TEACHER EDUCATION & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: Ensure high quality, evidence-based approaches are embedded in initial qualification training and professional development for teachers

Reform 2

“Research evidence tells us that teachers are the most influential within-school factor in determining children and young people’s academic attainment.”

But the 2022 Quality Initial Teacher Education Review found many beginning teachers are underprepared to teach reading and that students’ readiness to teach would be bolstered by a strengthened focus on evidence-based teaching strategies.

The 2023 report of the Teacher Education Expert Panel (TEEP) recommended that in order to address this, ITE core content must - amongst other things - provide pre-service teachers with an understanding of:

  • “[…] why specific instructional practices work, and how to implement these practices

  • effective pedagogical […] practices including explicit modelling, scaffolding, formative assessment, and literacy […] teaching strategies that support learning because they respond to how the brain processes, stores and retrieves information […]

  • [how to address the needs of] diverse learners, including students with disability.”

While Governments have agreed to implement the TEEP recommendations, it will take 20 to 30 years before ITE graduates who have benefitted from this content make up the majority of the teaching workforce in schools.

We cannot wait this long.

There must be a significant and systemic investment now into professional development for in-service teachers who are currently providing reading instruction in schools.

Schools should use their professional learning time to provide teachers with the knowledge and skills outlined in the TEEP report. High quality micro credentials are an effective way to upskill teachers.

Accessing professional development cannot come at the cost of workload intensification for teachers. Not only should teachers have access to quality professional development, but there must also be appropriate paid release time for teachers.