Welcome to the

20
21

State of the Sector Report.

PeopleBench would like to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the country on which we are privileged to live and work.

In the spirit of reconciliation, we recognise that sovereignty of these lands was never ceded. We pay our respect to elders past, present, and emerging and extend this respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

State of the Sector

This report reflects the responses of

Principals

Other School Leaders

Middle Leaders

Teachers

Business/HR Managers

Across Australia.

While this represents a small slice of the national K/P–12 school landscape—there are 9,621 schools reflected in the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority’s (ACARA) data for 2020—it is reasonably representative of the population in terms of school sector (the split of Government, Catholic, and Independent schools), school type (Primary, Secondary, and Combined Years), school size, and geography.

Learn more about the sample and methodology

State of the Sector

Introduction

Welcome to the second PeopleBench State of the Sector Report. This report summarises the results of a survey that was conducted in March, 2021, and was designed to gather the perspectives of Australian educators about the challenges and opportunities they face in the school workforce.

Who is PeopleBench?

How to use this report

Section one:

Sector
Sentiment

Sentiment /ˈsɛntɪm(ə)nt/ noun a view or opinion that is held or expressed.

It’s challenging to be an educator right now. Educators routinely teach and lead in circumstances that are volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous at the best of times—not to mention the impacts of a global pandemic. In this section, explore the sector’s sentiment through the lens of educators and education leaders as they reflect about their own role in the education workforce today, and the school workforce overall, and as they imagine the education workforce three years from now.

Section one:

In one word, how do you feel about your role in the school workforce today?

To get a quick gauge of educator sentiment, we asked respondents to sum up how they felt about their current role in one word.

A total of 312 people responded to this question. The words they chose painted a vivid picture of the challenges facing educators after a year of disruption and uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

While the words chosen were many and varied (and included optimistic words such as Positive and Excited), the most commonly-used words centred around themes of exhaustion (Exhausted, Exhausting, Tired) and busyness/workload (Busy, Overworked).

The overall tone of the sentiment expressed here should raise alarm bells for the future of the teaching profession and school workforces. Negative perceptions are likely to negatively impact attraction and retention of current and future teachers. Research has consistently found that where teachers feel valued and are satisfied in their jobs they are more likely to remain in the profession (Schleicher, 2018).

Section one:

In one word, how do you feel about your role in the school workforce today?

When we coded responses into positive (e.g., Enthusiastic; Important), negative (e.g., Demanding, Stressed), and neutral (e.g., Changing, Complex), and separated them by role type, we saw considerable variability in the data.

While responses from all role types featured some combination of positive, negative, and neutral terms, the greatest proportion of positive sentiment was expressed by other (Non-Principal) Senior Leaders.

In contrast to their Senior Leadership counterparts, Teachers used many more negative words than positive ones, with the most common themes emerging around exhaustion, overwhelm, and feeling undervalued.

This pattern suggests that Senior Leaders have a key role to play in a) implementing role design changes and other strategies for managing Teachers’ overwhelm; and b) leading by example to facilitate a solution-oriented dialogue within the teaching workforce.

Section one:

In one word, how do you feel about your role in the school workforce today?

The charts opposite show the coded data separated by respondents’ total years of experience in K/P–12 Education and their state.

No clear patterns emerged from the tenure breakdown, suggesting that education sector veterans were roughly as likely to use negatively-tinged language when describing their own role in the school as early career respondents.

The greater challenges in attracting and retaining teachers in rural and remote schools may explain some of the results in the state breakdown: states with the more geographically dispersed schools (such as WA, SA, Qld) reported the highest proportion of negative responses.

It is more likely that teachers in those schools are early career teachers or teaching out of field, contributing to overwhelm and exhaustion. As a result, Principals and school leaders also have greater challenges to manage and support their workforce (Sharplin, 2014).

Section one:

In one word, how do you feel about your school’s workforce overall today?

We also asked respondents to sum up how they felt about their school’s workforce as a whole in one word.

A total of 317 people responded to this question. The words they chose reflected similar themes and patterns to the previous question. The most commonly used words centred around themes of workload (Overworked, Overwhelmed, Busy) and exhaustion (Tired, Exhausted).

Despite this, a sizeable minority of respondents chose optimistic words such as Supportive, Committed, and Proud.

Section one:

In one word, how do you feel about your school’s workforce overall today?

Breaking these responses down into positive, negative, and neutral sentiments again revealed similar themes to the previous question. The positive sentiment was characterised by words such as Supportive, Positive, Cohesive, Committed, Dedicated, Professional, and Proud.

A majority of Principals who responded to this question expressed positive sentiment, an encouraging finding given these leaders’ overall impact leading the climate and culture of their school. Respondents in HR and Business Support roles were also more likely to express positive than negative sentiment, which may reflect their distance from many of the stressors that come with managing student and parent relationships.

By contrast, respondents from other roles were more likely to express negative sentiment than positive sentiment. Several factors may contribute to this disparity. First, Principals may be more optimistic by nature—school leadership is a complex and challenging role, and educators with a solution-focused bent may be more likely to ascend to senior positions. Second, senior roles tend to allow for more autonomy and other resources (e.g., coaching/mentoring), which can help to alleviate the risk of burnout at work (e.g., Bakker & Demerouti, 2017).

Section one:

In one word, how do you feel about your school’s workforce overall today?

The charts opposite show the coded data separated by respondents’ total years’ experience in K/P–12 Education and their state.

Breaking the data down by tenure in Education revealed subtle differences: respondents with 11-25 years’ experience were most likely to report negative sentiment about the school workforce, while a majority of those with >31 years’ experience reported positive sentiment.

This more senior cohort is more likely to contain Principals, who generally tended towards positive sentiment, but it is also possible that accruing a certain amount of experience in schools allowed these respondents to keep the challenging aspects of school life in perspective.

Comparing data by state revealed that WA respondents were the most likely to report positive sentiments about the school workforce today, in contrast to their tendency toward negative sentiment regarding their own roles today.

Their tendency towards positive sentiment about the workforce may be partially explained by WA sector efforts over the last decade to implement specific programs that prepare teachers and school leaders for working in rural and remote regions (Lobb, 2019).

