Life as a graduate teacher

Last week teachers in Victoria went on strike over pay. Fair enough. I guess I don't feel too strongly on this issue, but there are a few things in my head that I want to write down. Please don't judge me about what I'm going to say...

I believe teachers are underpaid. As a young, single, teacher that had just graduated from living off a Mcdonalds income at uni, a salary that I received from teaching was very welcome. 

However, I do believe that teachers, compared to other industries, for what we do and what we put up with, are underpaid.

But really, if I were really to strike on that day (I didn't for obvious reasons), I wouldn't strike over pay, I would strike over conditions. Let me explain...

As a young graduate, I was lucky enough to score a position teaching Indonesian at a high school before the end of my final year of uni. To do this I needed special permission to teach from the Victorian Institute of Teaching. I felt pretty special! The school begged me to apply for the position for the following year, and I did. I went for an interview, and then sadly I did not get that position.

In the government system (I'm not sure about other states), graduates are second priority. You are considered a graduate until you have taught for a certain amount of time, and that doesn't include all of the relief teaching I do.

To renew a contract (or to apply for another position), you need to write a 5 page essay addressing some Key Selection Criteria. Then if you get into the interview, something else happens. It's this thing called merit and equity, which basically means even if you're renewing your contract for a classroom you already teach in, if somebody more 'experienced' applies for that job, they have more right over it. 

I don't hold bitterness against the schools, yes note the plural, that have had to let me go because of merit and equity, but I do believe that something needs to be done to give graduates a fairer go. I know of so many who are fed up and leaving the profession. And these are wonderfully talented teachers.

I have been in and out of contracts but could never hold onto anything. I went back to uni and then never used what I went back and studied. So naturally, I turned to relief teaching, which was fine, and I enjoyed, but won't be able to return back to because of my new family circumstances.

My parents brought me up to work hard for the money and not complain about it. Just do it. It secretly annoys me that even though we have every right to strike, people still do it. I would just be happy to have a permanent job, and wouldn't want to jeprodise it by having a voice. Sad but true. 

So for me now, it probably won't be back to teaching for me. I can get a little bit less filling shelves at Coles overnight and I won't have to worry about Childcare, reports, marking or planning. It's not that I wasn't passionate about my profession, it's just I don't see that it will ever really go somewhere, and I'm going to choose to put my energy into what matters - my family.