Yet another education review!
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 126 No 3, 9 April 2021, page no.12
Federal Education Minister Alan Tudge has announced yet another education review, this time into teacher training.
Mr Tudge revealed that initial teacher education would be the central focus of the review, which is an attempt to shift the education debate away from funding and on to “teacher quality”.
But this latest review has been criticised by the Australian Education Union, which dismissed Mr Tudge’s suggestion that “the school funding wars are over” and claimed that he is ignoring the significant body of evidence that already exists about the failure of the federal government to address the school funding equity gap.
AEU Federal President Correna Haythorpe said: “We do not need another review to tell them what is blatantly obvious - that in order to improve student outcomes, the government must address the school funding inequity in our education system.
Speaking in March, Mr Tudge said: “Some teachers are still graduating from their courses insufficiently prepared to teach in a classroom, either because there has been too much focus on theory at the expense of practice, or because evidence-based teaching methods are not taught. I hear this consistently from school principals and graduates alike.
“This review will investigate where there is still further work to do to ensure that all ITE courses are high-quality and adequately prepare our teachers to be effective from day one.
“In the end, the quality of teaching is the most important factor in student outcomes. It is my most important priority when it comes to schooling.”