For the Love of teaching is a podcast brought to you by teach starter. We say teachers hours each week by bringing them quality downloadable teaching resources for their classrooms to make your classroom Buzz got to teach stutter.com if through my research I can make just one casual teacher feel heard recognized empowered or validated about their experiences and their role. I think that to me means more than anything in the world hi and welcome to For the Love of teaching I'm from when Brady on this week's episode. I'm talking with minyak me who has been a professional casual relief teacher for five years. Minami is also completing full-time study as a PhD candidate at Macquarie University and her field of study focuses on experiences and identities are casual relief teachers. Welcome in our me. Thank you so much for appearing on the podcast. No worries. And so excited to be here at such an interesting person and I was really Keen to get your perspective. I'm having done all this research, but also personally worked professionally in the field of casual teaching on the identities. And what's happening in Australia with relief teachers at the moment what they're going through what are their challenges? What do they love about their jobs? I'm also personally interested because I was a really teacher on and off over the years. So I guess if you could start off by just telling us a little bit about yourself as an educator, that would be amazing. Yeah, of course. So as you said I have been teaching for about five years and mostly that's being on a casual basis. So I wasn't offered a full-time role straight out of University. So I just decided to get my foot in the door of Education through casual teaching. So I taught on a casual basis around five different schools my first year out and then I landed a part-time contract doing rff so release from face-to-face teaching And then I started my Master's full-time. So this year I'm back to Casual teaching while I complete my PhD but one or two main schools, I would say awesome. So you've got to know a lot of schools in your area. I would say so so I dropped off my resume when I was in my first year out at pretty much every school within, you know, about 30 to 1 hour radius of public transport. So I think I have gotten to know. No, mainly my local schools. But yes, I'm schools. I haven't been back to you in a really long time just because I've already kind of found one or two main schools that I can I can still sort of see as home base. So how do you balance everything when you're teaching and you're a full-time student? Yeah, it is a bit of a Juggle but what I really love about both casual teaching and being a PhD candidate is that even though both are really hard work? They're really flexible. In terms of getting to set your own schedule. So if I'm feeling really overwhelmed with my research or have like tight deadlines coming up with conferences, then I might have to decline work for week in terms of casual teaching or I'll teach during the day and then I come home and then I'll work on my PhD so it is a bit of a Jungle Sometimes but innocence. I feel like I get the best of both worlds. I can experience being in the classroom, but at the same time I'm doing research about teachers within Academia. So I'm really lucky in that sense. But I do recognize that I'm lucky to have the support of my parents and partners and colleagues to make that sort of work-life balance possible in terms of you know, financially. So yeah, just kind of flexibility comes with a lot of support from all my loved ones. I think you definitely are lucky to have that because one thing that teachers report is their satisfaction in their jobs is largely. Raisa to the amount of support they have not only from their their family and their friends but also from their administrators and from their school based staff that they're working with on a daily basis or weekly basis. So it's really interesting. Yeah, I mean obviously teaching is about relationships and I think a lot of people would agree that building that Rapport and that's supportive collaborative base with the staff is really really vital for teachers to find meaning in their work. So yeah, I'm really lucky that, you know all my schools that I work at have really beautiful stuff that support me my growth as an educator. Even if I'm a casual teacher. Yes, exactly because I think that we do need to view casual teachers as professional Educators. There's lots of reasons people decide to go into casual teaching but that brings me to another question for you, which is because you are such a passionate and creative and intelligent. And obviously you are to be able to maintain both of these roles successfully and it is a Juggle and you admit you know, you're up front in saying that it's not always easy. But why didn't you decide then to keep going with the contract once you had that first contract you could have just kept going getting contracts and then and classes what made you decide to be a I guess a career casual educator, right? That is a really important and interesting question and And yeah, I haven't really thought about it myself. I think it's just more not that I don't want to be in the classroom. I think he was just more that the more I did research in the university and higher education sector the more I fell in love with it and the more I fell in love with research. So yes, I did get a couple of teachers at my casual schools are you know asking fucking take on the full-time contract and I declined Because I knew that I point out at this stage in my life. I wanted to pursue my PhD and I felt like I didn't want to putting half the effort. So I knew that if I were to pursue a full-time PhD degree, then I wouldn't really be able to put my whole