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Interview: A Comparison of Teaching Experiences in Australia and Canada

Serena Maini

Masters of Education, University of Windsor

EDUC 8003: Qualitative Methods and Educational Research

Dr. Anoop Gupta

March 2, 2023
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Interview: A Comparison of Teaching Experiences in Australia and Canada

The topic of inquiry for this interview was Jenna’s experiences of living and teaching in

Australia in comparison to Canada. On February 11, 2023, at 12:00 pm, I interviewed Jenna, a

fellow classmate enrolled in the Master of Education program at the University of Windsor in

Windsor, Ontario. Jenna is a single 28-year-old woman currently working at a Montessori school

as a teacher. The interview was conducted in-person at my residence and was approximately 12

minutes in duration. The interview was recorded using the voice memo app on my cellphone,

which only recorded her verbal responses. The interview was semi-structured in design with 10

open-ended questions (see Appendix). To obtain more specific and in-depth information, I

continued to add sub questions and changed the order of questions throughout the interview

guide.

Jenna completed her Bachelor of Education in the University of Windsor concurrent five-

year program in 2016. Her personal and professional experiences surrounding teaching has given

her unique and diverse opportunities allowing her to teach both locally and internationally.

Findings

Jenna’s previous teaching experience consisted of practicum placements in teachers’ college and

volunteer teaching at a Montessori school. She completed her concurrent education program in

Women and Gender Studies, Early Childhood Education, and Education. Subsequent to finishing

her degree, in 2018 Jenna wanted to “expand her horizons” and decided to apply for a supply

teaching position in Melbourne, Australia. Jenna had grown up in Windsor, Ontario and

remained here for her entire post-secondary education, and thus lived at home.
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Upon her arrival to Australia, Jenna worked as a supply teacher for four to five months

before signing a contract position with a public special needs school. The differences in

education between the two countries were mainly rooted in the privatizing of education and

segregation of special needs students. As she explained further, the Australian schooling system

provides more opportunities and emphasis on private schools rather than public: “The public-

school funding in Australia is nothing like public school here.” In Canada though, public schools

have more funding and equal education: “Students in Australia mainly go to private schools if

they want to go to University.” Another main difference was regarding the segregation of

students with special needs. As Jenna mentioned, “we [referring to Australian schools] have

special education schools solely for students with disabilities”, whereas in Canada that has

mostly been phased out as discriminatory. Jenna explained that this creates a “divide between

demographics” within the Australian school system.

Jenna taught in her contract position for almost two years and explained how her teaching

preparation program at the University of Windsor failed to prepare her for classroom

experiences. Teaching in a classroom in any country was more about being thrown into the chaos

and seeing if you sink or swim. The way to improve was through “learning from my mistakes or

learning from other experienced educators.” Jenna realized during her teaching that “teachers’

college wasn’t beneficial for the actual job itself, because a lot of it is theories and whatnot.”

Working with behaviours, parents and problems came more from solving it on her own rather

than referring to her textbooks.

Unfortunately, Jenna cut her four-year teaching contract in Australia short because of the

Covid-19 pandemic. She expressed how lonely isolation in an apartment halfway across the

world from her family was. As well, teaching students with disabilities through an online
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platform was extremely challenging and draining. As such, Jenna embarked on her return to

Canada.

Upon her return, Jenna sought out employment from the Greater Essex County District

School Board in Windsor, Ontario. Jenna believed that her experiences teaching in Australia set

her apart as a candidate for teaching here. From working in Australia, Jenna “had a lot of

reference letters from principals and teachers to show here” that made her seem different from

other Bachelor of Education graduates.

After working as a teacher here and working in Australia, Jenna was able to draw a

comparison in the financial differences between the two countries. Jenna was “living in a big city

called Melbourne where the cost of living was super high and my rent was like $1300 with a

roommate.” However, she explained that the starting rate for teachers in Australia was $75,000 a

year, and even with the high international teacher taxes, Jenna felt she “lived comfortably and

travelled during every single holiday.” Here in Canada, she was making $245 daily as a supply

teacher, and while healthcare is included and the cost of living was lower, it “was still financially

more feasible to live in Australia.”