Section one:

Reflections on the school workforce today

To explore sentiment in more detail, we asked respondents to rate their agreement (using a five-point Likert scale from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree) with three statements about the school workforce today.

Again, responses to these questions revealed stark differences by role type, with Principals more likely to report feeling excited, confident, and well-prepared than respondents in other roles.

Teachers and Middle Leaders typically reported feeling least excited, confident, and well-prepared; responses from Other Senior Leaders and HR/Business Support staff typically fell in-between.

The less positive sentiment expressed by Middle Leaders may reflect that these roles often require incumbents to juggle a teaching load with their first managerial position and are subjected to pressure from both above and below, and frequently feel tension between their department and the whole-of-school direction (Harris & Jones, 2017).

When I think about my school’s workforce today, I feel excited.

42%

40%

50%

56%

80%

When I think about my school’s workforce today, I feel confident that we can execute our school’s vision.

52%

57%

67%

75%

93%

When I think about my school’s workforce today, I feel well-prepared to deal with the challenges that may arise.

33%

50%

62%

63%

77%

Section one:

Imagining the school workforce three years from now

When we asked participants to think about the school workforce three years from now, the differences between role types became even more apparent.

The chart opposite shows the total percentage of respondents who indicated that they either agree or strongly agree with the statements. This time, dots have been colour-coded to indicate whether this proportion was higher or lower when participants were asked to think about the workforce over the next three years than when asked to think about the workforce today.

Shifts in optimism played out differently for different role types.

Middle Leaders and Teachers—and, to a lesser extent, Principals—tended to take a less optimistic perspective (less excited, less hopeful, less well-prepared) on the school workforce of the future than the school workforce of today.

Other Senior Leaders and HR/Business Support staff tended to report feeling more excited, more hopeful, and better-prepared when thinking about the future than today.

When I think about my school’s workforce three years from now, I feel excited.

32%

39%

54%

69%

79%

When I think about my school’s workforce three years from now, I feel confident that we can execute our school’s vision.

42%

52%

69%

73%

84%

When I think about my school’s workforce today, I feel well-prepared to deal with the challenges that may arise.

33%

50%

62%

63%

77%

Section one:

Reflections on the school workforce today

When comparing responses by school type, we found that Primary school respondents, on average, were the most likely to report feeling excited and confident in their school’s ability to execute their vision.

This could be explained by the fact that Primary schools are generally smaller (and have fewer layers in their structure) than Secondary schools, providing greater access to the Principal and the formation of bonds between teaching teams.

Additionally, Primary school teachers spend more time with their students and are able to quickly see the impact of their teaching.

These factors may have the potential to increase alignment with the school vision and job satisfaction, and consequently greater optimism, regarding the school workforce.

When I think about my school’s workforce today, I feel excited.

38%

50%

66%

When I think about my school’s workforce today, I feel confident that we can execute our school’s vision.

49%

62%

84%

When I think about my school’s workforce today, I feel well-prepared to deal with the challenges that may arise.

47%

66%

68%

Section one:

Imagining the school workforce three years from now

Factoring the three-year perspective, Primary school respondents were less likely, and Combined Years school respondents more likely, to report feeling excited and confident about the future of their school’s workforce than they do today.

Both were more likely to feel well-prepared to manage future challenges, compared to their perspectives on the challenges of today.

There was comparatively little change in responses from Secondary school staff.

When I think about my school’s workforce three years from now, I feel excited.

36%

63%

65%

When I think about my school’s workforce three years from now, I feel confident that we can execute our school’s vision.

47%

65%

74%

When I think about my school’s workforce three years from now, I feel well-prepared to deal with the challenges that may arise.

47%

70%

71%

Section one:

Reflections on the school workforce today

Respondents from Government schools were less likely to report feeling excited, confident, well-prepared than their Catholic and Independent school counterparts.

This may reflect the fact that many Catholic and Independent school leaders have higher levels of financial and decision-making freedom in responding to chronic workforce challenges.

For instance, recent research has demonstrated that Government schools are losing staff to Catholic and Independent schools (Brady & Wilson 2021). Factors such as negotiable enterprise agreements, longer holidays and better-resourced working environments are some of the perceived advantages Catholic and Independent schools use to attract and retain staff.

That Catholic and Independent schools have historically been vision-driven and have selected staff partly for their alignment and commitment to the school vision may also have influenced these results.

When I think about my school’s workforce today, I feel excited.

43%

62%

66%

When I think about my school’s workforce today, I feel confident that we can execute our school’s vision.

60%

76%

78%

When I think about my school’s workforce today, I feel well-prepared to deal with the challenges that may arise.

52%

68%

70%

Section one:

Imagining the school workforce three years from now

Applying the three-year perspective to this data, we found little change in Government school respondents’ sentiments.

By contrast, the percentage of Catholic school respondents expressing optimistic sentiments decreased noticeably, while the percentage of Independent school respondents increased.

Catholic and Government school systems have both identified the current and future teacher workforce shortage will have the greatest impact in rural and regional schools, which represent a sizeable chunk of this survey sample (Brown, 2014; Cuervo & Acquaro, 2018)

When I think about my school’s workforce three years from now, I feel excited.

44%

65%

72%

When I think about my school’s workforce three years from now, I feel confident that we can execute our school’s vision.

57%

67%

82%

When I think about my school’s workforce three years from now, I feel well-prepared to deal with the challenges that may arise.

54%

69%

79%

Section one:

Key Takeaways: Sector Sentiment

Typically, the more senior a respondent’s role, the more optimistic their outlook on the school workforce. Principals were more likely to use positive than negative language when describing the school workforce, and were more likely than other respondents to report feeling more excited, confident, and well-prepared to manage workforce challenges. Principals’ optimism seems to have held up despite the challenges of a COVID-disrupted year—the sentiments reported in our 2019 State of the Sector report (which included only Principals and no other roles) were comparable to this year’s survey.
Teachers and Middle Leaders tended to use more negative language when describing both their role and the school workforce overall, and were least likely to report feeling excited, well-prepared, or confident when thinking about the school workforce now and in the future.
Generally, Primary school respondents were most likely to take an optimistic outlook on the school workforce both today and in three years’ time, followed by Combined Years school respondents. Secondary school respondents were least likely to report an optimistic outlook.

