Studies show that about 40% of Australian school principals report an increase in pre-retirement resignations from teachers over the past year, and more than half (51%) say it has become much harder to suitably fill staff vacancies across all areas of the curriculum.
The Australian Education Union’s 2024 State of our Schools survey, released in May, found some schools have been forced to run classes without a teacher, split or merge classes, or reduce the range of specialist classes offered.
With teachers crying out for more support, a raft of targeted initiatives are underway to fill staff vacancies and alleviate this issue, even if it is just one of the many factors that are straining the profession.
Since 2009, Teach For Australia has placed more than 1,600 teachers and leaders where they are needed most, positively impacting more than 650,000 students. Importantly, most of the teachers who participated in the program have continued their careers in education.
Recently, TFA launched an innovative four-year undergraduate employment-based program that combines classroom experience with academic study.
In the first two years, participants will work as teacher aides, where they will deepen their teaching knowledge and gain hands-on experience while studying. In the final two years, they transition to teaching on a Permission to Teach or equivalent, continuing their studies with ongoing support from TFA staff and in-school mentors to further refine their teaching practice.
“The new stream allows us to recruit, train, and support a diverse range of individuals, including educational support staff, First Nations people, and those from rural, regional, and remote areas,” Melodie Potts Rosevear, CEO and Founder of TFA, told The Educator.
“Importantly, it means even more young people will be positively impacted by high-quality teachers across Australia.”
Potts Rosevear said while TFA is crying out for great teachers all over the country, the shortage disproportionately affects Indigenous teachers.
“According to the 2022 Closing the Gap report, First Nations people aged 20 to 24 are less likely to finish year 12 in comparison to non-Indigenous Australians in the same age range,” she said. “That means traditional pathways into teaching – such as university degrees or even postgraduate pathways, are more difficult to access.”
However, Potts Rosevear noted that the latest Australia Teacher Workforce Data shows Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ITE students are increasingly preferring flexible study modes – a crucial demand that TFA’s new program can help to accommodate.
“Through the provision of an undergraduate stream with a robust wrap-around culturally responsive mentoring and support model, we hope to attract and train more First Nations educators.”
Fostering diversity in Australia’s schools
Potts Rosevear said TFA’s undergraduate employment-based pathway reduces the financial burden for individuals from underrepresented communities or lower-income backgrounds enabling them to pursue a career in teaching.
“The new stream opens the door for people with diverse professional experiences, backgrounds and lived experience by recruiting local talent including qualified hospitality and tradespeople, educational support staff, and First Nations, remote, and/or other culturally diverse individuals,” she said.
“Because TFA works in schools in areas experiencing disadvantage, there’s an increasing need for diverse educators who understand the cultural and social dynamics of their own communities who can provide a culturally safe and responsive educational environment.”
Turning the tables
In 2024, 84% of those who participated in TFA’s Leadership Development Program are working in schools, including 39% who hold a position of school leadership. More than half (53%) are working in TFA Eligible schools (in disadvantaged areas), and 34% of all alumni working in schools are in regional/rural areas.
Santino Merino, who was in TFA’s 2020 cohort 2020, is one teacher who completed the Leadership Development Program.
"What made me interested in applying for Teach For Australia's Leadership Development Program was the ability to make a bigger impact in the community,” Merino told The Educator.
“Teaching is an incredibly rewarding and challenging career. We have the ability to form strong relationships and make a huge impact on the lives of our students.”
Merino said he wakes up with a strong sense of purpose as to what he’s doing and what he’s hoping to achieve.
“So, even though I've been in a semi-classroom setting for 10 years, teaching English as a Second Language prior to starting the Leadership Development Program, I feel like I've grown so much in my practice as a teacher with the help of the TFA curriculum and wrap-around support,” he said.
“I had hoped that TFA would continue to expand, so the new undergraduate program is welcomed news, especially in light of the enormous teacher shortage. We need to continue putting passionate people into classrooms to impact young people.”