Sabine Winton: WA’s new Education Minister and prior teacher goes back to the drawing board

Teaching can be over-complicated and is now valued less highly by society, WA’s new Education Minister says.

Sabine Winton said she planned to hit the classrooms and hear directly from teachers after being sworn in as the head of WA’s school system last month.

Ms Winton sat down with The West Australian for a wide-ranging interview across the issues in education.

A primary school teacher for 27 years in Norseman, Fitzroy Crossing, the Cocos Keeling Islands and Perth, Ms Winton spent more than a decade running a primary-aged extension program before entering Parliament.

Teaching as a profession overall, in our community, I don’t think is is valued or rated as highly as it once was

She said that period covered dramatic changes in classrooms including the rapid pace of technological change.

“There’s always new initiatives or new programs that get rolled out and has been thus forever, even when you talk to teachers who’ve now retired,” she said.

“Different programs and different initiatives get rolled out, but at the heart of it is a very, very personal sort of relationship between teacher and child.”

Asked if she thought society over-complicated teaching, Ms Winton said: ”I think sometimes we do.”

“It’s about actually building that relationship with students and you have a bunch of tools and different initiatives and different ideas, but what you’re trying to achieve is the same.”

Despite her election in 2017 to the seat of Wanneroo, Ms Winton says she has not strayed far from classrooms, something she wants to continue as Minister.

“I spend a fair bit of time in schools, and that’s what I intend to do as minister,” she said.

“Because there are always going to be ideas in terms of how schools and teachers can better be supported, and the best people to listen to are teachers.”

But as attitudes shift against key service workers, Ms Winton said she believed teachers had lost standing in society.

“Teaching as a profession overall, in our community, I don’t think is is valued or rated as highly as it once was,” she said.

“I don’t think it’s just a reflection on teachers. You can generally say that towards police and nurses. There is, is a change at a community level. But I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s targeted at teachers more than any other group.”

But there was still hope, she said, as good teachers created lasting, often lifelong, memories for students.

“All students, even now, when they leave school, remember those teachers that really influenced their lives. That still happens now,” Ms Winton said.

STAFF TURNOVER

Teachers have been deserting the profession, with burnout, stress and increasingly complex needs of students driving 5200 staff out the door in the past three years.

A Public Sector Commission review into the workforce released last year issued a scathing assessment of “inadequate resourcing and support” hitting schools’ ability to provide learning and safety for students.

“Teachers are now teaching basic self-management skills and providing emotional and behavioural support at a level previously managed by families and communities,” it said.

Ms Winton said one of the key lessons for Government was the need to listen to teachers

“I’m hoping the fact that a school teacher of 27 years is the Minister for Education provides a little bit of hope for for teachers out there,” she said.

“We need to continue to build on valuing our existing workforce and our teachers — I mean appreciating that they’re the experts in the room.

“They know what they need to be able to get the best outcomes from their students.

“We certainly need to get more more young people into the teaching profession and to appreciate how professionally and personally rewarding that is.”

SCHOOL VIOLENCE

Ms Winton, who served two years as Prevention of Family and Domestic Violence Minister, said schools clearly needed more support to address rising violence issues.

“I appreciate the levels of violence or the attitudes towards violence that’s out in our community and schools aren’t immune to that,” she said.

Data provided to The West by the Education Department showed soaring rates of suspensions and expulsions — up more than 40 per cent on 2018 figures.

Ms Winton said part of that increase resulted from a Department edict to return power to schools to suspend and expel students.

“That’s important that we continue to give schools that support to actually ensure in the first instance, we have schools that are safe,” she said.

ATAR RATES

Ms Winton also comes to the Education portfolio as ATAR participation rates hit new lows — with just 28 per cent of the Year 12 cohort participating in exams last year.

But she said instead of forcing students into the tertiary system through the ATAR model, she instead wanted them to pursue the path that was best for them.

“At the heart, this is making sure that we have students that are challenged within schools. And for some students that is ATAR and for others, it’s not,” she said.

“We need . . . to focus on making students at the heart of what we do, making sure that we are able to encourage them to reach their potential.”