One-third of school teaching time is being lost as student misbehaviour reaches "crisis" levels in Australian classrooms, according to a new survey. The survey conducted, assessing more than 370 teachers, found that students are missing an average of 12 weeks' learning a year because of classroom disruptions.
Conducting the survey, Blaise Joseph, a former teacher and education director at the Centre for Independent Studies (CIS), said that the teachers reported, on an average, losing nine minutes out of 30 minutes of lesson time to the students' inappropriate behaviour.
"Losing almost one-third of teaching time to student misbehaviour is of sufficient scale and urgency," Joseph asserted.
According to a report by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC News), female teachers reported losing teaching time to student misbehaviour more, having a significant impact on their health and wellbeing.
As per the report, the findings come just after the Australia's National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) testing revealed one-third of Australian students were not meeting expectations in literacy and numeracy.
Joseph defined 'misbehaviour' as anything that disrupted learning and prevented teachers from teaching, and said that it was often "low level".
According to the report, this behaviour over time was "exhausting" for educators and had a significant impact on their wellbeing. "One in 10 teachers said it had a significant negative effect on their health and wellbeing in the past week," Joseph said.
"There is lots of anecdotal evidence in recent years that female teachers are especially bearing the brunt of some misogynistic conduct from students," he added.
The findings are consistent with data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), an international test taken by 15-year-old students across the world every three years, the report highlighted.
In 2022, about 42 per cent of Australian students reported noise and disorder in their maths class, compared to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average of 30 per cent.
According to the report, Australia Education Minister Jason Clare said disruptive behaviour was a "big issue" that was stopping kids from learning.
He further said that the government had made a number of reforms, including banning mobile phones in classrooms, improving teacher training, and giving teachers new resources.