Patricia Allen

Split Time, Split Resources: The Need for more Efficiency in the Classroom Given the demands and complexity of teaching in the 21st Century and the added impact of emergent technologies on teaching, making things simpler is the key to efficiency. 1 Contents 1 Introduction: Tipping Point 2 If There is a Way to Do It Better… 3 Efficiency in the Classroom 4 Compliance and Accreditation 5 The Job of Teaching and Parent Engagement 6 Feedback-Engagement System 7 TeachParEd: The Tool to Efficiency 8 About TeachParEd 9 Resources 2 1. Tipping Point Over the last decade the influence of digital technologies on teaching and learning has grown exponentially. In fact, Goode (2010), calls this space a ‘technological ecosystem.’ Educators are facing increasing demands to integrate technologies in the classroom with the expectation that improved learning outcomes will be reached. Given the increasing complexity of administrative demands, data collection, analysis and reporting, is it any wonder that the initial passion which led individuals to the teaching profession is being whittled away at an alarming rate? Teachers are spending large amounts of time responding to accountability measures, rather than focusing on improving learning for all students. It’s time to focus on the essential elements of effective change: valuing teachers time and making it easier to communicate with parents. “Around 90% of teachers say that their workload negatively affects the quality of their teaching. Over two-thirds of teachers don't have enough time to plan their classes to the level that they would want. The whole system is at breaking point, and that means students miss out." Meredith Peace, AEU Victorian branch president. It’s time to tip the scales back in favour of teachers. 3 2. If there is a way to do it better... find it. ~ Thomas Edison What is Education Really For? When we look at education, we often look at it in terms of student outcomes, growth and learning. Education should enable all students to understand, or at least, to make sense of the world around them and the qualities within themselves so that they can participate as active, compassionate contributors to society. Time and money are the traditional barriers that make providing a high-quality education difficult. In addition, there are the growing demands of engaging with parents on a regular basis. But what about the teachers in this system? What do teachers need to ensure that their enthusiasm, interest, knowledge and skills can be sustained for the benefit of the individual, the school and the student? Not an easy question to answer. Teachers are spending large amounts of time responding to accountability measures, rather than focusing on improving learning for all students. Are we confusing the trees with the forest? It is not just a matter of more time to collaborate within the school day or an acknowledgement of the fabulous work that teachers are doing. It is REAL change, where teachers have the tools and technology to streamline their working day. 4 3. Efficiency In the Classroom Technology is a wonderful tool that can enhance teaching, making life a lot easier and streamlining tired, old patterns of administrative tasks. But what happens when you are still stuck using a system that is inefficient, time consuming and adds to the already long list of administrative tasks on your daily schedule? Teachers are counsellors, mentors, bookkeepers, writers, experts in their field, mothers, fathers, at call doctors and actors to name a few of the multiskilled tasks that may crop up in any teaching day. Imagine having to cope with this every day. It is oftentimes overwhelming. The two main barriers to teachers’ workloads are time and the right technology. When teachers are given the right tools to reduce administration, enhance parent engagement and increase efficiency in the classroom, then everybody wins. With a state-of-the-art parent engagement system that is designed and personalized to your own needs, teachers can focus on the important tasks of designing quality learning, allowing them to focus less on administrative paperwork and more on making a difference in children’s lives. Tipping Towards Breaking Point A teacher’s typical day is exhausting and continues well after the final bell has sounded. Teachers are at school well before the students arrive and they leave late. It can be a struggle to balance a full teaching load with the additional burden of administrative tasks, student development, meetings and parent engagement. 5 4. Compliance and Accreditation Teaching is a dynamic and rewarding profession. It is hard work, and the competing demands can take time away from providing students with rich, interesting and wellstructured learning experiences. The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers¹ comprises seven Standards that outline what teachers should know and be able to do. The Standards are interconnected, interdependent and overlapping. Within each Standard, focus areas provide further illustration of teaching knowledge, practice and professional engagement. These are then separated into 37 Standard Descriptors at four professional career stages: Graduate, Proficient, Highly Accomplished and Lead. Teacher accreditation is completed on top of the day-to-day administrative tasks that are also required of the profession. Add these compliance requirements to an already overcrowded curriculum and it is clear to see why many teachers are struggling. “Teaching is hard. Teaching well is fiercely so.” Carol Ann Tomlinson Increasing demands on teachers, time pressures and curriculum restraints, mean that teachers will continue to struggle unless new ways are implemented to remove repetition, inefficiency and labour intensive administrative tasks. ¹NSW Education Standards Authority, 2018 (educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/TeacherAccreditation) 6 5. The Job of Teaching and Parent Engagement Teachers share a significant responsibility in preparing young people to lead successful and productive lives. Most of a