Andrew Nikolic (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) recognises:

(a) the release of the Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group (Advisory Group) report, 'Action Now: Classroom Ready Teachers' on 13 February 2015;

(b) that the Advisory Group, comprised of eight educational experts, was established in 2014 to provide the best possible informed advice and guidance on how teacher education could be improved to better prepare new teachers for the classroom;

(c) that the credentials, expertise and contribution of the Advisory Group was of world-class quality;

(d) that the Advisory Group conducted its review with consistent impartiality, dedication and objectivity, to the benefit of all Australians;

(e) the critical contribution made by this report to optimising teacher development for all Australian schools of the 21st century; and

(f) the truly comprehensive and wide ranging nature of the Advisory Group's investigation and subsequent report;

(2) acknowledges that:

(a) this report is both far ranging and innovative and includes a total of 38 key recommendations;

(b) the recommendations have at their core a central unifying element and thread—the educational interests of children, first, foremost and always;

(c) current and new teachers should also welcome this report, which will further enable and support both individual teachers and school communities as a whole, in both the foreseeable future, and over the longer term;

(d) overall, this report will affect constructively, the lives of a majority of Australians, including most particularly teachers, parents and students;

(e) the impact of this report will be impartial in nature, being blind to both the demographic and economic circumstances of teachers, parents and students, alike;

(f) this report:

  (i) is underpinned by both balance and merit, for example, it readily acknowledges the existence of both current high performing teacher performance and contribution, as well as identifying the need and scope for other performance to be significantly improved, together with a range of mechanisms and strategies to achieve this key objective; and

  (ii) will act to further affirm the significance and centrality of school education within Australian society;

(g) by improving overall teacher performance, this report will likely support the retention of more students at school for longer, including most desirably, the completion of Year 12 by as many students as possible; and

(h) this report:

  (i) will exert a long term and positive impact on current and future Australian workplaces and work performance; and

  (ii) signals the intended ongoing future emphasis which the Government will continue to give to education and education related matters, for the benefit of all Australians, in an increasingly competitive region and world; and

(3) calls on the Parliament to endorse the Government's strong response to implementing this report as both a key milestone and critical policy initiative in shaping Australian school education and performance (for both teachers and students) for the early 2lst century.

At the heart of this motion is a desire to ensure that this parliament works to improve educational outcomes in Australia. It is a consistent message from the Abbott government, led by the member for Sturt, and reflects a deep commitment to our Students First policy. The four pillars of that policy focus on areas we know affect student outcomes: increasing school autonomy; ensuring a robust and relevant curriculum; promoting parental involvement in their children's learning; and improving the quality of teachers.

This motion reflects that last pillar, directed at lifting the quality and consistency of teaching courses in Australia, because doing so helps provide the world-class education that every Australian child deserves. That laudable outcome explains why Minister Pyne has agreed to the majority of recommendations to improve the content and delivery of teacher courses in Australia, which were made by the Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group or TEMAG. This advisory group focused on the need for better integration, quality assurance, evidence and transparency in teacher education and the report's recommendations centre on those four principles.

TEMAG noted that there was a high degree of variability in the quality of initial teacher education across Australia. They identified examples of excellent practice—good programs linked to continuous review and improvement. However, they also identified significant pockets of poor practice, where we can and must do better. A clear finding arising from the TEMAG report is the need to ensure we strengthen quality programs in relation to initial teacher education. Providers of that education must work assiduously to improve the preparedness of new teachers.

The TEMAG recommendations are practical, achievable and have the real potential to make a real impact on quality of teachers and student outcomes in Australia. There is an old saying that 'strategy without resources is illusion'. That is why in the 2015-16 budget, we are providing $16.9 million over the forward estimates to support the implementation of the government's response to the TEMAG recommendations.

I will briefly highlight four key initiatives: first, establishing stronger accreditation processes for teacher education courses; second, ensuring a rigorous selection process to assist in determining applicant suitability for teaching; third, providing an assessment framework to ensure all teacher education graduates are classroom ready; and, fourth, having a national research effort into the effectiveness of initial teacher education and workforce data to back it up.

We believe our efforts will make a real and positive difference to the training of our teachers and to the effects they achieve in the classroom. One key component of our response includes a literacy and numeracy test for initial teacher education students, which Minister Pyne announced on 28 June 2015. A pilot literacy and numeracy test for initial teaching students is available from this month for up to 5000 students across seven capital cities and two regional locations. In testing key aspects of an aspiring teacher's literacy and numeracy, we help higher education providers, teacher employers and the general public to have confidence in the skills of graduating teachers. I am very pleased to report that the first round of 2500 tests to be held later this month is already fully subscribed. Students are keen to do this test, because they want to graduate with the best possible preparation for the classroom. I am also pleased to inform the House that a further 1200 students are on the waiting list for the second round of 2500 tests to be held in September.

The test will help them identify their own literacy and numeracy capabilities and where they might need to improve. It is an important step to ensure that teaching graduates can step more confidently from university into the classroom. Over the next two years, the government expects to see the majority of our response to the TEMAG report implemented and the foundations for change in initial teacher education established.

Unlike some previous reviews of initial teacher education, the practical and implementable solutions presented in this report create a significant point of difference. Success as always will require all parties to work together—governments, universities, systems, schools and our colleagues across the chamber. I acknowledge in particular the positive comments from the member for Port Adelaide in supporting this program. Our approach is affordable, implementable and focused on the urgent need to deliver enduring, practical policies that improve our education system.

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