professional vibrant self into teaching in the classroom and I felt like it was just hard to juggle both. So when I started my PhD two years ago, And I knew that I would like to for now just focus on my studies. So I mean, I think that's what's so great about casual teaching is that I don't want to disconnect myself from you know, classroom and realign nature of teaching but at the same time I still want to pursue my own interests in terms of Academia. So I hope that answers your question. That is actually a really great response to that question Minami. I think that when we look at casual teachers our kind of societal perception has to shift a bit in in thinking there are reasons varied reasons why people consciously choose to be a relief teacher and in my professional experience of meeting a lot of Supply teachers. I've met supplying casual teachers who are parents like myself and don't want to have the commitment of a full-time class as students like yourself who want to commit themselves to full-time. I'm academic Pursuits and then there's people who you know, enjoy a different career at the same time. And I think that that actually brings something to Casual teaching those life experiences that people are having outside of teaching are offering them something to offer that on offer to their students. So well done. I really I really applaud you recognizing at such a kind of early stage of your career that you still have other Passions. And that you wanted to pursue. Yeah, I mean obviously teaching is a really intense role and it's a really big responsibility. It's also a lot of a great privilege to be able to work with so many students than shape their minds and shape their future. So I definitely want to jump into it when I feel like I can give my best self as an educator. So yeah, maybe when I finish my PhD, that's something that I would consider. The dye bucking. Yeah. Yeah and like we have these long careers. We're working in this profession for you know, 30 to 40 years so that the developments and changes that we got undergo a ourselves obviously reflect in the types of work that we're taking on so, I'm really interested to hear more about your thesis because it's surrounds everything to do with casual teaching and I just think that's such an interesting topic because I think you know, that's a good on you. Thank you for holding it. What is your thesis actually called? So the title is Yet to be confirmed but it will be along the lines of experiences and identities of casual Leaf teachers in Australian primary schools. So quite wordy, but I want to investigate the realities of casual teaching in Australia. And also how casual teachers conceptualize their identities as professional Educators in their practice. Fantastic. Amazing. And how far along are you in your study? I'm coming to the tail end of my second year so I will be Submitting my thesis, hopefully on January 20 21, so I'm more than halfway through and I think I'll get there in the end just baby steps out. That is so exciting. That is so exciting. And I know it must feel like a long-term thing and it's very labor intensive and and must take up a lot of your time. But you are doing such a great job. So keep going. What are you hoping to gain by completing the study? Yes, so it's basically too. Fold so first I want to find out more about casual teachers and who they are how they how they came to teach on a casual basis what their everyday experiences are their challenges and how they overcome their challenges and I guess in the long term, I would love to be able to influence some sort of policies surrounding casual teachers. So whether that's about accreditation or you know, career progression or anything else in the broader context of educational policy that can be Approved I would love to be a representative of this really significant and important work force in this educational Arena. It sounds like you have some really clear amazing goals set out for yourself. And that is something to definitely be proud of I'm really impressed with how much thought and attention you've put into this so well done now because it just sparked my interest when you said you want to help to inform some policy around education. What do you think are some of the problems with policy regarding casual relief th you get Australian at the moment? Yeah, I think the biggest challenge that is facing casual teachers according to the survey that I did for casual relief teachers the lack of access so lack of access to information surrounding accreditation is probably the biggest challenge. So casual teachers have in New South Wales five years to complete their accreditation, but But for example the first criteria to become a proficient teacher is know the students and how they learn and I guess as casual teachers who are by their very nature are very transient itinerant rolls. It's hard for them to know the students on a very deep basis and to know how they learn so just completing accreditation and gaining information about how to reach proficient status as a casual teacher is lacking in schools, and I think there were some It's you even wanted accreditation to be different for casual teachers so that it's more in alignment with the nature of their work. And I guess another thing is lack of access to professional learning. So if you don't have one sort of home-based schools that your base that it's harder for both teachers to access, you know training about how to be you know, how to keep improving their practice as As Educators. So those are the two main challenges. I think yeah, it is very hard to just attend professional development courses at a school. If you're not on permanent staff. It's kind of a very tricky situation and I think a lot of CRTs end up paying for their