THE Rudd Government is on a collision course with education deans over proposals to shorten teacher training times and recruit non-teaching graduates to work in the nation's toughest classrooms.
At a meeting of education ministers this week the Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, will urge the states to follow Victoria's lead and adopt an international scheme in which high-flying young graduates - from any field of study - are recruited to teach in struggling schools.
Ms Gillard, the Minister for Education, is also considering revamping teacher education by reducing the length of some tertiary courses and boosting the level of practical experience undertaken by students.
"We're at a stage now where people can get a diploma in education if they have an undergraduate degree. So say they have a degree in science, they can do a graduate diploma in 12 months now. We're obviously exploring the possibility of making that shorter," Ms Gillard said.
The Government will discuss the ideas with universities and state authorities over the next three weeks as it moves to a new national agreement to improve teaching quality in all schools. It will also:
* examine ways to recruit top classroom teachers to be mentors for university teaching students;
* explore a national accreditation system to measure teaching performance and standards;
* work towards a new salary structure rewarding accomplished teachers, which would include "new resources above and beyond" the next four-year schools funding agreement.
But even before talks have begun, the Australian Council of Deans of Education has warned that shortening teacher training courses and recruiting underqualified graduates could do more harm than good.
"The world view is that where you have more years for teacher preparation, you have better outcomes. Countries like Finland, which do exceptionally well, offer a master's degree to teach - so it's not about reducing the length of training, it's about increasing it," said the council president, Professor Sue Willis. If the Government was serious about improving teacher education, it should inject more funding into cash-strapped education faculties.
She also raised concerns about recruiting non-teaching graduates to work in struggling schools - an idea based on two international models: Teach First, in Britain, and Teach For America, in the United States.
Ms Gillard became a fan of Teach First and Teach for America after a trip to Britain and the US earlier this year and wants the other states to follow Victoria, which will adopt such a program in 2010, taking on 170 graduates.
But Professor Willis said the scheme was unsustainable.
Ms Gillard said the overseas programs had been successful in getting top students to some of the toughest schools, and in boosting perceptions of teaching.
The Australian Education Union's federal president, Angelo Gavrielatos, said to make teaching a "first choice" for students, governments had to provide appropriate pay, comprehensive mentoring programs and better working conditions.
