Advice from the IEU about tackling teacher workload through clarifying compliance

A key teachers union recently engaged with other specialist partners to clarify a number of aspects relating to teacher workload and the assessment and rating process. 

Specifically, the Independent Education Union (IEU) recently engaged with the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) and the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority, (ACECQA) to develop fact sheets that clarify the policy intentions of the Australian Teacher Performance and Development Framework in schools, (the ATPDF) and the Educational Program documentation needed to satisfy the requirements of the Assessment and Ratings process in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) settings. 

The resulting fact sheets, the IEU said, “retain the important rigour intended by both federal agencies, while emphasising respect for professional judgement.” 

The fact sheets also clearly define practices and processes that are “duplicative and excessive”, encouraging teachers to determine the type and quantity of documentation that best suits their professional needs and the needs of the students and children in their care.

“Teachers take their responsibility to adhere to compliance requirements seriously and devote many out-of-work hours to engage with professional development, plan and prepare quality learning experiences, and maintain documentation that reflects child and student learning and progress,” the Union noted. 

“However, over time, compliance requirements have increased exponentially, driving a recruitment and retention crisis in our schools and early childhood centres caused by excessive workloads.”

Both the AITSL Australian Teacher Performance and Development Framework Fact Sheet and the ACECQA Educational Program Information Sheets for Approved Providers and Teachers and Educators in Early Childhood and School-Aged Care join the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on Students with Disability (NCCD) Evidence Fact Sheet, developed in collaboration between the Federal Department of Education and the IEU in 2021, as part of a suite of resources that aim to clarify compliance workload requirements. 

“The time has come to make meaningful changes to the unnecessary workloads that continue to discourage new teacher recruitment and have been such a driver of the retention crisis in our schools and ECEC services,” the Union said. 

“In consultation with leadership, teachers can use the official advice in the fact sheets to review current practices and move towards more manageable and sustainable workloads, thus allowing them to concentrate on their core work – teaching.”