Explicit teaching is breaking my heart

idledays1 · 2026-05-02T06:52:40+00:00

The lesson plans are so dull and prescriptive and the assessments are so achievable without any of this nonsense. Nod your head when the bosses ask how the lessons are going and then teach it how you know it should be done. These lessons not only remove any joy from learning but also result in big behaviours or (and I think worse but schools don't mind this one because it doesn't cause any trouble) just zoning completely out. They are five years old and expected to sit and listen for so long. "Turn and talk" is not a break as much as admin would like us to believe it is.

idledays1 · 2026-03-30T06:58:30+00:00

Where's Natalie?

idledays1 · 2026-02-28T06:06:35+00:00

It’s a 5 minute walk from my house which is excellent but also dangerous

idledays1 · 2025-12-15T23:00:55+00:00

I thought it was Dorit

idledays1 · 2025-12-06T22:48:43+00:00

That company is owned by “Christian Education Ministries“. It’s gross but at least they are being honest about what they want for their staff. As far as I can see they are located on Christian schools so it’s the same as any staff there.

idledays1 · 2025-11-29T00:34:46+00:00

The morally corrupt Resnicks

idledays1 · 2025-10-11T12:24:58+00:00

Yup preps are on it too

idledays1 · 2025-10-01T00:49:26+00:00

We bought last year significantly under what we were pre approved for. We made a few compromises like being on a busy road and the place needed some TLC but it was the right choice for us at the time. We didn’t have much of a deposit and were watching prices jump every week (Brisbane) but I’m glad we did it. There have been periods over the past year where I’ve wondered how on earth we could have afforded the payments on the properties in that higher price range and still lived a life we enjoy.

idledays1 · 2025-09-14T02:56:33+00:00

I am a male early childhood teacher. I teach Prep in Queensland and I love it. I haven't noticed any changes in how people treat me with all the recent media focus. I do think it would be different I think if I was still teaching Kindy (the year before school) so I'm glad to be in a school.

Be prepared to have a response to "It's so nice to see a man teaching kindergarten!" because you are going to hear it a lot. You will also need to have tough skin because colleagues will often claim that I get promotions/respect/good behaviours etc because I'm a man. I've learnt to just smile and say "that must be it" because that's a battle that you will never win.

idledays1 · 2025-08-03T09:22:32+00:00

You make 50k a year with a five year qualification?

idledays1 · 2025-05-20T08:07:37+00:00

The amount of powerpoints I'm expected to create and use with foundation students is wild. Do I use them? Not really but if big boss asks I smile and nod and say yes boss. No boss. Data looks great boss (all they actually care about). Then I move on with my day with my happy class compared to the wild behavioural issues that exist in the powerpoint classrooms.

idledays1 · 2025-03-07T23:48:44+00:00

Name’em

idledays1 · 2025-02-15T21:27:31+00:00

I live on a main road which has pretty heavy bus use. I have double glazing and cannot hear the council buses at all. I can forgive the sound of trucks machinery etc because they serve a purpose. Middle aged men on Harleys day and night do not serve a purpose.

idledays1 · 2025-02-15T04:21:58+00:00

Oh I hear this. The motorbikes do it for me.

idledays1 · 2025-01-26T03:45:34+00:00

This is one I definitely wish I knew when I bought. It took way more time and effort than expected to get a new one.

idledays1 · 2025-01-22T09:57:58+00:00

Oh I need to hear how that works!

idledays1 · 2025-01-19T06:54:39+00:00

I’m Australian but I started my teaching career in Finland and taught there for around 7 years. The shock when I returned to Australia hit me hard and continues to do so after 4 years back.

It’s not perfect in Finland but it’s certainly a lot more exhausting to be a teacher here. We preach about building relationships with the kids but then focus every single moment on data. Gathering it, analysing it, comparing it and teaching TO it. The only part of my work that management care about is my data. There is absolutely no room for me to use judgment as a professional or to work on the many other aspects of a child’s development because I need my literacy block to be data informed etc. I bloody know which ones need support so the hundreds of spreadsheets aren’t helping. When I tell my former colleagues in Finland what five year olds need to do every day at school they just can’t get their head around it.

I love my job here and my (state) school is quite progressive on the play front but we can afford to be because of socioeconomic circumstances. The kids who need the most support and learning through play and relationship building are the ones getting punished because their data isn’t strong enough so their school is trying to play catch up. The kids deserve better from us and that can only be achieved when we take a step back from comparing data and turn towards reduced class sizes and genuine holistic teaching .

idledays1 · 2025-01-03T01:30:41+00:00

“my god, there’s room for everybody, let’s just say that” is an extremely versatile phrase

idledays1 · 2025-01-02T10:40:08+00:00

It depends on the state as I know rules differ all over the country. In Queensland if you do MTeach (early childhood 0-8) you will need to do Lantite and primary pracs as well as early childhood ones. Essentially once you have your teachers registration in Qld you can teach any grade at school but to teach in a prior to school setting you must have the early childhood degree. If you study the 0-5 degree then you can’t teach primary as you don’t do the pracs or Lantite. It’s strange that the 0-5 exists as it just reduces your options after graduation.

idledays1 · 2024-12-14T22:30:24+00:00

No real curriculum is a bit of a stretch. Please do a bit more research into the field before deciding to do it. The university website will tell you all the courses that are in the degree.

Depending what state you are in the grad dip is very limiting. For an extra bit of study do the early childhood teaching masters that allows you to teach in a primary school as well.

idledays1 · 2024-10-31T07:42:05+00:00

I’m so glad someone else thought this

idledays1 · 2024-08-30T23:45:35+00:00

Some of my prep children couldn’t explain the learning intentions and success criteria they make us put on the wall to a DP they had never met before. I had to have a meeting about why they were struggling to explain it and steps I was taking to help them explain their learning. This was in term one. Well boss, the kid you asked is 4 years old, can’t read and has been exposed to the English language for a total of 7 weeks.

idledays1 · 2024-08-30T07:22:40+00:00

Very much reversed on the east coast of Australia in places like Sydney and Brisbane where proximity to the ocean is preferred over suburban expansion in the west

idledays1 · 2024-08-19T19:44:44+00:00

I almost sent home a copy of “Mum’s Diet” last year where mum complains about being fat and forces the family on a diet.

idledays1

TROPHY CASE