The preparation of Mathematics Teachers in Australia - ACDS

In previous years I have had little problem, but I recently placed an ad for one full time position and
received no applicants that I considered worthwhile [Highly Accessible school in New South Wales with 10
mathematics teachers]
There is not the same number of suitable candidates as in the past. In the end, you take the best of an
ordinary lot [Highly Accessible school in Victoria with 23 mathematics teachers]
Particularly in recent years, there seems to be a lack of graduates with a Maths major – it is more
common to have it as an add-on [Highly Accessible school in South Australia with 13 secondary classes]
We have found recently there seems to be less maths teachers available who have a major in
mathematics – ie less available for senior school teaching [Highly Accessible school in South Australia
with 20 mathematics teachers]
We have not recruited a Maths Methods or Specialist Maths teacher for over ten years now. 3 teachers
over 50 (years of age) teach these units [Highly Accessible school in Victoria with 14 mathematics
teachers]
Faced with a shortage of ‘maths-qualified’ teachers, particularly for seniors school teaching, there was
a tendency for schools to move their most experienced teachers to senior classes and fill ‘gaps’ at
junior school level with less qualified staff.
We usually need to use lesser-qualified teachers (ie maths as 2 nd teaching area or not a teaching area at
all) to fill all junior classes [Remote school in Queensland with 11 mathematics teachers]
There are more Maths classes than the number of classes taught by Maths teachers … ie teachers
outside the Maths Faculty are brought in to teach. They do not have the experience, knowledge or
dedication to deliver meaning and good understanding [Highly Accessible school in Queensland with 13
mathematics teachers]
One in five comments referred to difficulties linked to location or school type.
Country school. We have difficulty recruiting teachers, let alone trained maths teachers [Accessible school
in SA with 8 mathematics teachers]
Mainly due to geographic location. The school is a small country school. This poses a general difficulty in
attracting staff – not specifically mathematics staff [Accessible school in Victoria with 3 mathematics
teachers]
Isolated area, small school, they have to teach over several disciplines [Remote school in South Australia
with 5 mathematics teachers]
Being a large provincial town, we run into the situation where we lose specialist Maths graduates soon
after they arrive at the school, because they are called on to do their “country service” in 1 st and 2 nd year
here [Moderately Accessible school in Queensland with 21 mathematics teachers]
We are an outer metropolitan school in a less affluent area. Many students are not academically inclined.
We do not have a lot of applications by Maths teachers, especially if they want to work in an academically
rigorous situation. Travel is also an issue for many [Highly Accessible school in South Australia with 8
mathematics teachers]
A further 18 per cent of comments referred to difficulties filling short-term and ‘block’ vacancies, such
as those that arose through maternity and long-service leave. These included school which otherwise
reported no difficulties.
Maths casuals are very rare in our area. Our whole department will retire within 7 years [Accessible
school in New South Wales with 9 mathematics teachers]
It is very difficult to source casual teachers with a mathematics background - (Yet) we are a popular
school on the coast and teachers want to work in our location [Highly Accessible school in New South
Wales with 5 mathematics teachers]
It’s getting hard to find replacement teachers (especially for temporary and part-time) who are skilled,
qualified and experienced. Many are being recruited after retirement [Highly Accessible school in South
Australia with 8 mathematics teachers]
When we need a contract person to replace someone on long service leave the pickings are poor. To
replace a Year 11 or 12 teacher is practically impossible [Highly Accessible school in South Australia with
15 mathematics teachers]
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