Quality classroom teachers are hungry for professional development

Description

How to attract, select and prepare high quality candidates for a career in teaching is a challenging predicament. The recent Quality Initial Teacher Education Review 2021 Discussion Paper highlighted that teachers finding full-time employment within four months of graduating ranges from over 90% in some courses to less than 60% in others. Literacy and numeracy of students is also identified as an ongoing concern. Federal Education Minister Alan Tudge says we must do better at recruiting and training our future teachers and that evidence-based practices must be taught in our publicly funded universities. Quality teaching is the single largest in-school influence on student achievement.

The initial education of teachers is crucial, not only because of their key future role in student learning outcomes, but also because there is a looming teacher shortage in some fields (e.g. STEM) and regions of Australia. But graduation is only the starting point. Australia has nearly 300,000 full time equivalent teachers, for whom professional learning is one key ingredient of school education improvement provided it is effective.