"So you don't want to be a teacher?"

I can hear the question being asked now. 

Remember when we used to play "School"? Someone would be "the teacher" and the rest of us would have to do what we were told. There would be "lessons" and we would get "told off" if we did something wrong. Brother Cat and I had "slates" which produced the most ghastly "squeaks" - akin to nails being scraped down blackboards. We would do "sums" and "spelling" on the slates.

In our family of course it was scarcely surprising to find children playing the "School" game. Our parents were teachers. We heard a lot about "teaching" and what went on in the classrooms they and others worked in. 

And three out of the four kittens in the family went into teaching - and then left.  All of us say that we would not choose teaching as a profession now. It is possible that, given other choices, we would not have chosen teaching then. It was "just one of those things". Teaching gave us a "qualification" and the possibility of a job. We did "diplomas", not "degrees". Even then "diplomas" were exceptions. Only twelve of the students I started with did that third "diploma" year. Others went out on "certificates" after just two years. Now you do a "degree" and it can take four or more years. 

I am not sure teachers are actually any better trained in the art of teaching. The young teaching students who come to me do not seem to know any more than I did at the end of my three year diploma. It might even be said that some of them know less. Their heads have been filled with things like "equal rights" and "gender fluidity" but a basic lesson plan is something with which they struggle.

Think of all the other problems young teachers now need to face. Think of all the administration they are required to do, the special needs children in their classes, the behaviour problems they face (parents as well as students) and the constant threat of sexual allegations being made. Remember too that, at least in this state, almost all the positions are now "contract" positions so that every couple of years you need to reapply for your job. In between you are being watched and assessed by administrators, parents, students and the wider community. The pay is poor compared with many other jobs and the hours are much longer. Now you are also expected to be available mornings, evenings and weekends. It is not the "cushy" job many who have never taught believe it to be. 

I can understand young people not wanting to take up teaching. I especially understand young men not wanting to take up teaching - even more so in the early years. That there are just two hundred and twenty boys who applied this year down from three hundred and eighteen in 2018 may be "alarming" but it is not "surprising". What is more I would guess that at least some of those applicants applied because "it's something to do" and the ATAR score needed was low. Are they passionate about teaching? I doubt it. 

Is it time to rethink what is demanded of teachers and change the way in which they work? I would say "yes" but I suspect those with ambitions to indoctrinate the young rather than educate them will say "no".