Australian Education Union

AEU National Beginning Teacher Survey Results 2006

“The inaugural AEU National Beginning Teacher Survey was conducted over the later part of term 4 2005. It attracted 1207 responses, providing insights into beginning teachers’ attitudes to key issues including teacher supply, employment modes, and professional issues like workload, induction/mentoring and behaviour management.

The survey results showed that:

Teacher Supply/Demand

42.3% were employed on a fixed term contract over 6 weeks but were not permanent;

44% had problems gaining permanency;

45.6% of respondents do not see themselves teaching in 10 years time; and

19% expect to be working in another industry.

Professional Issues/Pre-service Education

Beginning Teachers’ concerns most commonly included in their Top 4 professional issues were –

44% had been asked to teach outside their area of expertise/qualification;

60% of respondents reported not having completed a mandatory unit in Indigenous Studies during their pre-service education; and

only 1.8% reported receiving professional support from their Department.

The survey also provided important qualitative information about beginning teacher professional needs and commitment to the public education system. The following quotes are good example of beginning teachers’ need for professional development:

“Teaching strategies - University does not teach you HOW to be a teacher, they only teach you about education and your subject area. As a mature age beginning teacher I at least understood early that you must have a level of control over a class before you could teach them - behaviour management! But I struggle to find ways to teach that don't bore myself & the students.”

“There are many PDs that I have been interested in attending but as a contract teacher who may not be working at the school in the following year I have been told that I can not attend these,”

“I would like to have a mentor outside of my school and on the same Stage level class. I would really appreciate the opportunity to go and observe their classroom and discuss issues with them. As a first year teacher more time release from class to plan, assess and report would be invaluable!!”

You can find more detailed results here:

Beginning Teacher Survey Key Issues by Sector

Beginning Teacher Survey State/Territory Results

Beginning Teacher Survey Full Results - Graphs

Beginning Teachers list workload, behaviour management, pay and class sizes as top concerns Media Release - 2 February 2006

This page last updated 9 June 2006

|| HOME ||
|| About || Campaigns || Debates || Early Childhood || Feedback || FEUIC || Human Rights ||
|| Indigenous Education || Industrial || Join || Media || Policy || Publications ||
|| Search || TAFE || What's New || Women ||