own PD, which is then an expense that they are paying that teachers attached to schools. Don't incur are there any bodies that are out there created to support casual teachers? I know that class cover is a really Really visible sort of platform and they provide professional learning and some accreditation hours for casual teachers. As far as I'm aware class guy. Yes hundred percent love what they do. And actually I think they are having that coming up very soon. They have a digital PD where people can log on and view the seminars from the comfort of their home. So you don't even have to get to Sydney. You could be anywhere in Australia and do that. So great. Yeah. It's perfect. I like the fact that you know, there's online communities and there's ways to actually access these sorts of information and yeah really have reached Rich networking opportunities without leaving your house. So I think is fantastic opportunity. And do you participate in like you said you did a study recently. I'm wondering how you came about the participants for that study. Yep, so I recruited basically all online. So there is a Facebook group called relief teaching ideas page. I think they change it now to relief teaching and classroom teaching ideas page. So now it's inclusive of all teachers not just casual teachers. So at the moment, I think last time I checked I had about 60,000 members. Yeah big community. Yes, really big great community and but admin and administration for that group was really kind to let me post recruitment posters on the forums and that's really yeah how I got all my participants in that in that one group. That's amazing because that would have enabled you to also reach teachers in such a wider geography than just in your local area. So that's right and ultimately it's going to help us all whatever you discover and whatever recommendations that you can make is going to help the profession. So I'm so glad to hear that other teachers and admins of these Facebook groups are supporting your your work and what you're doing. Yeah, really grateful and obviously all research is completed in collaboration and with support of other teachers and with my supervisors. So yeah, I'm definitely excited that this project is taking off. But yeah, it's just me supportive a lot of people in the background. Yes. Amazing. Well done. Thank you. So it's sort of covered. On the challenges faced by CRTs, but one of the best things like just for a little bit of positivity what are some of the great things about working as a CRT, but they report to you themselves was I mentioned earlier. It's the flexibility. So just being able to have the ability to turn down work if they really have to or say, you know, obviously have responsibilities caring for a child or you know other Cara. Abilities another benefit that I've have had from especially new graduates is that they have the opportunity to access and observe multiple different classrooms. So if you are a classroom teacher you only have your set of 30 students, whereas if you're a casual teacher you gain a really wide range of exposure to different students different staff different schools different classroom settings and observe what works in one school. Not working other schools how they want to set up their classroom is no future what sort of behavior management strategies they may want to utilize themselves. So yeah, just having that wide range of options in terms of looking at different classrooms and different practices of more experienced teachers is so beneficial. I think those seem like really great benefits to the role of the relief teacher and definitely I experienced those as well talking. To you makes me really fondly remember that experience and I've met so many people who were I guess career relief teachers, they make their career of that job and they are so talented and good at their job and it takes a very specific skill set to be a relief teacher and it's definitely nice to think that if you want to mix things up in your career or you're at a different life stage and you want to do this, you know, you can pick up 5 days a week and be a full-time casual related to the work is out there people. Always going to get sick people are always going to need PD leaves. So it's going to be it's a it's a place where people who are after the work will definitely find it. I have seen in one group recently. A lot of teachers casual teachers saying that they cannot find work in term for they've had one call alter more, you know, and I think that it does ebb and flow throughout the year. Obviously it's reporting period now and people are very reluctant to take time off work no matter how run down or sick they are but What's your view on that? Do you think that there is work available for people? Yeah, I think there are a lot of different factors that dictate how much you work. And how many days you are offered. I think probably the thing that will determine your likelihood of getting work the most easy or geographical area. So some areas might be really in demand and others, you know, there are a lot of casual teachers also wanting to work in that area too. So it might be a little No competition, but I feel like yeah, if you take into account the geographical area and the time of the year, so as you said 10 format be a bit quieter time one might be a bit quieter except for those two, I guess factors. There is ample work available. What in my experience anyway, I'm sure there are lots of other casual teachers who are struggling to get you know their foot in the door. So yeah just really depends on your individual circumstances. I think but I feel like in order to increase your chances of getting casual work. Maybe I think the best advice I can give is to go into a school and be prepared to be