Grad_News_July_2012

Vol. 5 No. 2 July 2012 The newsletter for graduates

• Catholic Members Engage With Professional Issues

• Our Union Rallies Alongside QTU

• Why You Should Take An Active Role in Your Chapter

• Supporting our Pre-service Teachers

• Starting my Career as a Graduate Teacher

• Member Snapshot, Stephanie Goebel

GradGradNewsNewsIn thisedition

Catholic Graduate Members Engage With Professional Issues

Union members attended a June 20 rally outside Parliament House in response to the State Government’s recent attack on education, with attendees saying workplace conditions in the education sector are “not for sale”. The proposal would allow the government to change workplace provisions without consultation and puts working rights, which have been fought for over time, at risk.

The proposal also seeks to freeze public sector graduate teacher wages at entry classification for three years before allowing annual increases. This would cost your state sector colleagues $64,278 over 15 years of their careers.

IEUA-QNT Branch Secretary Terry Burke said the outcome of this government proposal will also impact upon education and education employee conditions across the state.

“Any attack on educators in government schools is an attack on the wider education profession and wider education outcomes and cannot be tolerated,” he said.

Our union encourages graduate members to engage with issues affecting the broader education sector. Our website, www.qieu.asn.au, as well as our publications are great resources to learn more about these issues.

Recent campaign activity in the Catholic sector has provided graduate members with an important opportunity to engage with professional issues within their chapters.

Members in Catholic schools took part in a ‘Hands Off Our Time’ badge wearing day in May, calling on the employer to recognise and address the time demands currently being placed on education professionals.

The badge wearing day was held in response to an employer claim for an additional 18 hours of professional development per annum to be completed in employees’ own time.

Graduate members have engaged strongly in the campaign, understanding that the time grab will directly affect all educators in schools.

There are ongoing opportunities for graduate members to engage in these negotiations, including the possibility of taking protected action.

■ Speak with fellow members in your Chapter to learn more about these negotiations and visit our website at www.qieu.asn.au/catholic for full updates about campaign activity.

Our Union Rallies Alongside QTU

The Chapter at St John’s School, Roma taking part in the Hands Off Our Time

badge wearing day

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The Importance of Taking an Active Role in Your ChapterChapters form the building blocks of our union. As a graduate member, involvement at the chapter level is an excellent opportunity to engage with decision making in your school and network with your colleagues.

A union chapter consists of members at each school, kindergarten, or college who take vital action at a grassroots level relating to broader union initiatives.

A strong chapter, defined by their numbers and level of activism, plays a powerful role in bargaining with their employer as well as during general disputes or issues at a workplace level. Chapters are essential in emphasising and facilitating a consultative relationship between school employees and employers.

A union chapter with a committed chapter executive allows members the strength in numbers vital to securing adequate workplace conditions.

The value of having a body of members at the school, on the spot, ready to step in on behalf of a member or members to negotiate a matter through to conclusion has been demonstrated time after time.

The dedication of our union chapters was demonstrated recently in the Catholic sector with the ‘Hands Off Our Time’ badge wearing day.

This event sent a clear message to the Catholic employers, who are currently negotiating with our union a replacement agreement covering the sector.

The Catholic employers proposal included an unacceptable claim for additional professional development to be completed in employees’ own time.

A chapter’s relationship with their union Organiser is also very important. In the past there may have been an expectation that union organisers existed to attend to problems of individual members in schools.

The belief that union officials are the key figures within a union stemmed from this. However, it’s important to remember that the strength of our union lies with our members.

Our power as a union is no more than the total energy and support of our members.

Our union encourages employees in non-government schools and their union organisers to work together to solve problems in the workplace – the school chapter is the key.

We also encourage graduates to become involved in their school Chapter. If there is a vacant position on your school Chapter Executive this could be your opportunity to be a more active member and to make a difference in negotiations at your school.

Our union also offers training sessions that graduates are welcome to attend. Training courses such as Industrial Relations in the Workplace are key opportunities for graduates members to build their skills.

Visit our website at www.qieu.asn.au/events to find out about upcoming training sessions.

