By Molly Magennis
Two teachers in the west are among those who have been selected to lead the Andrews government’s new Teaching Excellence Program.
Colin Chapman, from Caroline Chisholm Catholic College, and Johanna Simmons, from Altona P-12 College, are among nine teachers who will take part in an Australian-first professional learning program at the new Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership.
The Teaching Excellence Program will provide advanced professional learning for highly-skilled teachers at government, Catholic, and Independent schools.
The teachers involved in the program will be referred to as ‘Master Teachers’ and will specialise in their own disciplinary stream.
Their role will be to work with up to 500 teachers across the state who are highly skilled in their area.
“Our work is to listen and work with individuals who are highly skilled teachers in order to broaden their field knowledge,” Mr Chapman said.
“For example when we’re working with teachers who are involved with technology, we would be broadening their ideas into such areas as … single computing or computation approaches which can work with the mathematical learning area for example.
“The idea behind that is the teachers, when they go back to their schools after a year of the program, they will be able to act as not just spokespeople for change but actual practitioners of change.”
Ms Simmons, whose disciple is English, said she is honoured to be involved in the program and is most excited about the fact that it will allow highly skilled teachers to come together and connect.
“I think the opportunity to kind of create this professional community is a really exciting one and I just feel really honoured to be able to contribute to that,” she said.
“This sort of stuff is in the service of improving student outcomes and I think that’s really the potential that the program is going to bring.”
