Longitudinal Teacher Education and Workforce Study (ltews) Final Report

3.2 Utilisation of New Graduate Teachers

Teaching is one of the single largest professions in Australia. The Productivity Commission reports that there are about 16,000 domestic graduate teachers completing initial teacher preparation course each year. At the same time, total number of students in Australia is forecasted to increase by around 26 per cent (or about 900,000) over the next decade, with the highest rates of growth expected to be in Queensland (45 per cent) and Western Australia (40 per cent) (Productivity Commission, 2012).

These present competing demands on teacher workforce, schools and the broader labour market. Current and relevant survey work and teacher workforce data is crucial for identifying key issues that need to be addressed to improve the utilisation of the teaching workforce. The data presented in this section particularly investigates the distribution of graduate teachers across teaching areas and their intentions whether or not to seek teaching employment from the point of their graduation from teacher education program to early in the second year post-graduation. This is examined for graduate teachers who have teaching employment and those who did not enter teaching.

Box 2 lists the main findings discussed in more detail in this Section 3.2: 3.2.1 Distribution of graduate teachers across teaching areas; 3.2.2 Utilisation of graduates in teaching employment; and 3.2.3 Graduates who did not enter teaching.

Box 2. Main Findings: Utilisation of new graduate teachers Distribution of graduate teachers across teaching areas Of the graduate teachers with a specialist teaching qualification, a large percentage was teaching in at least one of their specialist areas (77 per cent during early in the first year after graduation; 86 per cent early in the second year). High proportions of special needs, mathematics, English, technology, science, and languages other than English (LOTE) teachers were teaching in their area of specialisation. Graduate teachers with specialist qualifications in society and the environment, the arts and health and physical education were least likely to be teaching in their specialist areas and therefore more likely to be teaching out of field. Utilisation of graduates in teaching employment A majority of graduate teachers moved into teacher employment after graduation (increasing from 74 per cent early in their first year after graduation to 84 per cent early in the second year). Almost 60 per cent were on a contract while just under a quarter were employed casually. Only 18 to 20 per cent of the graduate teachers had full-time permanent employment in their first year of teaching. This, however, increased to 34 per cent early in the second year. Nearly two thirds commenced teaching in a full time position, either permanently (18 per cent) or on contract (46 per cent). There was a higher proportion of males in full-time permanent teaching positions during the first year and a half after graduation than females (7 per cent higher in Rounds 1 and 3 and 5 per cent in Round 2). Female graduate teachers were more likely to be in casual and part-time contract position. (continued on the next page)

Box 2. (continued) Approximately 30 per cent of graduates who were in part-time contract or casual employment in their first year remained employed in this capacity in their second year post graduation. In interviews, graduate teachers cited casual or relief employment as a factor hindering their career progression and professional learning and development. Having inadequate access to induction programs and professional development resources and networks, and the lack of classroom opportunities to put their skills and knowledge into practice contexts, were cited as obstacles for professional development. Three-quarters of principals agreed that they liked to employ graduate teachers, often citing their desirable personal attributes such as enthusiasm, energy, passion for teaching and willingness to learn. In survey free text responses, principals indicated that employing graduates was their professional responsibility to help build the next generation of teachers. Graduates who did not enter teaching Of those graduate teachers who were not in teaching positions and who taken up other employment, more than 40 per cent were working in education-related industries such as tutoring, working in the tertiary sector, in early childhood settings or as teachers’ aides and in outside school hours care at the beginning of their first year post graduation. A similar proportion was working in education-related industries at the beginning of their second year. Teaching seemed to remain a desirable career, with the findings showing how graduates who had registered with their Teacher Registration Authorities and had not secured teaching positions persisted in seeking a teaching position over the three rounds. By their second year after graduation, more than 60 per cent of graduate teachers without a teaching position were still seeking teaching employment.