While Catholic and Independent school leaders were similarly optimistic about the school workforce today, Independent school leaders were more likely—and Catholic school leaders less likely—to be optimistic when thinking about the school workforce in three years’ time.
While not an assessment of wellbeing or mental health, our results suggest that many teachers—especially those in the public sector—could use additional support to deal with the demands of their roles today (particularly regarding workload and work intensification). Results also speak to a need to redesign roles in the school to allow for sufficient resources (e.g., autonomy) to buffer against the risk of burnout.

Section one:

What can
sector leaders do?

1.

Recognise, reward and continue to support school Principals to maintain their resilience and share their perspectives and learnings with staff across the sector

2.

Engage Middle Leaders and Teachers in the process of designing the jobs of the future, reflecting changing service delivery models (e.g., the rise of online learning and hybrid delivery), work intensification, and shifting skill requirements

3.

Explore ways to improve individual autonomy and access to support (e.g., professional development, coaching, mentoring) for Teachers and Middle Leaders

4.

Identify opportunities to improve person-job fit via appropriate professional development and career planning processes for all roles

5.

Manage the potential negative effects of sub-optimal school culture/climate by investing in building leadership capability, building psychological safety, and conducting proactive and systematic performance planning and development processes

Section two:

Strategic
Priorities

Across the sector, education leaders are managing complex enterprises—with all of their constituent functions, risks, and governance challenges and with varying degrees of resourcing and external support. Pull up almost any Australian school website and you’ll find reference to strategic planning, including, in particular, the school’s vision and mission and annual school improvement plan, and often the school’s strategic plan. In this section, learn more about the top strategic priorities of Principals and senior leaders across the sector.

Section two:

Top strategic priorities by school type

When we asked Principals and Other Senior Leaders to rank different types of strategy over the next three years, the overwhelming majority identified Teaching & Learning Strategy as the top priority.

Workforce Strategy was the next most likely to be ranked as top priority across all school types; this is consistent with the fact that the vast bulk of a school’s expenditure goes towards its people.

ICT Strategy was least likely to be a top priority across all school types; this was somewhat surprising given that technology has played an integral part in learning delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic, and blended learning models are expected to remain commonplace in many schools post-pandemic.

Section two:

Top strategic priorities by sector

When we considered leaders’ rankings by sector, Teaching and Learning Strategy was consistently most likely to be rated as the top priority over the next three years.

In Government and Catholic schools, Workforce Strategy was the next most-common top priority, though this was not the case for Independent school respondents, who were more likely to rate Finance & Funding and Infrastructure Masterplanning as top priorities.

This unsurprising given that Independent schools bear the responsibility for Finance & Funding and Infrastructure Masterplanning, whereas this is generally shared with the system in Government schools and most Catholic schools. Accreditation of Independent schools focuses strongly on ongoing individual school financial viability and their marketing point of difference is frequently focused on infrastructure.

We note, though, that the subsample of Independent school respondents to this question was quite small (n=14) and may not yield robust results.

Section two:

Key Takeaways:
Strategic Priorities

ID-19 pandemic has underlined the importance of both a) taking a deliberate and comprehensive approach to setting strategies to guide schools over the coming few years and b) planning for contingencies and potential scenarios that may affect the implementation of these strategies.
In our survey, school leaders prioritised Teaching and Learning Strategy above all else, but Workforce Strategy was generally regarded the second most important strategy for leaders over the next three years, regardless of school type or sector.
Leaders have an opportunity to use the disruption to convention that has been brought about by the pandemic to take stock of their current strategy and consider whether the plans and initiatives they currently have in place will allow them to achieve their schools’ goals, or whether a different, less conventional approach is needed.

Section two:

What can
sector leaders do?

1.

Leverage the learnings and opportunities in COVID-19 disruption to deliberately design new Service Delivery Models for the delivery of schooling, ensuring we establish baseline and impact measurements for student outcomes and employee experiences

2.

Review current strategy and planning frameworks and processes in schools and schools systems. Aim to move toward:

An increased emphasis on Workforce Strategy as a key enabler of sustainable schooling and impact on student outcomes
Longer planning horizons
Deeper and broader engagement of school workforces and communities in the co-design of future school Workforce Strategy

3.

Examine school and system leadership team capability—and invest in building, buying, or boosting expertise and capacity to design and implement workforce improvement strategies over time

Section three:

Workforce
Challenges

In creating schools that are great places to learn, the education sector—in Australia and beyond—is challenged to make schools great places to work. The list of potential workforce challenges is long, with each contributing to the complexity and volatility of the education landscape: staff retention and turnover; workforce age; absenteeism; workforce resilience; attracting and recruiting staff; leadership pipelines; staff capability, training, and development; performance management; psychological and physical injury claims. This section presents the findings about the greatest perceived workforce challenges overall, by school type, and by sector.

Section three:

Greatest workforce challenges over time

In the 2019 survey we asked Principals to identify their top five workforce challenges. In this year’s survey, we took a slightly different approach, asking participants to rank challenges from most important to least important a) today, and b) in three years’ time.

While not a direct apples-to-apples comparison, the results suggest a reordering of importance between 2019 and 2021: while Teacher capability remains the top priority, Improving staff resilience; Pipeline of future leaders; and Training staff have slipped slightly, overtaken by Supply of suitable teachers and Attraction and recruitment of new staff.

The workforce challenges participants anticipated in three years’ time were largely similar to the challenges of today. Supply of suitable teachers was expected to continued to increase in importance to become the top priority by 2024.

Some factors were expected to decrease considerably in importance, including Improving staff resilience (from #2 in 2019 to #5 in 2024) and Training staff (from #4 to #7).

Average importance rank (1 = greatest challenge)

Section three:

Greatest workforce challenges by school type

When comparing today’s workforce challenges by school type, we found that while the top three challenges were consistent across all school types, each had a different #1 priority (Teacher capability in Primary schools; Supply of suitable teachers in Secondary schools; Attraction and recruitment of new staff in Combined Years schools).

