Survey of Job Market

The industry I intend to pursue a career in is the education industry. This is

a recent intention of mine, so the two placements I completed as part of
the Diploma of Professional Practice were actually research based, as I
previously wanted to pursue a career in science. Since I now wish to
become a high school science teacher after completing a Masters of
Teaching, I will research and analyse the education industry in this report.
Current Trends of Industry
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (2008), education
contributes to the economic growth of Australia, improves individual
wellbeing, and plays a significant role in creating and maintaining a
positive social environment. This makes it a valued industry within
Australia as well as a stable but growing one. Higher levels of educational
attainment are strongly correlated to increased employment opportunities
as well as higher wages. The structure and growth of the economy has
increased the demand for a more diverse, skilled workforce that has
attained higher levels of education. Apart from this trend, the education
industry is a stable one due to compulsory schooling within Australia. All
children between the ages of 6 and 17 must be enrolled in a school (or
equivalent vocational training or employment as a replacement for
secondary school) as of 2010 (ACARA 2010). In 2014 it was estimated that
2.9 million (or 19% of) people aged between 15 and 64 were enrolled in
formal study (ABS 2014). Of these, 851,100 or 29% were at school. This
represents a significant market as such of students who I could have the
opportunity to teach in the future.
Despite increases in the number of Australians with a higher level of
education, there are some groups that demonstrate difficulties with
education beyond compulsory schooling. Students living in remote or rural
areas are often limited in terms of subjects and levels of study available to
them compared to students in major cities. There are also potential added
difficulties in accessing various educational institutions. It is clear that
trends in educational attainment are not evenly distributed, for example,
in 2006, 72% of 19 year olds had completed Year 12 or equivalent, yet this
proportion declined with increasing remoteness. However according to the
ABS (2008), there have been some modest gains in 15-19 year olds
participating in education in outer regional and remote areas.
These trends within the education industry illustrate that there is a
demand for a large number of teachers to continue educating the youth of
Australia. As a stable and increasing industry it is promising for me in
terms of looking for a job in education.

Notable Organisations and Companies

It is important to be aware of organisations within the sector I hope to
work in and since the government significantly directs education, it is
worth addressing one of the main government organisations within the
industry. The NSW Department of Education and Communities provides
education and training to public schools and manages the staff working in
these schools (NSW Department of Education and Communities 2015). The
department directs teachers seeking jobs to available positions and offers
employees various benefits such as professional development, flexible
working conditions, and opportunities for advancement. A notable aspect
of the department is that they seek to place teachers in roles beyond just
your everyday classroom teacher, offering opportunities such as in human
resources or as an administrative officer. Knowing there are opportunities
for advancement within the education industry, particularly through this
avenue, is useful to know, as my impression previously has been that
career advancement within the industry was limited.
As an aspiring high school science teacher, an association that is
beneficial to be aware of is the Australian Science Teachers Association
(ASTA). ASTA is Australias federal body of science teacher associations
that acts as a powerful voice for science teachers as well as influences
policies and their practice in science education (Australian Science
Teachers Association 2015). This association would be beneficial to be a
member of in my future career as it offers great opportunities for
networking among science educators as well as a number of programs and
events for training and education for teachers so that I could always be
improving as a science teacher.
It is also useful to be aware of notable schools that I could work in within
NSW (assuming I continue to live and work here). A well-known prestigious
school in NSW is of course James Ruse Agricultural School. James Ruse is a
selective public school whose students often perform well in their studies,
with 85% of their students last year being in the top quarter of Australian
students (My School, 2014). This would be an excellent school to teach at,
particularly as the school values agriculture and other sciences, which are
subjects I am interested in teaching. A non-government school that would
also be ideal to work in would be Barker College. Barker similarly performs
well with 84% of its students in the top quarter of Australian Students (My
School, 2014). Having been to this school myself, I know that it would be
an ideal workplace that offers great opportunities in teaching science and
for taking on roles beyond an average classroom teacher. However, I think
unlike many other industries where it is a common goal to work for the
best companies within the industry, the education industry has an
additional factor to consider. Teaching is a great opportunity to encourage
young people to learn and grow and there is a great need in many smaller
public schools or even rural schools for committed teachers, as seen in the

earlier analysis of the education industry. So although I would like to work

in one of these prestigious schools I also desire to make the most of my
career by teaching those who need it, so would be open to working at all
kinds of schools.
Government and Social Policies
A policy that could be quite useful to me in my early career as a teacher is
the Beginning Teachers Support Funding Policy. This policy provides
additional funding to support permanent teachers in their first two years of
teaching (NSW Department of Education and Communities 2014). It allows
for an experienced teacher to mentor beginning teachers under a
structure of continuous feedback and a reduced teaching load to facilitate
improvement of skills. Alongside the $16.9 million provided in the 2015/16
Education and Training budget for lifting the quality of initial teacher
education courses, such as a Masters of Teaching, there is plenty of
support for someone like myself looking to become a teacher in the near
future (Department of Education and Training 2015). An increasingly
important policy to be aware of is on bullying, as 1 in 5 school children are
affected by it, with it being most prominent in secondary school (Bully
Zero Australia Foundation 2014). The Bullying: Preventing and Responding
to Student Bullying policy outlines the requirements by principals,
teachers, students, and the school community in regard to preventing and
responding to bullying within schools (NSW Department of Education and
Communities 2011). As a teacher, I would be required to adhere to this
policy by respecting students, modelling appropriate behaviour, and
responding to bullying incidents in a timely manner. A third policy that is
worth being aware of is the Digital Education Revolution policy, which
provides direction for schools in managing laptops for students in years 9
to 12 as a part of the Laptops for Learning program (NSW Department of
Education and Communities 2009). This policy poses some benefits and
challenges as a future teacher, as the access to a personal laptop by each
student allows for greater possibilities in teaching methods and learning,
but may also be challenging, as computers can be a great distraction for
secondary school students if not managed well. These are just some of the
many policies in the education industry that I should be familiar with as a
future teacher, and of course, implementation of these policies will look
somewhat different depending on the school and if I find myself working in
a non-government school, their policies would look quite different as well.
Future Trends
One of the most significant trends for the future of the education industry
is the effect of a growing population. It is estimated that Australias
population will reach between 36.8 and 48.3 million by 2061 (ABS 2012).
Thats an increase of between 13 and 25 million people, with a large
proportion of those being children rather than overseas migration. This is

