Teacher Professional Leave
Teacher Professional Leave (TPL) provides teachers with flexible opportunities to improve classroom practice, build individual capacity and contribute to school and system improvement.
The duration of TPL ranges from a minimum of four to a maximum of ten weeks and can be taken as a continuous block, spread over time, or as a combination of the two. It can be undertaken on an individual basis or as part of a team.
Participants and principals have reported significant benefits for teachers, for students and for the school overall. It is advisable that professional learning undertaken by TPL teachers is reflected in customised professional development plans linking individual teacher development needs, student learning needs and school priorities.
Who is Teacher Professional Leave for?
Teacher Professional Leave is available to teachers who:
- have significant classroom teaching responsibilities (not in a support role);
- demonstrate commitment and capacity to acquire and apply new learning;
- demonstrate commitment and capacity to communicate new learning with colleagues so that the learning is shared within the school and across the system; and
- have not undertaken TPL in the e5 Instructional Model Teacher Professional Leave Statewide Pilot 2009
Teacher Professional Leave Statewide 2010
Applications are invited from teachers to participate in Teacher Professional Leave (TPL) 2010. Application Forms (Word - 616Kb) prepared according to the Teacher Professional Leave 2010 Guidelines (Word - 222Kb) should be completed and submitted by close of business 11 August 2009. Additional information on how to apply and ingredients for a successful TPL experience can be found in Submitting a Quality Application for the 2010 Round (Word - 146Kb).
In 2010, the focus of TPL is the e5 Instructional Model (PDF - 322Kb):
TPL 2010 provides teachers with between 25 to 50 days classroom release – ‘down-time to up-skill’. This time is for teachers to conduct a practical investigation into quality instruction using the e5 Instructional Model, attend the Professional Leave and Teacher Outcomes (PLATO) program and share the professional knowledge gained with other schools and/or networks.
What is the purpose of Teacher Professional Leave?
The purpose of TPL is to accord teachers with the responsibility for generating, evaluating and sharing professional knowledge as active agents in analysing and improving their own practice. TPL is designed primarily for teachers to:
- identify a problem/question/area of interest
- investigate ways of addressing that issue
- evaluate what has been learnt from application within the teacher’s own context
- act upon the implications of that learning.