3.2.1 Distribution of graduate teachers across teaching areas

Of the graduate teacher respondents who were teaching, the percentage with a specialist qualification (such as, for example, in health and physical education, mathematics, science, the arts, LOTE) is as follows:

• 
  Round 1 – 58 per cent
  
• 
  Round 2 – 56 per cent
  
• 
  Round 3 – 52 per cent
  

Figure 4 shows the percentage of graduate teachers with a teaching position who had a specialist qualification and were teaching in their specialist area. There is a slight increase in the percentage of graduates teaching in their specialist area from Round 1 to Round 3. Approximately 78 per cent were teaching in their specialist area in Round 1, 79 per cent in Round 2, and 86 per cent in Round 3.

Figure . Graduate teachers with a teaching position who have a specialist qualification – by currently teaching in their specialist area

(Round 1 n=545; Round 2 n=931; Round 3=933)
Figure 5 illustrates the distribution of employed graduate teachers across their teaching areas. In Rounds 1 and 2 of the LTEWS Graduate Teacher Survey, respondents were asked to name the areas in which they had completed specialist qualifications in their teacher education program. These results include all those who stated that they were teaching and have qualifications in a specialist area, regardless of their main area or level of teaching (i.e. early childhood, primary, secondary).
Figure . Graduate teachers with a teaching position who are qualified to teach in a specialist area – by their area of specialisation, Rounds 1 and 2
The figure shows that the highest proportion of graduate teachers with a qualification in a specialist area is in society and the environment in Round 1 (37.2 per cent) and the arts in Round 2 (16.3 per cent). Other specialist areas with high percentages of graduates in Round 1 include science (29.2 per cent), English (25.3 per cent) and the arts (24.6 per cent). In Round 2, areas with a high percentage of trained specialists include English, (16.2 per cent), health and physical education (15.6 per cent) and science (15.4 per cent). In the priority areas of mathematics, LOTE and technology, the percentage of graduates with formal qualifications were as follows:

• 
  Mathematics – 9.7 per cent in Round 1; 5.7 per cent in Round 2
  
• 
  LOTE – 7 per cent in Round 1; 5.6 per cent in Round 2
  
• 
  Technology – 12.7 per cent in Round 1; 5.9 per cent in Round 2
  

In Round 3 (the beginning of the second year post-graduation), respondents were asked to state the specialisation area in which they were qualified to teach and if they were currently teaching in their specialist area. Table 21 shows the number of graduate teachers who were qualified to teach in a specialist area and the proportion of them who were currently teaching in their area of specialisation. These results include all those who stated their area of teaching and had qualifications in a specialist area, regardless of their main area or level of teaching (i.e. early childhood, primary, secondary).

Table 21. Graduate teachers with a teaching position who are qualified to teach a specialist area – by percentage, who are teaching in their area of specialisation, Round 3

	Qualified to teach	Currently teaching
	n	n	%
English	301	264	87.7
Mathematics	232	229	98.7
Society and the Environment	349	232	66.5
Science	288	230	79.9
The Arts	263	158	60.1
LOTE	110	85	77.3
Technology	194	163	84.0
Health and Physical Education	229	142	62.0
Special Needs	80	98	122.5
Other	27	23	85.2
TOTAL^1	933		85.8

Note: 1. Graduates could select as many specialist areas as were applicable, therefore the number of responses is not equal to the total

The table shows that the specialist area with the highest number of graduate teachers with that qualification was society and the environment (349) followed by English (301). The area that had the highest uptake of specialist teachers was special needs where there were more graduates teaching in this are than the number of graduates qualified to teach it. The area with the next highest uptake of specialist-trained graduates is in mathematics (99 per cent). The data show that graduate teachers with specialist qualifications in society and the environment, the arts, and health and physical education were least likely to be teaching in their specialist areas at the beginning of the second year after graduation. For instance only 60 per cent of graduate teachers qualified in the arts and 62 per cent graduate teachers qualified in health and physical education were teaching in their specialist areas. Section 4.5 further discusses graduate teachers’ qualifications to teach in a specialist area and the extent to which they taught the subjects they studied, longitudinally across all three surveys.