Flagship Strategy 5 - Teacher professional development
Providing teachers with significant opportunities for professional renewal and development.
What teachers know and learn is an important influence on what students learn. The investment in the learning of teachers will improve the quality of teaching and learning in schools.
Opportunities to share professional development practices for teachers across school communities are being explored and encouraged. Teacher Professional Development will significantly extend the options available to teachers for them to further develop their skills and expertise.
Teacher professional development initiatives include:
Related initiatives are outlined in the Teacher Supply and Demand for Government Schools statement released by the Minister for Education Services, Jacinta Allan MP in January 2004. This statement outlines a range of initiatives aimed at attracting more teachers to rural and outer-metropolitan areas and teaching disciplines that are traditionally difficult to staff, as well as improved workforce planning.
The Department of Education and Training has also carried out a thorough examination of the research on professional learning. As a result, it identified seven principles of highly effective professional learning. These Principles are detailed in the document titled The Professional Learning Of Teachers (PDF - 65Kb).The Principles make explicit the key characteristics of highly effective professional learning and provide a common language for describing good practice.
A second paper titled Professional Learning in Effective Schools (PDF - 503Kb) builds on the 'Professional Learning of Teachers'. It unpacks the seven principles of highly effective professional learning and uses the Department's Effective Schools Model to describe the culture and conditions necessary to implement an effective professional learning program. 'Professional Learning in Effective Schools' also provides a rationale and a vision for professional learning in Victorian government schools and will be used to inform the design of teacher learning initiatives at all levels of the system - school, network, region and centre.
Teacher professional leave
Approximately $5m has been provided in 2006/07 to enable teachers to undertake Teacher Professional Leave ranging from four to ten weeks. Under the program teachers with classroom teaching responsibilities are able to apply for professional leave that can be taken as a continuous block or spread over time or as a combination of the two.
Teacher Professional Leave provides teachers with flexible opportunities to enhance their classroom practice. It allows teachers to learn from each other as teachers participating in the program are required to share their learning with others in their school and other schools.
Teachers may choose from these or other options for their leave - participation in a professional learning team, leading a school based or network project, action research, research, mentoring and/or shadowing, short term placement in other schools, project work and study.
Teachers undertaking the professional leave are required to share their learning with colleagues through Knowledge Bank and participate in regional forums.
For further information access the Teacher Professional Leave website.
Induction and Mentoring for Beginning Teachers
Teachers need support at the start of their careers. Research has shown that good induction and mentoring programs help retain beginning teachers and assist their professional development and effectiveness.
A systematic approach to ensure good practice in teacher induction for beginning teachers is being adopted. Experienced teachers are being trained as mentors and Regions are providing further support to schools, mentors and beginning teachers. These programs ensure that beginning teachers are provided with trained teacher mentors.
More than 500 government school teachers were trained as mentors/mentor coordinators in 2004. 320 teachers were trained in 2005 and a further 800 teachers will be trained as mentors/mentor coordinators in 2006 and 2007.
Induction and Mentoring resources to assist schools are located under Professional Learning - Teachers:
Progress
- Teacher Mentor Training Programs, supporting mentors in their 2007 roles, are held in a number of locations across the state.
- Day 1 of the program is offered in February
- Day 2 of the program occurs in July and August
- A training video entitled "Reflective Practices in Teacher Mentoring" has been distributed to all schools for use by mentors.
- Strategies and/or materials are being developed to address the induction and mentoring needs of small and remote schools.
- A Guide to DE&T Induction and Mentoring Resources has been distributed to all participants in the training program.