Renewing the Academic and Research Workforce in Education: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

Although there is increasing recognition that Australia’s research and academic workforce in general requires renewal and expansion, the Australian Council of Deans of Education (ACDE) believes that the challenges confronting Education academics are significantly greater than for other sectors. Not only is the Education sector older and lacking a followup replacement leadership cohort, but current government policies of student participation and social inclusion will almost certainly result in demand outstripping supply—at least in the short term. At the same time there is an even greater need for Education faculties to engage in long-term cumulative research on major issues that will provide the evidence for improved policies and practices across early childhood, primary, secondary and tertiary education sectors. The changes required to enable this approach to educational research in Faculties of Education are substantial, and the barriers to doing so are not inconsequential. Relative to other academic disciplines and established professions, the Education workforce is in a more perilous condition requiring immediate and sustained action. ACDE also believes, however, that there has never been a more opportune moment to initiate genuine reform with a view to transforming training and related practices in Education. Consequently, the Council is keen to work cooperatively with other stakeholders to explore the prospects for generational change—especially in the area of teacher education. While a selection of possible strategies for reform is advanced in this paper, ACDE’s view is that the first step must be to generate consensus on the specific nature and extent of the problems facing the Education sector.