Regional centres host Teaching Excellence Learning Communities

Recently, our Master Teachers in Residence facilitated the Teaching Excellence Program in regional locations including Bairnsdale, Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong, Moe and Shepparton.  

This professional learning program gives  teachers the opportunity to discuss local educational contexts and strategies for community engagement.  

In Bairnsdale, teachers expressed their appreciation for the Teaching Excellence Learning Community days, highlighting how these sessions make  professional learning more equitable for regional teachers and fostered a deeper understanding of local contexts.  

They valued the time and space to reflect on their practices, as encapsulated by one teacher’s remark, ‘I always appreciate these days. They give me time and space to think.’  

These place-based days have become communities of practice, comprising of newly established networks of teachers engaging in problem finding and change making in the education space.  

The learning communities demonstrate the importance of embedding practitioner inquiry into practice. Teachers collaboratively annotate artefacts of teaching and learning to determine the impact of trialed approaches on their teaching practice and student learning. One teacher shared the impact of meeting diverse learners, saying, ‘Every year, I meet a learner and think, wow, I haven't met a learner like you.’

If you’re a highly-skilled teacher, you can apply for the Teaching Excellence Program.