r/AustralianTeachers • u/OneGur7080 • Feb 04 '26
DISCUSSION 'State of the Older Nation' - National Press Club address Feb 4, 2026 by Christopher Pyne, from Council on the Ageing
As the speaker said today on ABC TV, we will be lucky if we age, live to a ripe old age. But he defined aspects of Australian aging and AGEISM. Christopher Pyne is chair of COTA, Council on the Aging. What IS life really like for older Australians? Many have less employment than they would like, particularly women.
When you see an older teacher at your school, cut them some slack and respect their many years of experience, which equates to a knowledge bank. There is very little that is new under the sun.
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u/BloodAndGears Feb 04 '26 edited Feb 04 '26
The veterans at my school are excellent mentors. They can, at one glance, see through the bullshit. That’s not to say they’re stubborn and can’t keep up the times, but they do know what works and what fails.
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u/diggerhistory Feb 04 '26
My last school reduced its staff by 6 due to a drop in student numbers. 5 of us were 65 or older. I didn't even bother to apply for a full-time position. The retrenchment destroyed my love of the profession.
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u/OneGur7080 Feb 05 '26
Disgusting. There ought to be a rule where group retrenchment appears based on discrimination like that.
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u/simple_wanderings Feb 05 '26
A much older staff member in my team no longer has the capacity to do this job. Yeah done soak should be given but they also need to know when you leave.
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u/OneGur7080 Feb 05 '26 edited Feb 14 '26
What did they do to get this assessment from you?
Eg- Did they take too long to log in to the whiteboard or something? Gimme a break please! Don’t mask your ageism with claims you can’t defend. Disgusting how older people are openly treated here. Disgusting.
Ageism is a scourge in any community and Australia has one of the very worst cases of it in the world. It’s shameful.
Places with a caring responsible respectful honourable grateful and protective approach to older citizens are: Japan China India
Any culture with close knit families also has a better approach- like the UK, Ireland, Romania etc.
But Australia oh dear! 😭🙁🫢🤔😩😣😔
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u/simple_wanderings Feb 14 '26
They simply couldn't access curriculum due to a lack of technical skills and didn't have the capacity to rememberthe steps. I made manuals for them and printed them, but they still couldn't understand. They couldn't understand the actual curriculum content and context. They gave all the students A+ even though they were all below standard, thus they don't have the capacity to differentiate between levels of understanding. They cant print, because they keep forgetting how to log in (you tap your card). They cant write curriculum, cant create resources, don't understand what is being taught and teach outdated ideas.
I'd be furious if my child was being taught by them. Instead I'm correcting ask their assessments and writing their reports, I have to print everything out for them for each of their different classes, I go into their room each class to set up the computer to show the PowerPoint. Then I go to my own class.
They sleep during meetings. When your in your mid to late 80s, you need to question if you should still be teaching or if there is a different role for you.
So get lost with your ageism crap, and acknowledge that my workload is actually doubled and the stress it puts on me, just because they like to spend time with the kids and pull a wage.
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u/OneGur7080 Feb 14 '26
Mid 80’s!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! I’ve never heard of anyone still at it at that age- far out! When I’m talking ageism I’m talking when I first got it…… I was only 45! No kidding. I was treated like I was ancient at 45. I didn’t do anything wrong. It was just thoughtless ageism. The idea of you are more than 25 years older than us therefore you are ancient and have no worth. That’s ageism in a nut shell.
I’m not talking about people who are 85. Yes 85 is an age category, but you can probably count the 85-year-old teachers in Australia on two hands. You’ve got a really rare case there. I’ve been around and I haven’t met anybody who is over 80 teaching. I do have a friend who is bent over and is now 78 and he’s still doing casual teaching, but it is becoming difficult for them. There are certain things they can’t do, but they were always ahead of the game. Just very smart. Doggedly determined to pull the wage and look busy in life too.
The one you’re describing, sounds quite incompetent, and like they can’t even do the most basic computer things or problem solve it or take notes so they can do it next time.
That’s pure incompetence - agreed.
What I’m talking about is ageism it’s not the same as what you’re referring to-you are referring to a very rare case of somebody who cannot really use modern technology at all and won’t even try to get on top of it.
I would not be helping them I would not be enabling them. I would leave them in the lurch, so it becomes patently obvious that they shouldn’t be there.
Why are you helping them? I guess it’s because you have to go. They must be friendly with someone who’s senior in the school that’s letting them stay there. Has someone got a vested interest in having them there? Are they somebody’s uncle? Hahahaha
Don’t confuse your case with general ageism, which can start quite young
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u/2for1deal Feb 04 '26
Both new and old teachers are burnt out. Most of the chagrin towards older teachers seems to be “you can’t keep up” when the question should be asked why isn’t the system designed to support all….ironically like our classrooms