From the General Secretary's desk, 27 October 2023 | Open PDF
Teaching – Where the Future Begins
On this World Teachers’ Day, we are reminded that teaching is the profession from which all others grow. Across the past few years, we have been clear that investing in teaching is investing in education. We need to continue to campaign to ensure that our profession receives the respect that it deserves.
A poll of 1,000 Queenslanders conducted by DemosAu in August showed that 77 per cent of respondents believed that teachers do not get enough recognition. A similar number of respondents agreed that teachers do more than teach. The results show that, regardless of the demographic, there is clear majority support for greater recognition of teachers across every cohort.
These results show that a great majority of Queenslanders appreciate the work teachers and school leaders do and the contribution our profession makes to society.
However, we know that there is a disconnect between the results of the poll and the lived experience of our members, many of whom are dealing with the effects of the teacher shortage, workload creep and occupational violence.
World Teachers’ Day is an opportunity to not only celebrate the incredible work of our members, but acknowledge the challenges our profession faces.
As we continue to be the profession from which all others grow, it is important that the federal and state governments heed our call for greater investment in public education.
We call on the government to partner with us to enforce its zero tolerance policy for occupational violence in our schools and TAFEs. We also commit to continuing to work with the department and campaigning for genuine workload reduction and measures to address the teacher shortage.
As we embrace teaching in a 21st Century context this Queensland World Teachers’ Day, we as a Union continue to advocate for training and support for our teachers and school leaders in the ethical use of AI, additional funding for students to ensure equitable access to AI technology, and the continued representation of the teacher voice on advisory and peak decision-making bodies.
We also continue the fight to secure full funding for our state schools – the best investment in Australia’s future. Funding arrangements for every state school in Australia are being decided by politicians in the next 12 months. Join with us over the next four weeks as our For Every Child cars visit schools and communities to raise awareness about the importance of full funding for state schools.
Along the way, we’ll be collecting tens of thousands of postcards calling on the Prime Minister to fully fund state schools now, which we’ll deliver to our final destination – Parliament House, Canberra.
It’s more important than ever that we show governments that full funding of state schools is supported by the wider community.
On the road to Canberra, we’ll be engaging with regional and remote communities across the state to build support for fully funded state schools.
This message is especially poignant today as we celebrate Teaching – Where the Future Begins. For that future to be a success and to reflect the respect that our profession deserves, we need our schools resourced at the full 100 per cent of the SRS.
Kate Ruttiman
QTU General Secretary
Authorised by Kate Ruttiman, General Secretary, Queensland Teachers' Union
21 Graham Street, Milton, QLD, Australia, 4064