FISO continua of practice

The Continua is a practical school and classroom focused resource to guide continuous school improvement through the FISO Improvement Model. It provides a common language and coherent framework for improvement. It is not a stand-alone document but part of a suite of FISO guides and resources for schools

The Continua assists school leaders, teachers, students and school community members to:

  • self-evaluate their current practice and understand what improved practice looks like
  • allocate roles and responsibilities in adopting practices
  • identify improvement measures to use in monitoring and evaluating progress
  • engage in reflection, inquiry and conversations about improving professional practice.

You can download the Continua below or through the Resources tab and find it on SPOT as part of your Pre-review self-evaluation (PRSE) and AIP:

The Continuum for each dimension can also be viewed on each dimension page. Use the  FISO Improvement Model below to navigate to your chosen dimension.

Frequently Asked Questions about changes to the Continua of Practice

The Continua has been refined to reduce duplication across the dimensions, which will help schools better self-evaluate and identify their improvement needs.

What are the changes?

  • the number of components has been reduced from 53 to 29
  • improvement measures have been added to each dimension to support schools to gather evidence of their school improvement progress
  • links to the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model (VTLM) have been enhanced
  • PLC Maturity Matrix and Essential elements have been integrated into the relevant descriptors
  • key supporting resources have been identified with each dimension
  • an Annotated Guide to the refined Continua of Practice (login required) maps the previous components against the refined components with additional commentary on the changes.

Does this change how I will use the Continua?

No, the purpose and use of the Continua remains the same. School leaders, teachers, students and community members can continue to use the Continua to self-evaluate as part of their regular monitoring and evaluation in an improvement cycle. The relevant supporting documents embedded within the Continua can then be used to support teachers.

What about the Essential Elements?

The Essential Elements are 8 pre-conditions within the Improvement Model that need to be in place to support effective implementation of improvement areas in the dimensions. The Essential Elements have been fully integrated into the Continua. This means when schools conduct their self-evaluation, any Essential Elements that are not in place will be identified by an emerging proficiency level rating in the corresponding dimension(s). Schools can then prioritise work on the dimensions as part of their regular strategic and annual planning cycles. See page 6 of the Continua for further information about how the pre-conditions have been incorporated into the relevant FISO dimensions.

What about the PLC Maturity Matrix?

The practices embedded in the PLC Maturity Matrix have been fully integrated into the Continua. This means when schools conduct their self-evaluation, they will also be evaluating the maturity of their PLC practices. Schools can then prioritise work on PLC practices as part of their regular strategic and annual planning cycles.

How do I use this with the VTLM?

The VTLM aligns to FISO and provides further evidence-based support for school leaders and teachers in reflecting on practice, identifying areas for development, and planning and evaluating developmental activities.

The VTLM includes a Pedagogical Model, Practice Principles for excellence in teaching and learning, High-Impact Teaching Strategies (HITS), supporting resources and case studies.

Where the VTLM supports the practices of a specific FISO dimension, there will be a link to the relevant VTLM resource in the 'supporting resource' section of the guide.

How can I provide feedback?

You can provide feedback by emailing fiso@education.vic.gov.au