A new report says teachers in Australian schools do not get enough time to prepare well for class. 

A Grattan Institute survey of 5,442 Australian teachers and school leaders has found over 90 per cent of teachers do not have enough time to prepare effectively for classroom teaching – the core of their job.

The survey was conducted as part of a broader report that concludes teacher workloads have blown out in recent decades, and student performance is suffering as a result.

Teachers report feeling overwhelmed by everything they are expected to achieve. Worryingly, many school leaders feel powerless to help them.

The survey results amount to a cry for help from the teachers of Australia. 

“If governments don’t hear this cry and act on it, they will be letting down our children,” the Grattan Institute says. 

The researchers say governments should pursue a three-pronged reform agenda.

First, they “should let teachers teach, by better matching teachers’ work to teachers’ expertise”. 

“Governments should find better ways to use the wider schools workforce, including support and specialist staff, to help teachers focus on effective teaching,” the think tank says.

Second, the experts propose governments help teachers to work smarter, by reducing unnecessary tasks, not only in administration but in core teaching work. 

“Governments should reduce the need for teachers to ‘re-invent the wheel’ in curriculum and lesson planning,” Grattan says.

Third, the experts say governments need to rethink the way teachers’ work is organised. “They should ensure industrial agreements give school leaders the local flexibility to strike a sensible balance between class sizes and teachers’ face-to-face teaching time,” the institute says.

“Governments should find ways to smooth out workloads over the school year by scheduling more time for teachers to work together on preparation activities in term breaks, so they can focus more on classroom teaching during term time.”

The plans would also see federal, state, and territory governments spend $60 million on pilot studies of new ways to make more time for great teaching.

That would be a tiny fraction (less than 0.1 per cent) of the $65 billion Australian governments spent on schools each year.

“It would be a small price to pay to improve the quality of our children’s education,” the analysts say.

More details are available in the report - Making time for great teaching: A guide for principals.