A freshly graduated teacher at Sydney School said she "cried every day for the first four weeks" and received little help. A college dean called it "the tip of the iceberg" in response to the situation faced by newly graduated teachers.
The kindergarten teacher didn`t want to be named, she said. "I worked 65 to 70 hours a week and got a 35-hour salary. When I start work, I need to do the same thing as a teacher with more than 5 years` experience, and also for the same time. "
"I barely socialized after class. I go home, eat, work, sleep. On weekends, I work, wash clothes, pack lunch. This is all my time. "
John Fischetti (John Fischetti), dean of the Newcastle University School of Education, where the teacher completed her degree, said her experience was "very disturbing."
"it`s hard to get people ready for a teacher`s job," Professor Fischetti said. "the amount of plans and resources to be collected has exceeded the ceiling, and the pressure on them is absolutely amazing. It`s probably just the tip of the iceberg, and that`s why so many new teachers have left so early. "
According to a survey of more than 450 teachers in the new state, conducted by the Hunter Institute for Mental Health, half of Australian teachers chose to leave their teaching positions in the first five years, with heavy work and time stress being the two main reasons.
More than half of the teachers surveyed said they wanted more time for collaboration, mentoring and planning.
The Sydney teacher said she did not receive guidance or introduction from the school at the start of school, and that she spent most of her rest time groping.
She said, "provide my students with resources such as books, pencils, glue, scissors or paper, and no one has provided me with any guidance or channels. At the end of the sixth week, I finally met the headmaster and talked to her. I was told at the time that I needed to choose a mentor rather than arrange for one to be given to me. "
Professor Fischetti said the teacher`s lack of support may seem surprising, but other teachers may encounter a similar situation and they may not ask for help on their own initiative.
Henry Rajindra, senior vice president of the NSW, said the lack of support was "a major overall problem," and that what the NSW education department could do was to increase support and funding and provide additional professional learning.