Outside the top three, rankings were reasonably consistent across school types with a couple of notable exceptions:

Training staff was ranked much higher in Primary schools (#4) than in Secondary and Combined Years schools (#8)
Managing poor performance was ranked lowest in Primary schools (#9), compared to Secondary (#6) and Combined Years schools (#5)

Average importance rank (1 = greatest challenge)

Section three:

Greatest workforce challenges by sector

Comparing workforce challenges by sector showed general consistency: the top four factors were shared by Government, Catholic, and Independent schools in varying orders.

Supply of suitable teachers and Pipeline of future leaders were both ranked lower for Independent schools than other schools. Independent school participants may be less concerned about supply/succession issues because they have greater resources and flexibility to attract staff when supply is constrained.

Compared to other schools, Independent sector respondents were more concerned about Managing poor performance (which may speak to their greater latitude to directly manage staff performance) and an Ageing workforce, which may be reflective of the age profiles of the schools included in this subsample.

Per the most recent TALIS report (Ainley & Carstens, 2018), the average age of Australian Teachers and Principals is 42 and 51 years, respectively; 19% of Principals are over 60 years old. Given the risk these demographics pose to the supply of experienced Teachers and Senior Leaders, we would anticipate greater interest in the ageing workforce in the near future.

Average importance rank (1 = greatest challenge)

Section three:

Key Takeaways:
Workforce Challenges

Across all sectors and school types, respondents’ top five workforce challenges were likely to include the Supply of suitable teachers, Attraction and recruitment of suitable staff, Teacher capability, Pipeline of future leaders and Improving staff resilience both this year and in three years’ time.
Compared to the challenges identified by a different sample of Principals in the State of the Sector 2019 report, school leaders this year placed lesser emphasis on Improving staff resilience, the Pipeline of future leaders, and Training staff. They placed greater emphasis on the Supply of suitable teachers and the Attraction and recruitment of new staff.
Subtle differences between sectors indicate a need for a nuanced leadership and policy response to address how the most pressing challenges play out differently across Australia’s diverse K/P–12 Education sector, in context.

Section three:

What can
sector leaders do?

1.

Ensure that workforce strategy, planning, and experience improvement processes systematically consider all stages of the hire-to-retire lifecycle in schools and school systems, using data to inform where finite effort and budgets should be spent on improvement initiatives in order to have greatest impact on student outcomes and the sustainable delivery of schooling

2.

Ensure that they are accessing international, national, state, and territory data on a full range of workforce variables to be certain that the factors they are focussed on addressing include not only the issues impacting them today, but also those that are trending to become issues in the short- and medium-term future

Section four:

Workforce
Supply

Much has been written about the teacher supply crisis in Australia and overseas. Teacher shortage forecasts for Australian states and territories are being measured in the thousands, and tens of thousands, with NSW alone predicting a shortfall of 11,000 teachers in the next decade. The teacher supply challenges facing regional, rural, and remote schools are becoming even more acute. Learn more about the sector’s perception of workforce supply challenges today and in the future in this section.

Section four:

Greatest Teacher supply challenge by school type

Participants’ single greatest workforce supply challenge for teaching roles varied predictably by school type.

In Primary schools, Middle Years (year 3–6) Teachers were most likely to provide the greatest supply challenge, while Other Teachers posed the greatest challenge in Secondary schools. The Other Teachers category often included Special Education and Design & Technology Teachers.

Combined Years school respondents’ greatest supply challenge was evenly split three ways: Maths, Physical Sciences, and Senior Secondary Teacher roles – this is consistent with much of the public discourse about acute Teacher shortages nationally.

Workforce Supply Challenges : Teachers

Number of responses by school type.

Section four:

Greatest Non-Teacher supply challenge by school type

For Non-Teaching roles, supply challenges were generally consistent across school types.

Teaching Support roles were either the most likely or equal second-most likely to be identified as the greatest workforce supply challenge, followed by Student Support roles.

The supply of Senior Leaders was a top concern for 23% of Secondary school respondents and 22% of Combined Years school respondents, but only 6% of Primary school respondents.

Workforce Supply Challenges : Other Roles

Number of responses by school type.

Section four:

Greatest Teacher supply challenge by sector

Again, there was a high degree of consistency between Government and Catholic school respondents’ top Teacher supply challenges: both were most likely to nominate Middle Years Primary Teachers as their greatest supply concern.

This is most likely skewed by the fact that the majority of Government and Catholic school respondents in this sample (52%) were from Primary schools.

Among Independent school respondents (most of were from Combined Years schools), Other Teachers were most likely to pose a top supply concern, followed by Physical Sciences, Early Years, and Maths Teachers.

Workforce Supply Challenges : Teachers

Number of responses by school sector.

Section four:

Greatest Non-Teacher supply challenge by sector

Across all sectors, around a third of respondents identified Teaching Support roles as posing the greatest Non-Teacher supply challenge, followed by Student Support roles, then Senior Leaders in Catholic and Independent schools and Other roles in Government schools.

HR Support roles were least likely to be a concern in the Government and Catholic sectors (these schools have access to systemic HR support), though 10% of Independent sector respondents identified them as a top supply challenge. As noted in the next section of this report, HR support in schools is an emerging function and schools are competing with the corporate world for HR expertise.

Workforce Supply Challenges : Other Roles

Number of responses by school sector.

Section four:

Key Takeaways:
Workforce Supply

In Secondary schools, Maths teachers were most often identified as posing the single greatest teacher supply challenge, followed by Other teachers. In Primary schools, the most often-cited supply challenges were for Middle Years (Year 3–6) teachers, followed by Early Years teachers. In Combined Years schools, Maths, Physical Sciences, and Senior Secondary teachers were equally likely to be cited as the greatest supply challenge.
Across all three school types, Teaching Support roles were consistently cited as the greatest workforce supply challenge, though this was most pronounced for Primary schools. In both Secondary and Combined Years schools, Senior leader and Student support roles also featured prominently.
While patterns in the results were reasonably consistent across sectors, Government and Catholic school respondents’ greatest supply concerns related to Middle Years teachers (largely due to this sample comprising a majority of Primary schools) and Independent school respondents’ greatest concerns were for a range of Other teacher types not listed in the survey (e.g., Special Education; Design & Technology).
Across all three sectors, teaching Support roles were most likely to be cited as the greatest supply challenge among non-Teaching roles, followed by Student support roles.

