Five minutes with Kylie McCullah: on tackling teacher shortages

With Australia’s schools grappling with significant workforce shortages, retaining teachers is becoming an increasingly critical priority for leaders.

Loreto Marryatville College Principal Kylie McCullah offers a few potential approaches to address teacher shortages, such as enhancing support systems for teachers already in the profession. “This could include mentorship programs, better work-life balance initiatives, and increased resources for managing workload and classroom challenges,” Ms McCullah told The Educator. “Creating a positive and supportive work environment is crucial for retaining teachers in the long term, as is increasing the status of the education profession within broader society.” Ms McCullah said whilst governments have tried to address the teacher shortage with improved renumeration, more needs to be done to address this crisis.

In South Australia, a report by UniSA described the state’s schools as “running on empty”, with 79% of SA teachers saying they feel overworked, 71% working with staffing shortages, and 67% struggling with their social and emotional wellbeing.

Click here to read the full interview with our Principal in Educator Online.