The chapter executive takes a leading role in responding to issues affecting their school

Supporting Our Pre-service TeachersOur union aims to support members in the beginning and early stages of their careers.

A recent ‘How to Find a Job in the Non-Government Sector’ information session provided pre-service teachers with a range of advice about how to kick start their teaching careers.

IEUA-QNT associate member Kirsty Wharton said the session provided a good overview of the issues pre-service teachers will face when seeking employment.

Fellow associate member Emma Kann said she enjoyed the networking experience and discussion generated by the presentations.

“Attending the information session was a great opportunity to network, as is being involved in our union more broadly,” she said.

Presentations at the session included “How to get noticed - resume and interview tips and techniques”, “Handling

behavioural issues in the classroom”, and “The importance of union membership”.

Pre-service teachers Stella Hoy, Briana Thompson, Emma Kann and Kirsty Wharton attended the session


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The Importance of Taking an Active Role in Your Chapter

We’re Here to Help!IEUA-QNT has a program of support for graduate teachers including a series of graduate seminars. Contact your Chapter Representative or

union office for more information on FREECALL 1800 177 937.

Taking an active role in the union chapter at school can be a rewarding part of being a teacher and learning how workplace issues can be

addressed collectively.

Starting my Career as a Graduate Teacher

IEUA-QNT member Julian Leinenga reflects on the beginning of his teaching career at St Laurence’s College, South Brisbane.

I graduated from the University of Queensland in December 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts (Music) and a Bachelor of Education (Secondary) and started my employment in January this year.

I have only been teaching for one semester, though it feels like a lot longer. I was very daunted by my first day of teaching. There are a lot of expectations placed on you by staff, students and yourself.

The school staff expects you to perform as they have placed a lot of faith in you. The students are judging you from the very first minute and will no doubt be comparing you to their previous teacher.

You feel quite disoriented, you remember key landmarks from the school tour a few weeks ago but as soon as you leave your classroom or department you become completely lost in a mass of concrete and buildings. You do not know the staff from your department, are unsure of the protocol for lunch times and are unsure of where to access the much needed caffeine hit throughout the day.

Waiting outside for the students to arrive on my first day many things were going through my mind. Am I adequately prepared? Will the students listen to what I have to say?

Will the students accept me as the new person into their classroom community? Thankfully I was able to answer yes to all of these questions. Luckily a whole school approach to behaviour management existed, so I was able to follow these guidelines to ensure a smooth running class from the very beginning to the end.

The most daunting part of my first day was that both of the heads of my department as well as numerous other teachers from my department came into my classes to observe at various times during the day. This felt just like being on prac once again, with butterflies forming in my stomach and myself second guessing every move I made. It became evident though, that the observing teachers weren’t there to judge my teaching ability, they were simply there to ensure that everything was running smoothly in terms of classroom and behaviour management. Upon discussion with my mentor

teacher that day, I discovered that we have a very open classroom policy within our department, with staff regularly dropping in on each other’s lessons.

Friends and family often ask me “How is teaching going?” The response I usually say is “It’s good, it’s busy…. But it’s good”. Anyone who says teaching is a 9am to 3pm job with 12 weeks holidays a year is delusional. The amount of planning and preparation as a first year teacher is immense. My philosophy starting out is that if I put in a lot of effort into well-structured planning and detailed lesson plans now, in the coming years the workload won’t be as high, as I will just be modifying lessons and terms, rather than starting from scratch.

Teaching can be one of the most rewarding careers. Like any job however, there are the good days and the bad days. I believe it is all about finding the balance, as long as I have one good period or moment throughout my day it keeps my spirits high.

There are a few challenges that I have encountered as a Graduate Teacher. Firstly, I struggled with knowing just how much to plan. I planned ten week term units for my primary students and it has taken me about a semester to get through what I envisaged would take a term.