a very very flexible. So if an executive staff asks you to take on a different stage from like you were offered in the beginning. Yeah, you just kind of have to roll with it. I think, you know interviewing executive stuff. Next study they really appreciated casual teachers who are flexible in that way and we're open to changes and were willing to accommodate some of the things that might suddenly come up in the world of teaching because teaching is Click paste and dynamic and you just have to adapt to that I guess other than flexibility what our executive staff after in in casual really teachers. It sounds kind of cliche but executive stuff really appreciated those cars. Your teachers who are themselves in the fact that casual teachers do have the ability to bring their own unique abilities and perspectives as a teacher to classrooms. So, you know, Deputy principles and principles are really appreciated that fresh new perspective or skills that you may be able to bring so, you know, whether that's new ideas on how to teach a lesson in certain way or how to integrate a new digital tool or you know, even like new behavior management strategies. So according to executive staff they Really want casual teachers to bring their own expertise to the job. So if you are yourself and you have new new ideas, definitely, I think yeah bring that on in the classroom. I agree is a place where you can have creativity and have an impact on those students. That is a wonderful gift that comes with the job that you do as well. So you're too big tips from from admins or executive staff are to be authentic and to be very flexible as you Said everyone's experience is different, but it's so great to hear this from you know, the perspectives of the administrators themselves. So how many people did you interview in that portion of your study? So at the moment I have about 5, so I would love to recruit more. But yeah, I think at the moment it's just such a busy time of the year that I'm struggling to get participants. Can we help you with for the love of teaching if anyone's listening and they're an admin in a school. Can they can they contact you anyway to participate in the study? Oh, yes, please. Um So the best way to contact me would be by email. So it Minami dot a cheetah at HD r dot m q dot edu dot a you so it's so but the long email right and what I will do me now me is put your if you're comfortable. I'll put your information in the show notes. So if you're listening to this podcast, like right now you can jump on down to the show notes section 5 Min armies email address. And shoot her an email. So principal Deputy principles. Even you know, APS that higher corrosion or teachers. Yeah, I would love to hear from you. So you've said to me in our conversations previously that you really firmly believe that casual teachers are under recognized and under represented in the media and we are definitely working to help with that. I think I think casual teachers are quite easy to overlook by the very nature. They said, you know, you don't Always have that consistent interaction with casual teachers if you're a student, so you might you know, remember your favorite teacher from your childhood, but it might be harder to remember your favorite casual teacher because we essentially feel a gap when there's a need. It's just easy to forget that we exist. It's sad, but yeah, I mean, we're still obviously very important in The workforce and you know research has aided that casual teachers teach a student for cumulative equivalent above do like one year throughout their time in schools from kindergarten to year 12. So we do make up quite a significant proportion of the teaching Workforce. I think they're underrepresented because we're not as visible as you know, your main classroom teacher, but hopefully with my research I can turn that around a little bit or try and make Casualty, which is a little bit more. Yeah visible and give them I'm give us a platform in order to speak about, you know, our challenges and our realities and our experiences lovely. That's so great. I'm so impressed with your passion and your dedication to doing this on behalf of casual teachers of Australia and something that we need to kind of look more in depth into so a really great field of study and thank you so much Minami for joining me on for the love of tea. Teaching thank you so much for having me. Thanks for listening to this episode of For the Love of teaching. Don't forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast app so that you get the latest updates on all the newest episodes.
Minami has been a casual relief teacher for five years. She's also a PhD candidate at Macquarie University, studying the perspectives and challenges of relief teachers. In this episode, Minami talks about why people choose to enter relief teaching roles, how many are finding fulfillment professionally as casual teachers, and she tells us about the findings of her research. In particular, Minami speaks about the qualities that school executive staff are looking for when hiring relief teachers, and the obstacles relief teachers are facing.If you're a school administrator and you could help Minami by participating in her survey, please email her at minami.uchida@hdr.mq.edu.auInfo on the upcoming RTCON2019, the virtual relief teachers' conference by Class Cover!Join us in our new For the Love of Teaching Facebook group, where we chat about the podcast, feature live vids of guests, and talk teaching!Have you subscribed to For the Love of Teaching? It means you'll be the first to know whenever a new episode is released.For the Love of Teaching is a podcast by Teach Starter. We make quality, downloadable teaching resources that save teachers hours of time and make their classrooms buzz! 