This report provides valuable insight into the complex issues around beginning teacher attrition. The study has produced a significant body of information for the QCT and key stakeholders to inform the development of policy and strategies for the retention of early career teachers in Queensland.
In 2013 the QCT first conducted research into the attrition of recent Queensland graduate teachers from the QCT Register of teachers. Using the 2013 research project as inspiration, the QCT revisited data on Queensland graduate teachers in 2018 to determine what trends and issues in Queensland graduate attrition were emerging after five years.
The project focussed on Queensland graduate teachers who were initially granted provisional registration from 2009 to 2013 and were removed from the register within four years of their initial registration date.
Attrition of Recent Queensland Graduates: Report 2019 (PDF, 1.3MB)
The purpose of this report is to provide an analysis of the elements of influence underpinning public perceptions of teachers and teaching to support guidance and recommendations for promotion of the teaching profession in Queensland.
The paper reports on a series of connected studies and literature reviews aimed at better understanding the predominant public opinions about teachers and teaching, how these opinions might be formed and influenced, and how public opinion relates to aspiration and engagement in the teaching profession in Queensland. The report considers the role of various media in the forming and shaping of public perceptions of teachers and teaching, and discusses the ways these might be strategically employed to raise the profile and regard for teaching as a profession worthy of high esteem and with important social value.
The audit and review was conducted as three interdependent reviews. The Academic Review scanned and provided a meta-analysis of the extant literature regarding contemporary drivers of public opinion and their stability. It considered published reports on the key influences for the profile of teaching and teachers, and theoretical framing or investigations attending to this. The Message System Review analysed the message systems that impact on public perceptions of teachers and teaching, specifically: a. Potent communication methods employed (content, form and mode) with impact on public perceptions and opinions, and b. Potent message makers with impact for views of the profession. The Opinion Audit focussed on the current perceptions of teachers and teaching in Queensland and how these have been established, with attention to: a. Stakeholder/opinion-holder/key audience groups, and b. Current perceptions as a function of any identifiable trends.
Key recommendations are drawn for leaders of the sector, and for organisations and individuals with regular opportunity for public commentary (for example: Queensland College of Teachers, Queensland Council of Deans of Education, Queensland Secondary/State School Principals Associations, Independent Schools Queensland).
The study was undertaken for the Queensland College of Teachers by the School of Education at Southern Cross University.
This report details the findings of a comprehensive scoping review to investigate and analyse factors that relate to teachers transgressing their professional boundaries. Information was collected via two main sources: electronic database searches and website searches. The review focused on factors related to teachers’ professional boundaries in Australia and a small number of English-speaking countries (Scotland, Ireland, Northern Ireland and, to a lesser extent, Canada and the USA) known to have innovative, comparable or different approaches to managing issues of teacher professional boundaries.
The initial research questions identified in collaboration with the Queensland College of Teachers were:
After considering what constitutes a breach of professional boundaries in the student-teacher relationship, the report presents key findings in relation to the above questions. Best practice involves using a range of strategies or mechanisms to reduce all modifiable risks as far as reasonably possible and assist teachers to comply with their professional and ethical responsibilities. These can be considered in terms of policy and training, both of which directly impact practice.
The report was commissioned by the Queensland College of Teachers and prepared by the Centre for Children & Young People, School of Education, Southern Cross University.
Teachers’ Professional Boundary Transgressions: A Literature Review (PDF, 1.05MB)
In 2016, the QCT commissioned the Learning Sciences Institute of Australia (LSIA) to undertake Stage 2 of an investigation into what factors influence someone to choose teaching as a career.
Ensuring that Queensland has a sustainable teacher workforce to meet current and future demands is a significant strategic issue for all stakeholders across the education sector.
This new research report offers empirical evidence of what Queensland teachers have to say in response to a key question: Why choose teaching?
It provides stakeholders with information about specific drivers of choice that can be used to inform targeted recruitment strategies and decision development. It identifies the intrinsic motivators that influence a person’s choice to become a teacher, who influences their decision and how this information can be used.
The report highlights that Queensland teachers have a high level of satisfaction with their choice of teaching as a career and do not view teaching as a fallback career. This is despite the challenging nature of the profession and the way it is sometimes presented in the media and by some influential parties.
The provision of effective workplace support for teachers as they transition through their careers is of increasing concern to education interest groups, education advocacy groups and employing authorities alike. Evidence suggests that teachers are working longer hours to meet obligations and are experiencing increased workloads. As a result, they may be at risk of physical and mental ill-health as well as reduced well-being and career satisfaction.
Few studies have sought to identify how perceptions vary among career stages and current knowledge is limited in identifying the specific experiences of occupational stress, work-life balance, and technological demands for teaching employees at the early-career, mid-career, late-career and pre-retirement career stages.
To address these issues, the Queensland College of Teachers collaborated with Griffith University and the Queensland Independent Education Union in a research project to assess teachers’ job attitudes and outcomes across their careers. The aim of the project was to identify practices that will retain productive and engaged teaching employees.
The report presents the results of a state-wide survey of teachers in late 2015 and provides recommendations about support practices and development strategies for teachers across career stages.
Attracting quality candidates to pursue teaching as a career is one means of enhancing the overall quality of teaching. The QCT as the teacher registration authority in Queensland, is in a unique position to identify and promote strategies that will attract quality teaching candidates to the profession.
In August 2015, the QCT engaged the University of Newcastle to review recent literature on factors that influence the choice of teaching as a first career. The results from this literature review will help inform the development of policy, relevant stakeholder consultations and activities that the QCT could pursue to address any identified concerning issues.
This is a report of a project initiated by the QCT to enhance the teaching of numeracy across the curriculum in Queensland schools (both primary and secondary) by developing and making readily available, via the QCT website, user-friendly resources for practising teachers and preservice teachers on the teaching of numeracy.
The report comprises a literature review of national and international good practice in teaching numeracy in schools, identifying key features of what works and why; description of existing material available to Queensland schools/teachers on the teaching of numeracy; analysis of gaps and areas where Queensland classroom teachers would benefit from further or new resources; and synopsis of six video vignettes capturing teachers identifying and explicitly teaching numeracy concepts in different year levels and subjects, especially subjects other than mathematics.
This report provides valuable insight into the complex issues around beginning teacher attrition. The study has produced a significant body of information for the QCT and key stakeholders to inform the development of policy and strategies for the retention of early career teachers in Queensland.
Attrition of Recent Queensland Graduates: Report (November 2013) (PDF, 1.5MB)
Attrition of Recent Queensland Graduates: Appendices (PDF, 2.9MB)
This paper explores the area of school-university partnerships through a literature review and an investigation of some established partnerships in Queensland.
The report examines high quality assessment processes that could inform better practice in the assessment of teaching graduates.
It comprises a literature review of best practices in assessment in teacher education programs nationally and internationally as well as a scan of other professions such as law, social work and allied health professions.
The report reflects on current practice in preparing teachers to teach Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students for whom English is not the first language. It makes recommendations for future practices in preservice teacher education as well as professional development for established teachers working with Indigenous learners.
Book Language as a Foreign Language – ESL Strategies for Indigenous Learners (PDF, 621KB)
The paper provides a summary of key journal articles on the intensive teacher preparation programs, and also reviews those articles which reference alternative certification programs generally.