Behaviour management for me is an ongoing battle. The important thing is to not let the poor behaviour get to you. I think teachers need to have a multiple personality in that they can reprimand a student and straight away go back to being the happy teacher. The most rewarding part of teaching for me is creating a love of music in my students. It is important, particularly in the primary school that the students enjoy music and look forward to coming each week. In terms of the senior school I find it very rewarding when students achieve high grades academically. This is a direct reflection on your teaching and is an often much needed confidence boost reaffirming your ability as a teacher. Finally, the creating of relationships with the students for me is very rewarding.

I have a few tips that I would give to Pre-service and Graduate teachers. First of all, ensure that you create expectations from the very first lesson. It is true that what you let go in terms of behaviour in the first week, you will have for the rest of the term or even year. Set homework in the first lesson and ensure you mark it the next, otherwise depending on the school getting students to do homework could be very difficult.

Remember you can only get done what you can get done. A term plan and a lesson plan are just that - ‘plans’. There are so many factors out of your control which limit how much you can get done during the term. As per the syllabus and curriculum requirements there is content that needs to be covered, but you need to be flexible to constantly amend your planning throughout the day, week, term, semester and year.

Create good relationships in and out of the classroom with the students. Get involved in co-curricular activities such as music, sport or dance. This shows the students that you are a person outside of the classroom. It enables them to relate to you on a different level and build stronger relationships.

To me union membership is very important.

If anything happens whilst you are under employment of the school, it is up to the school to look after the students foremost and the staff second.

Our union is there to provide support which starts with a network at the Chapter level and also includes professional representation and dispute resolution in times of need.

ISSN: 1835-9612

Grad News was prepared by

Elise Cuthbertson

Editor: Mr Terry Burke, Branch SecretaryIEUA-QNT

PO BOX 418, FORTITUDE VALLEY QLD 4006PHONE: 1800 177 937 FAX: (07) 3839 7021

Email: [email protected] Website: www.qieu.asn.au

ABN: 74 662 601 045

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Join our union TodayTo join IEUA-QNT, download a

membership form from our website www.qieu.asn.au or

call our membership department onFREECALL 1800 177 937.

Member Snapshot•

Why did you want to become a teacher?

I have wanted to be a teacher since I was very young. In high school I used to teach my friends mathematics and I really enjoyed knowing that I was helping others learn. I felt a sense of accomplishment and seeing others improve was a reward in itself.

I have always worked with children. My first job was at an outside hours school care and I worked in a child care centre after that. Now I’m thrilled to work as a Year 2 teacher. When did you decide that teaching was the right career path for you?

I had always dreamed of being a teacher but didn’t feel entirely confident. I was accepted into a dual Bachelor degree in Human Services (Child and Family Studies) and Education at Griffith University. After the first semester, I knew I was on the right career path. How did you feel on your first day of teaching?

The first day that I ever taught was daunting. It felt weird to be the only adult in the classroom, supervising and teaching 30 students.

I had to learn very quickly. I realised how important it is to be flexible and make quick decisions, even though in the past I wasn’t always comfortable doing this.

Do you have a mentor this year?

Yes. My teaching partners have been fantastic! I would also consider all

the staff at my school to be mentors, as I continually ask them for advice. They encourage me to ask questions and are very supportive.

What has been your most memorable teaching experience so far?

I had a particular experience where all the elements of a maths lesson fell into place. The students were engaged because I linked the lesson to something they could relate to (Skylander toys) and this made the learning experience fun. It was a fantastic feeling seeing the students really engaged and grasping the concept of money. Who would have thought you could make maths fun?

I believe the lesson was so successful because I knew the learning outcomes and taught from my heart rather than just out of the book. What are some key issues for graduate teachers?

Learning to juggle your workload - particularly building relationships with parents, managing a classroom full of students, conducting parent teacher interviews and filing reports. What advice would you give to others who are considering becoming a teacher?

Build relationships with your colleagues - you can learn so much from their experience. Always try to keep your students engaged.

Why do you feel it is important as a new teacher to be a member of our union?

Teachers face a number of professional issues, so having the collective support of our union behind you really increases your confidence in the classroom. I also like knowing there’s always someone I can call and ask for advice.

Stephanie GoebelSt Joeseph’s Primary School , Corinda

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