I can only speak for the ITE programme I did, but I found that there was a big focus on how to research into issues and work out solutions for yourself – very much a “give them a fish, feed them for a day; teach them to fish, teach them for a lifetime” philosophy. After all, teaching is a complex environment that requires creative problem-solving, and what works in one context may not work well in another. So really, an ITE programme is going to be about giving new teachers a good theoretical foundation on which to build, and it is on-the-job where they will hone their teaching practice. Do our ITE programmes need to be overhauled? I think the one I personally attended was very good, but it seems others may have had a less positive experience.

Of course, the universities are pushing back, claiming that the proposed changes are coming out of a “manufactured crisis”, and ignore the broader issues in the industry such as what you describe above.

Experts say ITE reforms miss the mark

Another big factor could be the casualisation/contractualisation of the workforce, where teacher are finding it hard to get permanent positions that provide job security, stability, allow the taking out of mortages, etc…

The NSW DoE has a report on their website that looks into some of the literature surrounding “Innovative Learning Spaces”:

The Focus on Learning Spaces

They talk about the importance of having flexibility in the learning space, eg. with movable walls/dividers, and make a distinction between flexible versus open spaces. Further, they do pick up on the point about students such as those with ASD that struggle in noisy environments (as you say, it can be bad enough in a traditional classroom with 30 students, let alone a shared space with 60-120 students).

They also mention how the space should be used to support different types of pedagogical practices. Many of the examples given tend towards groupwork, student-based, nvestigative and project-based learning, with less emphasis on direct instruction. This is interesting, because another article I posted in this group recently talks about proposed changes to teaching degrees, where univertisites are being directed to place a greater focus on explicit teaching and direct instruction in a teacher-directed tightly-controlled classroom.

It’s interesting how the pendulum swings…

I think in Australia too then, post-covid, students may have become a bit more unruly, and classroom routines and expectations need to be re-taught and reestablished. The unruliness generally doesn’t generally rise to the level of safety concerns, although there was a case recently where a casual teacher was provoked and got into a physical altercation with a student that was filmed and widely distributed on the internet, and criminal charges were brought against that teacher. Gun violence not a big a concern in Australia due to much stricter gun laws than in the US – is this much of a concern over there?

Do you think remote learning is really as effective as face-to-face learning? In my state, the NAPLAN result indicate that students are about a term behind in their literacy and numeracy as a result of the COVID lockdowns:

https://www.smh.com.au/education/simply-staggering-nsw-students-fall-months-behind-due-to-covid-19-20201126-p56ibk.html

In terms of the drug issue you raise, do you think that remote learning would improve or worsen the situation? In school, the students are exposed to some positive role models and educational messages concerning drug (mis)use, whereas in a strictly home environment they may or may not have access to that. Being in school could result in peer pressure to partake in illicit drug use, but they could also get this exposure from peer groups outside the school environment.

There is quite a strong community in r/AustralianTeachers on Reddit with lots of useful information exchanged, and I am hoping to building something like that here. I have made a few posts in an attempt to encourage engagement, but so far there doesn’t seem much interest. The r/AustralianTeachers subreddit did go private as part of the protests, but has since reopened, and it appears that it is pretty much back to business as usual like it was before the protests. I’m not going back to reddit, so I hope some of my colleagues will join me here, but if not then so be it.

There do seem to be some syncing issues. I can’t seem to get to this community from kbin for some reason – maybe something to do with software versions. I also can’t seem to post to [email protected] from here at lemm.ee – the “post” button just spins round and round with no progress. Maybe given some time, as the software matures, things will start to work better, but in the meantime there do seem to be quite a few issues with federation both within lemmy as well as between lemmy and kbin.