Section four:

What can
sector leaders do?

1.

Ensure that they are accessing international, national, state, and territory data to understand Teacher supply and demand, turnover, capability, and capacity across all segments (Catholic, Independent and State) of the education sector in the development of informed workforce strategy for their schools and school systems

2.

Acknowledge that for some roles, and in some parts of the country, the supply crisis is unlikely to be resolved through branding campaigns, incentives, or intensifying traditional recruitment efforts. Instead, re-focus efforts on finding ways to deliver schooling with fewer Teachers (or fewer Teachers in the same location as their students) as part of the solution to supply problems, ensuring to measure and monitor the impact of these changes on student outcomes over time and adjust strategies accordingly

3.

Continue to advocate for—and invest in—policies and programs that enable the ongoing cultivation of a strong future teacher supply pipeline, and continue to advocate loudly and positively for the teaching profession

4.

Engage with Teachers of all backgrounds and career stages to understand their needs and career aspirations and co-design employee experiences that reflect a commitment to making schools great places to work

Section five:

The HR Function
in Schools

Human Resources (HR) in the education sector is on a path of maturation. As a separate organisational function, HR in schools is a relatively recent phenomenon with Principals historically carrying the bulk of responsibilities, relying on relatively little access to in-school specialist advice. However, this is starting to shift: HR functions are now moving from an operational basics level (payroll, industrial relations) to begin exploring organisational development, with some schools tackling workforce strategy and organisational and job redesign as enablers of new service delivery models and innovative pedagogy. In this section, discover more about the HR function in schools—the issues addressed, the functions managed, and the support provided.

Section five:

The breadth of HR functions by school type

While it has had a strategic role in many other industries, HR has historically had modest impact in education (Cameron & Grootenboer, 2018).

Participants in our survey tended to report that their school’s HR team performed operational functions such as Recruitment, Employee/Industrial Relations (ER/IR), and Workplace Health & Safety (WH&S).

Staff Wellbeing and Workforce Strategy & Planning, two areas which have risen in prominence throughout the pandemic era, were among the least common functions.

A considerable proportion of Primary school respondents also indicated that they were unsure of the HR functions performed at their school—or that their school did not have any specific HR functions.

Functions provided by school HR teams

Number of responses by school type.

Section five:

The breadth of HR functions by school sector

Breaking responses down by sector revealed consistent patterns, with WH&S, Recruitment, and ER/IR typically the most commonly-cited functions and Workforce Strategy & Planning the least.

However, relatively few Catholic school respondents identified ER/IR as a function performed at the school. This is likely because this support is provided at a systemic/diocesan level on behalf of these schools.

A higher proportion of Independent school respondents reported that their HR team provided a Staff Wellbeing function. In the absence of systemic support for staff wellbeing in these schools, this is unsurprising.

A considerable proportion of Government and Catholic school respondents also indicated that they were unsure of the HR functions performed at their school—or that their school did not have any specific HR functions.

Functions provided by school HR teams

Number of responses by school sector.

Section five:

HR knowledge by school type

To understand how well the HR function is keeping pace with school needs, we asked participants to nominate the description that best fit their school’s knowledge of contemporary workforce practices.

While the largest proportion of respondents indicated that their school’s HR knowledge was adequate, almost a quarter indicated that this knowledge was insufficient in their school.

Only a small proportion (14%, on average) of respondents felt that their school’s HR function was optimal, though this was higher in Combined Years schools.

All Schools

How would you describe your school’s knowledge of contemporary workforce practices?

Primary

Secondary

Combined

Section five:

The quantum of HR support by school type

We also asked participants to select the word that best described the amount of HR support available in the school.

Again, a considerable minority (a third) indicated that the quantum of support available was insufficient for their school’s needs, and only 15% indicated that it was optimal.

Overall, participants from Secondary schools tended to be less satisfied with the amount of HR support than their peers in other schools.

All Schools

Overall, how would you describe the quantum of HR support in your school?

Primary

Secondary

Combined

Section five:

HR knowledge by school sector

Respondents from Independent schools were more likely to rate their school’s HR knowledge as Optimal than their peers in other schools.

This is not surprising given that Independent schools have led the way by commencing the introduction of HR roles within their schools. Catholic and Government schools, in general, rely on systemic HR support.

All Schools

How would you describe your school’s knowledge of contemporary workforce practices?

Government

Catholic

Independent

Section five:

The school’s greatest HR strengths

When we asked participants to rate their school’s strength on a list of HR functions and activities on a from 0 (weakest) to 100 (strongest), scores were modest across the board, suggesting that few schools have a) established consistently strong HR practices, and/or b) effectively communicated the purpose of these activities in the school context so that staff understand their value.

The most consistent strength in the list was Supporting diversity and inclusion, which is critical to enabling schools to serve an increasingly diverse student population. This was followed by Training and developing staff, which is a relative strength in Education—with its formalised professional learning requirements.

The most poorly-ranked activity was Remaining engaged with staff alumni, reflective of the fact that there is little effort invested in maintaining alumni networks as a way to facilitate knowledge sharing and encourage quality staff to return to the school. In an environment of teacher shortages, such networks may provide a low-cost contribution to solving some staff attraction and recruitment challenges.

Supporting flexible work practices also yielded consistently low scores and is an area in which Education has lagged other industries. Addressing this gap represents an opportunity to attract a wider range of professionals into schools.

Supporting staff resilience was also rated poorly. Despite having decreased in relative priority since our 2019 survey, this remains a critical part of many schools’ response to the challenges explored in this report.

