Knight toon imagines thousands of Victorian teachers jumping border

This week in Victoria we saw something that hadn’t happened for more than a decade: Victorian state school teachers went on strike. An estimated 35,000 of them walked off the job on Tuesday, much to the delight of students all over the state (stop cheering now, kids, your mums and dads weren’t so happy!).

Public school teachers walked out in protest over a longstanding pay claim that called for a whopping 35 per cent rise over three years. Across Australia, Victorian teachers ranked the lowest in graduate pay and second lowest pay for experienced staff.

Obviously they wanted to catch up to their interstate colleagues.

The Victorian Allan Government offered 17 per cent over four years, but this was rejected by the union, which said the offer did not take into account teacher burnout*, unpaid overtime* and the lack of funding of schools.

Unfortunately for the teachers, the Victorian Government didn’t have much in the kitty to grant the big pay rise. The state is saddled with massive debt; huge cost overruns and organised crime* and corruption* on Big Build infrastructure* projects; a police force undermanned and underfunded, resulting in a crime wave sweeping the state; a housing crisis; potholed roads; a hospital system in dire need and the list goes on and on.

So the teachers hit the city streets of Melbourne, a sea of red T-shirts marching up to state parliament, carrying some very cleverly written, witty* and beautifully punctuated placards* as they went. Once there, they laid siege* to the office of Premier Jacinta Allan, shouting their dismay over the state of education in Victoria.

So a cartoon on the plight* of teachers was my subject for my column in the newspaper.

I found it ironic that once upon a time, Victorian car number plates used to have written on them “Victoria -The Education State”. I thought that might be a place to start. On further reading and seeing the disparities between what Victorian teachers were being paid compared to interstate, I heard that the Vics were being lured to NSW and South Australia in search of better wages and conditions.

With the general malaise* in Victoria, many people who live in the state, from all walks of life, were heading north to Queensland to restart their lives and now it seemed the teaching profession was doing the same. I thought this was a major issue facing the state and pursued it in the cartoon. The exodus. It would be a cartoon where I put together various items that when combined, painted a picture of what was happening in education.

First, I created a personalised “Education State” number plate, “TEACHA”, to say that the Volvo station wagon it is attached to is being driven by a Victorian teacher. Why an older Volvo, you ask? Well, they are sensible cars. Safety is big with Volvos and teachers are very practical, sensible people. It is an older model due to cost of living pressures on teachers.

In the back of the wagon are packing boxes and a suitcase – evidence of someone moving. A dog has its head out the window, which promotes the idea that the whole household is coming on this journey. The car is travelling along a highway. The biggest clues as to what is happening are in the road signs “You are leaving Victoria” and “Welcome to NSW”. This teacher is exiting the Victorian education system.

Other clues in the illustration that paint a picture of what is happening in the state Victoria are included.

Can you spot them?

The graffiti on the green road sign; a telltale signal that social degradation* is happening. Melbourne is covered in graffiti tags. The failure to clean it up promotes anti-social behaviour and urban decay.

On the road is one of Victoria’s ubiquitous* potholes, another symbol of crumbling standards and underfunding maintenance. So when you combine all of these visual clues into one picture, the reader has to put them all together to understand what is being said.

Let us hope that Victorian teachers do come to a suitable pay agreement with the government and the Volvo wagon takes the next U-turn back to the great state of Victoria!

POLL

GLOSSARY

• burnout: extreme tiredness or mental or physical illness caused by working too hard or trying to do too much
• unpaid overtime: extra time that you work beyond your usual working hours and don’t get paid for
• organised crime: criminal activities which involve large numbers of people and are organised and controlled by a particular group
• corruption: dishonest or illegal behaviour especially by powerful or influential people, like politicians or police
• Big Build: major infrastructure program involving billions of dollars in road and rail projects
• infrastructure: basic systems and services, like transport, roads and power supplies, that a country or organisation needs to work properly
• witty: clever, funny, amusing
• placards: signs, large posters, a large notice that is carried in a march or displayed in public
• laid siege: surrounded a place with either literal or figurative troops
• degradation: process of something becoming worse or weaker
• ubiquitous: seems to be everywhere at once

EXTRA READING

Bluey’s ABC home goes on strike

Teacher learns secret of happiness

Great Book Swap takes fresh flight

QUICK QUIZ

1. It’s estimated how many Victorian teachers went on strike on Tuesday?
2. Who is the Victorian Premier?
3. What percentage pay rise over how many years were the teachers demanding and what was the offer from the Allan Government that they rejected?
4. What subtle clues does Mark include in his cartoon to suggest all is not well in Victoria?
5. What particular make of car stars in Mark’s cartoon and why?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Write a slogan
Can you think of a clever or catchy slogan or catchphrase that would help other kids to understand how valuable our teachers are? Write it!

Time: spend at least 15 minutes on this activity
Curriculum Links: English

2. Extension
What do you think our governments should do to recognise everything that teachers do for kids in schools and encourage great teachers to stay in their jobs? Write a list of detailed recommendations.

Time: spend at least 30 minutes on this activity
Curriculum Links: English

VCOP ACTIVITY
Describe it
Look at the cartoon and make a list of five nouns that you see. Then describe those five nouns with five adjectives. Now add a preposition to those five nouns and adjectives.

Finally, choose your favourite bundle and put all the words together to make one descriptive sentence.

(For lower reading level articles, remove “add a preposition”)