promising for the education industry as there will be a lot more students to
be taught over the coming years as the population increases, meaning
more teaching jobs available. However, a somewhat concerning trend is
the steady decline in enrolments in science courses by senior high school
students. A trend has been identified over the past years, and is
forecasted to continue, of between 5% and 11% decline in enrolments in
science and mathematics courses by year 12 students, yet there has been
an increase of 16% of year 12 students between 1992 and 2012 (Kennedy
J., Lyons T., and Quinn F. 2014). If this trend continues or gets worse, it
seems like science teachers may be required less. However in the report
that identifies this issue, the authors propose many reasons why this may
be occurring, such as a higher proportion of students are at school now
due to the increased compulsory schooling age yet these students are not
inclined toward science, or another potential reason is that the broader
choice of subjects has naturally led to fewer students doing science or at
least enrolling in fewer science subjects. So although this trend for the
future is not ideal, it is not a significant trend to be concerned about. A
continuing trend that will affect my search for a job in the future is that the
proportion of male to female teachers is steadily declining. According to
McCrindle Research (2013), the proportion of male teachers dropped from
7 out of 20 teachers in 1997 to 6 out of 20 teachers in 2011. This bodes
well for me as it means there will be a higher demand for male teachers in
the future, making my prospects within the industry more promising.
After conducting this analysis of the education industry, it seems that the
market for teachers is a promising one. Beginning my career as a teacher
shouldnt be overly competitive with a demand for male teachers and
increasing demand for teachers. However I will not let this diminish the
need to market myself well to prospective future employers, especially if I
wish to work in positions that are highly sought after within the industry.
References
Australian Bureau of Statistics 2008, Australian Social Trends, 2008, Cat.
no. 4102.0, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra, viewed August 2 nd
2015,
<http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4102.0Chapter60020
08>
Australian Bureau of Statistics 2012, Population Projections, Australia,
2012 to 2101, Cat. no. 3222.0, viewed 23rd August 2015,
<http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/3222.0main+features3
2012%20(base)%20to%202101>
Australian Bureau of Statistics 2014, Education and Work, Australia, Cat.
no. 6227.0, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra, viewed August 2 nd
2015,

<http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/productsbytitle/556A439CD3D7
E8A8CA257242007B3F32?OpenDocument>
Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) 2009,
National Report on Schooling in Australia 2009 School Structures, viewed
4th August 2015,
<http://www.acara.edu.au/reporting/national_report_on_schooling_2009/sc
hools_and_schooling/school_structures.html>
Australian Science Teachers Association 2015, About, viewed 20th August
2015, <http://asta.edu.au/about>
Bully Zero Australia Foundation 2014, Schoolyard Bullying, viewed 22nd
August 2015, < http://bzaf.org.au/schoolyard-bullying/>
Department of Education and Training 2015, Education and Training
Portfolio, Budget 2015-16, viewed 22nd August 2015,
<http://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/education_and_traini
ng_portfolio_budget_statements_2015-16.pdf>
Kennedy J., Lyons T., and Quinn F. 2014, The continuing decline of science
and mathematics enrolments in Australian high schools, Teaching
Science, vol. 60, no. 2, pp. 34-46
McCrindle Research 2013, A Snapshot of Schools in Australia 2013, viewed
24th August 2015, <http://mccrindle.com.au/resources/Snapshot-ofSchools-in-Australia-2013_McCrindle-Research.pdf>
My School 2014, Barker College, Hornsby, NSW, viewed 21st August 2015,
<http://www.myschool.edu.au/SchoolProfile/Index/85222/BarkerCollege/43
838/2014>
My School 2014, James Ruse Agricultural High School, Carlingford, NSW,
viewed 21st August 2015,
<http://www.myschool.edu.au/SchoolProfile/Index/83205/JamesRuseAgricul
turalHighSchool/41811/2014>
NSW Department of Education and Communities 2009, Digital Education
Revolution NSW Policy, viewed 22nd August 2015, <
https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/policies/technology/computers/l4l/PD2009039
5.shtml?level=>
NSW Department of Education and Communities 2011, Bullying:
Preventing and Responding to Student Bullying in Schools Policy, viewed
22nd August 2015, <
https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/policies/student_serv/discipline/bullying/PD201
00415.shtml?level=>

NSW Department of Education and Communities 2014, Beginning

Teachers Support Funding Policy, viewed 22nd August 2015, <
https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/policies/staff/prof_learn/begin_teach/PD20070
367.shtml?level=>
NSW Department of Education and Communities 2015, DECs Code of
Conduct, viewed 19th August 2015, <http://www.dec.nsw.gov.au/aboutus/code-of-conduct>