School Type	Attracting new staff	Recruiting new staff	Inducting/on-boarding new staff	Training and developing staff	Providing performance feedback	Supporting flexible work	Managing workplace culture	Managing workplace climate	Supporting return to work	Supporting transition to retirement	Supporting diversity and inclusion	Remaining engaged with alumni	Supporting staff resilience
Combined Years	68	66	65	61	54	45	67	64	60	55	62	44	54
Primary	62	61	63	75	61	58	67	69	64	62	70	45	63
Secondary	50	51	49	54	46	43	44	44	50	44	54	31	38
All	61	60	57	62	54	52	58	58	58	53	62	39	51

Section five:

Key Takeaways:
The HR Function in Schools

Regardless of school type, the HR activities most-often performed in schools were Recruitment, Employee/Industrial Relations, and Workplace Health and Safety. Workforce strategy and planning was among the least-cited functions performed at the school. It was relatively common for respondents from Primary schools to be unsure about which HR activities were performed at the school.
While most respondents were reasonably satisfied with the HR knowledge and amount of support available at their school, relatively few felt that these factors were Optimal, and a sizeable minority (generally between a quarter and a third) reported that they were Insufficient to meet the school’s needs.

While respondents identified some valuable strengths in their school’s HR function (Supporting diversity and inclusion; Training and developing staff), they also called out consistent areas for improvement across the sector: Remaining engaged with alumni; Supporting staff resilience; and Supporting flexible work.
Overall, results speak to the progress the HR function has made within the K/P–12 Education sector. As the function continues to grow and mature, leaders should focus on expanding the breadth of the function—emphasising strategic value-adding activities, not just the operational activities—and increasing the amount of support available to schools.

Section five:

What can
sector leaders do?

1.

Examine their current HR approach, considering where on a maturity continuum of transactional/operational to strategic they currently sit, and how this might need to evolve in response to current and emerging trends in the discussion about workforce strategy as it relates to schooling sustainability, impact, teacher effectiveness, risk management, and governance into the future

2.

Investigate the level of HR capability and capacity they have access to now, and consider how they may wish to build, buy, or boost this expertise in their school or system moving forward, in order to achieve their highest impact in the communities they serve

3.

Consider using the development of workforce strategy and planning processes as a vehicle to drive HR capability uplift and broader workforce engagement in building schools that are great places to work (as well as to learn)

Section six:

Professional
Development

In an environment that is changing as rapidly as education, the continuous improvement of workforce capability becomes all the more vital. Schools approach the delivery of professional development (PD) in a variety of different ways ranging from quick-fix, individually-sourced PD sessions to whole-of-school, or even system-initiated professional learning. We asked Principals and school leaders a number of questions about the vehicles offered for professional development. In this section, learn more about the sector’s perspective on professional development priorities for 2021 and beyond at an individual and school level.

Section six:

Individual Professional Development priorities

When we asked participants to identify their top professional development priorities this year and over the next three years, the four most-cited skillsets—and the three least-cited—remained constant.

In-between, responses suggested an anticipated reshuffling of priorities, with Data savvy and Reflective and evaluative practice expected to decrease in priority, and Technological skills, Managing own wellbeing and Interpersonal skills expected to increase in priority.

It should be noted, though, that differences in average priority ranking were relatively minor.

Section six:

School-wide Professional Development priorities

When we asked the same questions, but with a focus on the school’s professional development priorities overall, responses suggested a slight reordering, though differences in average priority ranking were relatively small.

Three skillsets were expected to decrease in importance over the next three years: Pedagogy & lesson design; Coaching/mentoring; and Child protection & safeguarding.

Three were expected to increase in priority: Curriculum; Technological skills; and Managing own wellbeing.

Section six:

Addressing schools’ professional development priorities

As a follow-up to the previous questions, we asked respondents how their school intended to address its professional development priorities over the next three years.

Around 22% of responses made reference to a systematic approach to professional learning more broadly—this is assumed to reflect a planned and ongoing approach, distinct from specific individual Professional Development events or sessions (King 2016).

15% of responses focused on linking professional development to strategic initiatives. School strategic planning and school improvement is tied to funding and is typically intended as a 3–5–year roadmap to achieve a school’s vision, mission, and school improvement goals.

Approximately 30% of responses referred to professional development sessions, comprising ~20% references to internally-led and planned within the school and 10% references to externally run sessions. This supports the research that suggests the most effective PD is provided in-school.

Section six:

What can
sector leaders do?

1.

Continue to prioritise professional capability development as a key focus in their workforce strategies

2.

Stay across emergent research into the types of capability development (e.g., experiential, formal face to face training, online/hybrid learning, coaching/mentoring/shadowing etc.) that yield greatest impact on teacher learning and effectiveness

3.

Mature processes for determining which job families and role types in schools are most in need of professional development (for both Teacher and Non-Teacher roles) and which technical, professional, and interpersonal capabilities warrant highest priority allocation of time and budget in response to a constantly changing operating environment

4.

Continue to set success measures and monitor their return on investment in professional development over time, considering both impact on student outcomes and the experience of staff members as adult learners

Section seven:

The Impact of
COVID-19

Australian educators have navigated ‘unprecedented times’, ‘pivoting’ to the ‘new normal’ defined by the COVID-19 pandemic. There’s some light relief to be found poking fun at buzzwords, but the impact of COVID-19 on the education sector has been—and continues to be—acute, widespread, and sustained. As part of the 2021 State of the Sector survey, we asked educators specifically about professional development priorities and how the pandemic impacted these at an individual and school level. Explore their responses in this section.

Section seven:

Professional development changes as a result of COVID-19

When we asked participants how the COVID-19 pandemic had affected their school’s professional development priorities in a range of skill areas, almost all cited that Technological skills had increased in importance.

A considerable majority of respondents also reported that Managing own wellbeing, Pedagogy and lesson design, and Reflective and evaluative practice had increased in importance.

Principals were the cohort most likely to report increasing importance of professional development across these skill areas, followed by HR & Business Support staff and Teachers. Middle Leaders were the least likely to report an increase in professional development priority.

A small proportion (less than 10%) of respondents reported a decrease in priority.

How have your professional development priorities changed as a result of COVID-19?

Percentage of respondents by skill type.

Section seven:

How has COVID-19 led you to think differently about the school workforce?

Without doubt, COVID-19 has had a huge impact on many school workforces. Adapting to the constant disruption of the pandemic and ensuring education continues has emphasised the critical role teachers and school leaders play (AITSL, 2020).

The top themes in response to the impact of COVID on thinking about school workforces were Prioritising workforce resilience and wellbeing and Highlighting the importance of collaboration and teamwork, both within the workforce and the wider school community.

