Attract, Retain And Celebrate Our Teachers

“It was reassuring to hear the Minister of Education signalling that there may be incentives for training more teachers in the May Budget,” says Te Rito Maioha Chief Executive Kathy Wolfe.

The Minister of Education Erica Stanford said at a post-Cabinet press conference that “I plan to incentivise, train and retain New Zealand teachers and support the next generation of education leaders," while outlining six focus areas which included - Improved teacher training: Developing the workforce of the future, including leadership development pathways and the strengthening of initial teacher education.

“While the Minister has not outlined any details because it is Budget sensitive material,” says Kathy, “as a specialist early childhood and primary teacher education tertiary provider we welcome any support to attract and grow additional teachers. This is music to our ears.”

“We expect the Minister will equally focus on attracting teachers across Early Childhood Education (ECE), Primary and Secondary Schools. After all, a teacher is a teacher is a teacher,” says Kathy.

“Teaching is a highly rewarding and critical profession that teaches and prepares our up-and-coming citizens. The work that teachers undertake makes a difference in every aspect of New Zealand society, so attracting teachers into the profession at every level is crucial, but so too is the retention of those teachers.”

“We currently have a shortage of qualified teachers in ECE and primary schools, and the government needs to tackle these shortages with a meaningful Education Workforce Strategy and Action Plan to attract, retain and develop a professional, culturally responsive ECE, primary and secondary teaching workforce from within Aotearoa New Zealand.”

When asked to expand on what the Minister will do to incentivise teachers, the Minister told reporters they would have to wait for that Budget announcement but confirmed it is “incentivising more teachers and more people to take up teaching as an occupation.”

“From discussions with teachers, attracting and retention means looking at the key drivers of job satisfaction and supporting those initiatives that are crucial to demonstrating that we value our teachers, so the Ministers words are encouraging” says Kathy.

“Retaining ‘Pay Parity’, improving ‘teacher-to-children ratios’, creating ‘better working conditions’, ‘celebrating our teachers’ and continued ‘professional development opportunities’ are all crucial to the quality education of our children, as well as making the workplace less stressful and more enjoyable for teachers. Any business knows that creating a supported and happy workforce is vital to retention.”

“This is especially important as growing teachers does not happen instantly. Teachers undertake three years of study while working at both schools and ECE centres while studying at Te Rito Maioha. We believe that ‘field-based training’ ensures that our students’ are ready to teach from day one. However, all teachers undertake a further two-year induction and mentoring programme at both ECE centres and schools to be awarded a Practising Teacher Certificate.”

“That five-year education pathway should create a real incentive for the government to retain our qualified teachers.”

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