Time’s up: call for extra hours for teacher lesson prep
Teachers are juggling more complexity in the classroom than ever before, but classroom preparation hours have remained unchanged for decades.
It will support the union’s push for extra paid preparation time outside the classroom, after a survey of nearly 20,000 NSW teachers found only 15 per cent had enough time for lesson planning.
NSW Teachers’ Federation president Henry Rajendra said it wasn’t just teachers who were sounding the alarm.
“Parents know this is a serious problem and want it fixed so their children can have a teacher who has time to plan for their students’ needs,” she said.
Preparation hours for the state’s elementary teachers have not increased since the 1980s, and preparation hours for secondary teachers have not changed since the 1950s.
This is despite rapid advances in technology, policy and curriculum changes, and greater numbers of students with disabilities making modern classrooms more complex to manage, according to a 2021 Gallup Survey.
Former WA Premier Dr. The study, chaired by Geoff Gallop, recommended increasing the time teachers spend preparing for lessons and collaborating with colleagues by two hours.
NSW Education and Early Learning Minister Prue Car said significantly more teachers would be needed to provide any increase in preparation time.
“For the Department for Education to deliver ample airtime it will need significantly more teachers, creating vacancies, as the sector recovers from the chronic teacher shortage that has exploded under the Liberals’ and Nationals’ pay caps,” he told AAP.
Ms. Car said her government has made progress in increasing teacher salaries, easing staff workloads and addressing workforce shortages.
“We know there is more work to be done, and we will continue to listen to our hard-working, dedicated teachers and support them in doing what they do best: teaching children in the classroom,” he said.
Mr. Rajendra applauded “meaningful progress” on teacher salaries and workforce shortages, which are now at their lowest levels in more than a decade.
“Now is the time to get the job done and take the additional preparation time that teachers desperately need,” he said.
