A decline in morale among Victorian government school staff has been blamed on challenging student behaviour, exhaustion and teacher shortages.
The latest Victorian School Staff Survey reveals a drop in overall job satisfaction for education support staff – down from 68.5 per cent in 2011 to 65 per cent in 2022.
The survey also shows state school staff report that the emphasis on academics at their schools have been lowered, and that, in 2022, the trust they have in both students and parents has declined.
The number of teachers and principals endorsing their own school also dropped, from 67.5 per cent in 2021 to 66.4 per cent last year.
At Impact Economics and Policy, education lead Julie Sonnemann said the results show a dip in some areas, especially around school climate (the quality of school life).
“One possible explanation for this could be staff exhaustion and more challenging student behaviour following the pandemic, as well as school staff shortages in Victoria.”
Since COVID, staff shortages within Victorian schools in both metropolitan areas and rural regions has left a long-lasting impact, with more than 800 teaching jobs currently advertised by the Department of Education.
But although staff shortages remain at crisis levels, according to the Australian Education Union (AEU), there is some good news, with a Victorian government spokesperson saying it was “pleasing to see teachers and principals, who do such a great job, reporting positive levels of satisfaction with their work”.
“Teachers and principals across our schools reported higher levels of satisfaction on more than half of the areas surveyed – despite the challenges of the 2022 school year when schools were dealing with increased levels of staff absences,” the spokesperson said.
The annual survey of Victoria’s 89,000 state school staff aims to “provide feedback on factors of the school environment proven by research to have an effect on student outcomes”.
Questions around a range of issues, including implementation and evaluation, leadership, school climate, safety and wellbeing, professional learning, practice improvement and planning, are all covered.
Last week, Education Minister Natalie Hutchins met with representatives from the Victorian Principals’ Association to discuss ways the system could be improved.
To help solve the issues caused by burnt-out teachers who have quit the profession, as well as a 15 per cent decline in teaching students, the government has recruited overseas teachers, and provided extra funding to fill hard-to-staff positions. Asking registered teachers to return to the classroom has been another strategy.
AEU Victorian branch president Meredith Peace said public school staff needed retention payments to address the teacher shortage crisis.
To counter the morale decline, what school staff want, Ms Peace said, is “more professional autonomy, more opportunities for development and mentoring and further action to reduce workloads”.
