Musings on Global Education (August 12, 2008)

Aussie (and Canadian) Teachers: They’re Just Like Us!

We who work in high-need schools in the US tend to think that the challenges we face every day at work are unlike any other problems that other teachers and school districts deal with. High stress, low pay, students who can’t multiply, too much standardized testing, etc., etc., etc.

Guess again. After reading local newspapers, watching local television and talking with other teachers, these seem to be global trends that are endemic to the profession. Take teacher pay, for example. Australia recently passed a new pay structure that guarantees teachers somewhere between $50,000 - $75,000 in annual salary. This sounds great -- at first -- until you adjust their salaries for the weak Australian dollar and the cost of living here, which is nearly double that in Los Angeles.

In addition, there are efforts currently underway to guarantee highly-skilled teachers as much as $100,000 through performance-based bonuses as a way to prevent them from leaving the classroom to pursue higher-paying administrative jobs. Similar efforts in the US have been met with intense resistance by teacher unions although, ironically, it is the teacher’s union here that is trying to push these reforms through.

The conditions we teach in seem to be global as well. On my cruise through the Whitsundays, I spent some time speaking with another teacher on holiday from Canada, who talked about having to take on multiple roles with her students – instructor, therapist, disciplinarian, mother, doctor, friend – because they often lack these supports at home. I empathized with her tales about having to coax proficiency out of students who do not speak English, are “far below basic” and who only come to school because it is safe and structured. If it weren’t for her slight accent, I would have thought she taught at Stevenson.

This morning, the national news included a story on reforms the Australian Minister of Education is trying to pass, such as making information about school performance and student demographics (i.e. percentage of students in special education) available to parents, information already available for US schools through No Child Left Behind. The counterpoint to these reforms, presented by an education expert, was exactly the same as you would hear in the States – ranking schools would lead to “teaching to the test” and students who were “unprepared for the realities of university studies.” I cringed, however, when he said, “Do parents really want to know how many indigenous children are in their schools?” I’m not sure if he meant it as it sounded, but it reminded me of stories my brother has told me of parents being concerned with busing students in from the city because they don’t want “those kids” and “their problems” in the same classrooms with their children.

We’re facing a challenging year at Stevenson – no doubt – but this trip has convinced me that many of the things we complain about, whether fair or not, are now a permanent part of our professional reality as they are for teachers around the world. I sincerely hope we can learn to accept these truths so that we can move forward in a positive direction instead of drowning in the challenges of our “unique” situation.