teacher’s day is geared towards ensuring this happens. Additionally, it is also reporting student growth, engaging with parents, recording areas of concern and even writing incident reports. Parents expect a high level of engagement from their child’s teacher which may include written and online feedback, assessments and school reports which can occur on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. Daily reports document the student’s experiences throughout the day and their growth on age related benchmarks aligned to the standards. Newsletters and reports inform parents of what their child is learning and how they are learning in class, which reinforces learning at home. It is designed to reflect a child’s growth over time. Clearly, this takes an enormous amount of time to prepare and communicate. Often, these reports, newsletters, assessments and feedback are all done on different platforms making it time consuming and repetitive. Teachers Struggle with Time and Resources The OECD Teaching and Learning Survey Australian Report² shows that only 39% of teachers feel that their profession is valued. ² https://www.oecd.org/australia/TALIS-2013-countrynote-Australia.pdf Teachers are overstretched and overburdened with compliance. In the 2013 survey, 97% of teachers reported being formally appraised, but almost half in Australia (43%), feel that this has had little or no impact on the way they teach, with 62% saying they feel it is largely administrative and is detrimental to job satisfaction. Teacher’s often find themselves having to make compromises. On the one hand, they need time to prepare lessons and cater to the individual needs of students by differentiating the curriculum so all students can experience growth. On the other, they are pulled away from this important task with paperwork, administration, report writing, parental engagement and compliance requirements. The results from the Teaching and Learning survey clearly show that the current system is broken, and teachers are bearing the brunt of these inefficiencies. Fortunately, there are practical solutions that can be implemented to help at least alleviate the inefficiencies of administrative tasks. An automated system that meets the needs of teachers and parents. Quality feedback is essential for teachers, students and parents. It is a partnership that relies on up-to-date data and growth points so that students can progress, parents can support, and teachers can program next steps. By applying a system that can automate feedback in real time, teachers can spend more time refining their routines, simplifying feedback and improving their teaching. It’s a small cost to reduce the inefficiencies and repetition currently experienced by teachers. 7 6. Feedback-Engagement System With a technologically advanced Feedback-Engagement System, Teachers can easily: Engage with students and parents on a regular basis through the portfolio system which is individualised for each student. Personalise feedback tailoring it to student needs and allowing parents to see exactly where their child has grown. The system automatically tracks key data and converts these results into easily readable forms. It also centralises reports, emails, calendars, school events and relevant information. Real Time Feedback which allows teachers to easily communicate student progress. The addition of video | audio Feedback makes marking quicker, more efficient, actionable and relevant. . 8 7. TeachParEd is the Tool Teachers need to Transform their Efficiency The TeachParEd learning management system is the easiest, most efficient way to engage parents, students and teachers. Built for convenient web access for android and iOS devices, TeachParEd helps to eliminate repetition and frees up teacher’s time to focus on lesson preparation providing real time, relevant feedback in an easily accessible form. TeachParEd is an affordable software solution, it instantly delivers a return on investment by reducing repetition and increasing efficiency. All essential educational services are in the one place and are relevant to the individual student. It reduces the cost of outdated paper based reporting and feedback, while providing real time updates. Parent engagement is dictated by their own needs. Trusted by hundreds of schools nationwide, TeachParEd can easily be adapted to meet state requirements and standards. In addition, teachers are also able to use the platform to track and record their accreditation requirements. TeachParEd puts the focus back where it counts; learning in the classroom. . 9 8. About TeachParEd TeachParEd is an award winning, learning management system designed specifically to give time back to teachers to focus on the important task of teaching. It is the only completely, customisable system allowing for real time feedback, video and audio uploads in addition to streamlining reporting and assessment feedback. It allows schools and teachers to focus on learning requirements rather than repetitive paperwork and allows parents to control the level of feedback and engagement they require. Call Now for more Information - www.TeachParEd.com 10 9. Resources The Culture of driving Teachers like me from the Profession, Sydney Morning Herald, Accessed February 6, 2019. https://www.smh.com.au/education/the-culture-driving-teachers-like-mefrom-the-profession--p50vo5.html NSW Education Standards Authority, 2018 educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/TeacherAccreditation OECD Teaching and Learning Survey Australian Report 2013 https://www.oecd.org/australia/TALIS-2013-country-note-Australia.pdf www.TeachParEd.com 11 About the Author Patricia Allen Freelance content writer and copywriter. She is the founder of Allenwrite Consulting, a former Educator and Executive Director. BA., Dip.Ed., M.Ed., Dip. Coaching Founder of Allenwrite Consulting-Patricia specialises in Digital Marketing, White Papers and Case Studies. She works closely with B2B companies providing useful and engaging content that converts viewers into customers. @AllenwriteC @allenwriteconsulting 12