After being back in Canada for almost three years now, Jenna found that the cultural and

structural differences between the two education systems are quite stark. Although there are

“pros and cons to both systems” and Jenna enjoyed them for different reasons, she “appreciates

the education system here more because it is more inclusive.” As well, “teachers here have more

free-will to implement their style of teaching, where when I was there [Australia] it felt very

controlled.” Although Jenna feels as though she has learned a lot about herself as an educator

through teaching in Australia, she does not plan to move back in the future. She instead would
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like to move somewhere to teach again, “but a place much closer. Australia was too far from my

family, maybe BC next time.”

Analysis

Based upon this interview, Jenna’s personal and professional experiences affected the

ways in which she perceived and approached her teaching career. Placing herself in another

country with very different social and educational systems has given her a diverse viewpoint as

an educator today.

In the following section I will separate the findings into two different themes that appeared,

including financial differences and inclusivity.

Financial Differences

The above interview highlights a conversation about the cost of living and financial

differences between being a single teacher in Canada versus a single teacher in Australia. Jenna

mentioned how, even though there was a heavy tax as an international worker and the cost of

living in a city such as Melbourne is much higher, she was still able to live comfortably.

As of February 2023, the cost of living in Melbourne as a “Single person estimated

monthly costs approx. AU$3,714,”(Expatistan, 2023) which with the current exchange is “3,444

Canadian dollars” (Expatistan, 2023) per month. With a starting salary of $75,000, Jenna was

extremely comfortable with her living expenses, and her ability to travel and make social plans

without breaking her budget.

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On the opposite side, the average salary for a starting contract teacher in Windsor is

$51,965 (Greater Essex County District School Board and Elementary Teachers Federation of

Ontario, 2022). While the cost of living in Windsor is substantially lower than a large city, Jenna

expressed that she has less disposable income and freedom with the amount she makes here

based on the comparison to her salary. Although the financial expenses in Windsor are less, her

current income of $51,965 is much less than the Australian base salary, which Jenna said

increases by $5,000 each year. $75,000 Australian when converted into Canadian dollars is

approximately $69,360, which is still a large sum in comparison to her current base pay.

Inclusivity

Another prominent theme that unfolded in the story above was the prevalence of

inclusion and cultural differences between the countries. In Canada, legislation has moved away

from the segregation of students with disabilities and has worked to “removing barriers to

participation in typical classrooms in public schools and thus promotes inclusion in the

community and society as a whole” (Inclusive Education Canada, 2022). As a whole, this shows

that the Canadian education system is working to remove barriers and prejudice towards those

that need extra support.

In comparison, Jenna’s experience at a school for students with special needs provided

little to no room for inclusion. A lack of integration of these students with special needs into a

“normal” classroom makes socialization and movement into general society even harder at an

older age (Inclusive Education Canada, 2022). Although the department of education in Australia

has plans and funding to support students with disabilities, their mission statement encompasses

finding the “type” of school that fits the student. These “education support schools are specialist
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schools for children from the beginning of Kindergarten to the final year of their schooling. Your

child has access to multi-disciplinary teams including nursing and therapy staff” (Government of

Western Australia, n.d).

References

Expatistan. (2023). Cost of living in Melbourne, Australia. Feb 2023 prices in Melbourne.

Expatistan cost of living comparisons.

https://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living/melbourne?currency=CAD

GECDSB and ETFO Occasional Teachers Local (2022). Local Collective Agreement.

https://publicboard.edsby.com/p/UserFolder/75945186?label=Open%20Folders

Government of Western Australia. (n.d.). Children with special educational needs. Department

of Education. https://www.education.wa.edu.au/children-with-special-educational-needs

Inclusive Education Canada. (2022). Right To Education. Right to Education - Inclusive

Education Canada. https://inclusiveeducation.ca/learn/right-to-education/

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Appendix

Below is the list of questions I asked Jenna to receive the desired information regarding her

experiences teaching in both Australia and Canada.

Background
 Tell me about your background in teaching.

Australia Teaching
 Why did you choose to move and teach in Australia?
 What differences did you find in educational system there vs. here?
 How did your Canadian Teaching Preparation Program prepare you for teaching there?
 What was the financial difference when teaching in Australia vs here?
 
Return to Canada
 What made you decide to move back to Canada? Why?
 How did teaching in Australia affect your job prospects when applying here now?
 Was there a cultural difference in teaching there vs. when you returned here?
 
Personal Opinion
 Which teaching structure and culture do you prefer? Why?
 Do you plan on returning to Australia to teach again?