industry & reform
we often hear that and they ’ re very excited about the opportunity to learn from each other . And the fellowship programme presents them an opportunity to talk to teachers and learn from what ’ s happening across state borders , which doesn ’ t really happen very often within teaching . So , it ’ s a unique opportunity to have that peer to peer sharing and connect with some of the best practises that are happening across the country because we have some brilliant pockets of examples of practise within Australia . This programme is really about how we can share that so that every teacher and every school can benefit from it and everyone can learn together .
Schools Plus chief Rosemary Conn . Picture : Supplied .
learning . And that ’ s some of the amazing sort of skills that we see within the teachers that have been recognised is they ’ re just dynamos in the classroom in ensuring that every child is understood and meeting those child ’ s unique needs where that child is at and they set that child up for future success , whatever that might look like .
So that ’ s important , but we also consider how has that teacher not just supported their own career development ? How have they lifted others with them ? So , the other teachers within their school or thinking about how they ’ ve influenced others within the broader profession and what ’ s been their role in engaging families within the school and , what is their aspiration for the impact they want to have on the system and the passion that they ’ ve got for teaching as a profession . So , we think about all those things when we ’ re making our decisions and it is important because we get hundreds of applications and we ’ ve got to whittle them down into very few successful fellows .
Each award recipient receives a $ 40,000 fellowship . Can you give us an example of how past winners have been able to use this to benefit their school community ? Each teaching fellow receives funding that is for themselves to support their professional learning through this professional learning programme and funding for their schools to bring a project to life in their school community . One of our teaching fellows from a couple of years ago has built on some brilliant work she was doing in a school that ’ s on the border of New South Wales to help tackle some of the issues surrounding children that come from low socioeconomic backgrounds . Often , those students come to school with having experienced quite a lot of trauma from their family environment and that particular teacher is using that funding to help build the ability of all of the teachers in that school to look after the wellbeing of the children that are presenting at school and looking at trauma informed practises to really ensure that every child can thrive at school and they ’ re not held back by some of the challenges they ’ re facing of things that are happening outside of the school gate .
You mentioned earlier that award recipients get some time and money for their own professional development . Why is that important ? I think any great teacher sees that learning is a lifelong process and
Like many other countries , Australia is facing a shortage of teachers . How do teaching awards help shift broader attitudes towards the teaching profession ? People that have been recognised through the teaching awards ; I feel that they demonstrate the best of what teaching can be in terms of a profession . So , there ’ s so much diversity and so we have teaching fellows that come from environmental science backgrounds and who are fascinated with aviation and they ’ re bringing their personal passions into the classroom to inspire their students . And I think that ’ s something that perhaps the public hasn ’ t really understood that teaching can be an incredibly diverse career .
I think it can be a really rewarding career when you think about the impact that these teachers have been able to have in the school and through the teaching awards who ’ ve been able to showcase some of that impact , that as a profession , you can really change the life of a child . And just that every child is different . So that means that it ’ s a profession where , yes , you must be technically really great , but you ’ ve also got to have this amazing ability to form connections with each human that is within your classroom that you ’ re helping to support their learning . So , I hope the teaching awards inspires the next generation of young men and women coming through into the profession and that they can see the amazing role models in their sort of future career path . ■
educationreview . com . au | 13