Teacher literacy skills far below par
Teachers have poorer literary skills than many of their students, a study has found. (AAP) AAP
Many would-be high school teachers reportedly have worse spelling skills than their prospective students, raising concerns within the education union.
The union is seeking to have entry standards on new teachers raised after a study revealed many teachers had trouble with spelling and had a limited vocabulary, News Corp has reported.
In a study of more than 200 teaching undergraduates, none were able to spell a list of 20 words correctly, with some not getting even one word right.
Among the more frequently misspelled words were "acquaintance" and "parallel".
The university students also had trouble with word definitions.
Some believed "sanguine" was a type of pasta, while others defined "draconian" as having something to do with dragons.
Australian Education Union president Angelo Gavrielatos said it was evidence standards for new teachers needed to be raised.
The federal government will soon release a report in how to improve teaching standards.
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