School workforce resilience and wellbeing has previously been overshadowed by student wellbeing. COVID-19 has rightfully refocused the lens to include school staff.

Educators have always risen to the occasion. During this time the calibre of their dedication, collaboration and teamwork has surfaced as evidenced in their responses.

Highlighting the importance of collaboration and teamwork

“All needed support, encouragement and training. Supported each other well.”

Emphasising the importance of connection with community

“As a school we have seen the positivity of the close contact between teachers and families. This was valued by all of our community. School leadership also had much more contact with families and the feedback has been extremely positive. As a workforce we are exploring ways to retain some of this close contact.”

Acknowledging agility as an enabling factor in times of change

“Amazing teachers going above and beyond. No different than before. Highly adaptable.”

Highlighting the need to plan strategically for the future of the workforce

Prioritising workforce resilience and wellbeing

“Amazing teachers going above and beyond. No different than before. Highly adaptable.”

Section seven:

How has COVID-19 led you to think differently about the school workforce?

The biggest influence was on Information & Learning Technology—remote lesson planning & delivery was brought into focus.

HR & Business Support Leader

I’m now encouraging my staff
to look after their wellbeing.

Middle Leader, Government School

We need to consider how we can do things differently going forward and also how we are more intentional about staff wellbeing.

Other Senior Leader, Independent school

(Staff) were able to pivot and change according to the needs of the moment. They can do it.

Principal

[We need] more secure permanent part time employment and a more flexible timetable to match, including a distance education or home schooling option which is school based.

Teacher, Government School

Section seven:

What can
sector leaders do?

1.

Examine where pre-pandemic School Improvement processes have contributed to changing to the way schooling is delivered, learning occurs, and working in a school is experienced. Consider which new processes and capabilities the school might need to harness the learnings of COVID-19. These will likely include a need for enhanced processes, capability, and capacity in:

Service Delivery Model redesign (How will schooling be delivered into the future and how do we move from ideas to lasting change?)
Organisational and Role redesign (How will schools be structured under our new models? Which jobs will exist in the future?)
Workforce Strategy and Organisational Development (How will we ensure our future models are sustainable and continue to increase their positive impact over time?)
Business Continuity and Scenario Planning (How will we remain ready for and robust to continued disruption in to the future?)
Innovation design and implementation (How will we take a structured approach to piloting, testing, and costing new models? How will we roll them out if they’re successful?)
Program and Project Management (How will we manage cost, progress, risk, and realisation of benefits as we move forward?)
Change Management (How will we ensure that our communities and workforce enable and engage in this change?)

Section eight:

Looking to
the future

The disruption experienced by COVID-19 has added to the uncertainties and ambiguities around the future and what it holds for the education sector. Educators and education leaders are grappling with the opportunities and the risks they see ahead. Extending the horizon out three years, we sought educators’ perceptions of the factors that will have the greatest positive and greatest negative impact on the school workforce. In this section, learn more about their views of the future.

Section eight:

Positive influences on the future of the school workforce

Leadership capability, including leadership renewal and investment was deemed by respondents as having the greatest positive impact on the school workforce. This not surprising given that a vast body of research indicates the significance of school leadership.

This has lead to the focus on school leadership and leadership styles during the past decade and AITSL’s current focus on leadership as exemplified by the Principal Standard and the Leadership Profiles.

The sample responses below from school leaders indicate a strong understanding about school leadership and its impact:

Maintenance of our strong and effective leadership team that is backed up with a core group of experienced and dedicated teachers [Other Senior Leader]
Our principal taking time to listen to the shared vision and exploring current research [Middle Leader]
Our Leadership Team’s collaboration with Middle Leaders and focus on leadership skills [Principal]
Trust, clear vision, and servant hearted leadership [Other Senior Leader]

Section eight:

Positive influences on the future of the school workforce

In Catholic schools, the most frequently-cited factors were Professional Development, Leadership Capability, Pedagogy and consistency of practice, and Strategic planning and future focus.

Government school respondents were most likely to cite Leadership Capability, followed by Positive culture and collaboration, Strategic planning and future focus, and Wellbeing.

Relative to their Catholic and Government sector peers, a much higher proportion of Independent school respondents expected that Professional Development would make a positive difference over the next three years. This was followed by Leadership capability, Funding and facilities, and Wellbeing.

Section eight:

Negative influences on the future of the school workforce

When asked about the factors that might negatively impact the future of the school workforce, the responses of both Teachers and Leaders echoed similar sentiment regarding the overwhelming Workload (including work intensification; burnout; and growing burden of administrative and compliance work).

Surprisingly, only four respondents alluded to curriculum as being a concern.

Illustrative sample comments include:

Compliance, burn out, administrivia [Teacher]
Conflict and unnecessary red tape and unclear guidance from central office [Principal]
Increased workload, increased time spent on administrative work, expectations of teachers always being contactable via email [Teacher]
Intensification of compliance/paperwork that takes teachers away from teaching and learning [Principal]
Paperwork for accountability [Teacher]

Section eight:

Negative influences on the future of the school workforce

As was the case with the positive factors, breaking down the negative factors revealed considerable differences between sectors, though the impact of Workload was consistently the most frequently-cited issue by a considerable margin.

In Catholic schools, this was followed by (a lack of) Wellbeing, Attraction and supply of staff, and Retention/turnover.

In Government schools, the next most-cited factors were Wellbeing, the Status of the teaching profession, and Administration.

Among Independent school respondents—a third of whom cited Workload as having the greatest negative impact on the workforce—the other frequently-cited factors were Administration, Change, and Leadership.

Section eight:

What can
sector leaders do?

1.

Engage school staff genuinely in the development of workforce strategies and provide visibility of intended investments in Leadership, Professional Learning, and Wellbeing

2.

Highlight specific actions intended to address workload challenges moving forward. Organisational improvement strategies used in other high complexity, human-centred community sectors include (but are not limited to):

Service Delivery Model redesign (How will schooling be delivered in to the future and how do we move from ideas to lasting change?)
Organisational redesign (How can we structure schools to allow staff to focus on the right type of work under the new models?)
Role redesign (How can we design roles that reflect a realistic balance of tasks within these structures?)
Process redesign (How can we organise activity at the school so that work is effectively prioritised and duplication of effort is eliminated?)
Use of technology solutions (How can we digitise manual processes and use other technology to automate basic tasks that distract roles from their key focus?)
Use of flexible work arrangements and alternative work patterns (How can we help staff to balance work and family life by creating opportunities outside the full-time norm?)

