 30s or later
• male primary teachers
• teachers who don’t drive
• anyone who studied MTeach Primary at UNSW, USYD, Macquarie or CSU
• teachers who can honestly speak about workload, prac placements (since I do not drive) and lifestyle balance during the degree

I think my biggest question is:
Does primary teaching sound like a good long-term fit for someone like me?

Thank you so much in advance — I’d genuinely appreciate any perspectives or advice.

The mum of my kid’s classroom teacher died. What do we get the teacher as a class? Flowers? Card? Do you put cash in the card (we do this overseas but not sure if it’s the norm here in Australia)?