State of the Sector

Summing up: Where to now for school leaders and policymakers?

The 2021 State of the Sector report presents a detailed picture of the contemporary challenges and opportunities facing school workforces in the areas of sector sentiment, strategic priorities, supply, the HR function in schools, professional development, the impact of COVID-19, and future workforce possibilities.

In addressing these challenges and opportunities, the broad areas of focus and investment for school leaders and policymakers include:

Taking informed and sustainable action on Workforce Resilience and Wellbeing
Elevating the roles of Research, Data, and Impact Measurement in school workforce decision-making
Redesigning Service Delivery Models—and the supporting organisations and roles—for the future delivery of schooling
Prioritising systematic Workforce Strategy and Organisational Development for the greatest positive impact on students
Undertaking Business Continuity and Scenario Planning to prepare for future disruption
Ensuring action is underpinned by Program, Project, and Change Management for success

To discuss the findings in this report, or if you have questions, please contact us here or email [email protected].

The materials presented in this publication are provided by PeopleBench as an information source only. PeopleBench makes no statement, representation or warranty about the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of this publication, and any use of this publication is at the user’s own risk. PeopleBench disclaims all responsibility and all liability (including, without limitation, liability in negligence) for all expenses, losses, damages and costs anyone may incur as a result of reliance upon the information contained in this publication for any reason or as a result of the information being inaccurate, incomplete or unsuitable for any purpose.

State of the Sector

References

Ainley, J., & Carstens, R. (2018). Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2018 Conceptual Framework. OECD Education Working Papers, No. 187, OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/799337c2-en

AITSL. (2020). Spotlight: What works in online/distance teaching and learning? https://www.aitsl.edu.au/research/spotlight/what-works-in-online-distance-teaching-and-learning

Bakker, A. B., & Demerouti, E. (2017). Job demands–resources theory: Taking stock and looking forward. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 22(3), 273.

Brady, J., & Wilson, E. (2021). Comparing sources of stress for state and private school teachers in England. Improving Schools, 13654802211024758. https://doi.org/10.1177/13654802211024758

Brown, C. (2014). NT bush schools facing teacher shortages next year. ABC Rural. https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2014-07-29/nt-bush-schools-face-teacher-shortage/5629140

Cameron , V. S., & Grootenboer, P. (2018 ). Human Resource Management in education: Recruitment and selection of teachers. International Journal of Management and Applied Science, 4(2), 89–94.

Cuervo, H., & Acquaro, D. (2018). The problem with staffing rural schools. Learning & Teaching. https://pursuit.unimelb.edu.au/articles/the-problem-with-staffing-rural-schools

Harris, A., & Jones, M. (2017). Middle leaders matter: Reflections, recognition, and renaissance. School Leadership & Management, 37(3), 213–216. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2017.1323398

King, F. (2016). Teacher professional development to support teacher professional learning: Systemic factors from Irish case studies. Teacher Development, 20(4), 574–594. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/13664530.2016.1161661

Lobb, R. (2019). The Department of Education’s (WA) rural and remote training schools program. Australian and International Journal of Rural Education, 29(2), 99–100. https://journal.spera.asn.au/index.php/AIJRE/article/view/248

Phillips, L., & Cain, M. (2020). ’Exhausted beyond measure’: What teachers are saying about COVID-19 and the disruption to education. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/exhausted-beyond-measure-what-teachers-are-saying-about-covid-19-and-the-disruption-to-education-143601

Schleicher, A. (2018). What makes high-performing school systems different (World Class). OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264300002-3-en

Sharplin, E.D. (2014). Reconceptualising out-of-field teaching: Experiences of rural teachers in Western Australia. Educational Research, 56(1), 97–110. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131881.2013.874160

Thomson, S., & Hillman, K. (2020). The Teaching and Learning International Survey 2018. Australian Report Volume 2: Teachers and School Leaders as Valued Professionals. https://research.acer.edu.au/talis/

2021

State of the Sector Report.

PeopleBench would like to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the country on which we are privileged to live and work.

State of the Sector

This report reflects the responses of

Across Australia.

State of the Sector

Introduction

Section one:

SectorSentiment

Section one:

Section one:

Section one:

Section one:

Section one:

Section one:

Section one:

Section one:

Section one:

Section one:

Section one:

Section one:

Section one:

Key Takeaways: Sector Sentiment

Section one:

What cansector leaders do?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Section two:

StrategicPriorities

Section two:

Top strategic priorities by school type

Section two:

Top strategic priorities by sector

Section two:

Key Takeaways: Strategic Priorities

Section two:

What cansector leaders do?

1.

2.

3.

Section three:

WorkforceChallenges

Section three:

Greatest workforce challenges over time

Section three:

Greatest workforce challenges by school type

Section three:

Greatest workforce challenges by sector

Section three:

Key Takeaways: Workforce Challenges

Section three:

What cansector leaders do?

1.

2.

Section four:

WorkforceSupply

Section four:

Workforce Supply Challenges : Teachers

Section four:

Workforce Supply Challenges : Other Roles

Section four:

Workforce Supply Challenges : Teachers

Section four:

Workforce Supply Challenges : Other Roles

Section four:

Key Takeaways:Workforce Supply

Section four:

What cansector leaders do?

1.

2.

3.

4.

Section five:

The HR Functionin Schools

Section five:

The breadth of HR functions by school type

20
21

Sector
Sentiment

What can
sector leaders do?

Strategic
Priorities

Key Takeaways:
Strategic Priorities

What can
sector leaders do?

Workforce
Challenges

Key Takeaways:
Workforce Challenges

What can
sector leaders do?

Workforce
Supply

Key Takeaways:
Workforce Supply

What can
sector leaders do?

The HR Function
in Schools

Key Takeaways:
The HR Function in Schools

What can
sector leaders do?

Professional
Development

What can
sector leaders do?

The Impact of
COVID-19

What can
sector leaders do?

Looking to
the future