Teaching Impact Fellowships

Academy fellowships provide a pathway for excellent teachers to raise the capability, confidence, and status of teachers in the practice and science of teaching through applied and self-directed professional learning and knowledge exchange. 

Teaching Impact Fellowships provide funding and support to Teaching Excellence Program graduates to design and implement a project to transform teacher practice and student learning in their school. Through these projects, teacher fellows will develop and enhance their individual and collaborative expertise by sharing their professional learning and exemplary practices with colleagues in their schools and beyond.

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Eligibility  

To be eligible for a Teaching Impact Fellowship, you must:

• have graduated or be on track to graduate from the Teaching Excellence Program or be a Master Teacher alumni    
• have the endorsement and ongoing support of your principal
• have full teacher registration with the Victorian Institute of Teaching  
• be in a teaching role at the same Victorian school (full-time or part-time) at the time of the application and throughout the fellowship
• not have previously been the recipient of an Academy Fellowship. 

Structure of program

Professional learning

You will engage with experts and other highly skilled educators in a series of workshops designed to provide you with strong foundations for pursuing your innovation project. These workshops will take place in Terms 1 and 2 and will be delivered over 3 days. Teacher fellows are expected to attend all foundation days.  

Fellowship learning communities

You will participate and contribute to 3 x 3-hour online fellowship learning communities (FLCs) where you will build relationships with other fellows, share ideas, learn from each other, and support each other’s professional growth.  

Access to direct support  

You will be guided and supported by a fellowship advisor. Through up to 5 online advisory sessions, the fellowship advisor will assist you to engage in critical reflective practice and offer feedback to help strengthen your project.

Learning outcomes

By undertaking the Teaching Impact Fellowship, teacher fellows will apply the fellowship model which recognises that school environment, structures, and resources influence teachers' professional development, agency, and impact, to:

• define a vision of what excellent teaching means in the context of their classroom and school, based on a critical examination of relevant, evidence-informed teaching and learning principles and theories
• synthesise knowledge and evidence to design and implement an improvement project in response to an identified need or challenge at their school
• identify and monitor indicators to demonstrate the level of accomplishment or progress of the improvement project and showcase its impact.  
• enact and critically examine the values, principles and practices of leadership that effectively enable improvement and change to positively influence teaching and learning
• develop a plan to synthesise, communicate and share their learning, both within their school and with other Victorian educators. 

The Academy Fellowship Model

The Academy Fellowships Model describes the key design elements of the fellowships program.

Teachers as agents of change

At the core of the Academy Fellowship Model is a commitment to enabling and supporting teachers as agents of change by deepening their professional expertise and nurturing their capacities to drive evidence-informed school improvement.

Domains of action

Teaching Impact Fellows will cultivate agency and expertise through the following domains of action, in line with the Academy’s Fellowship Model:  

• Vision: Develop a vision for alternative futures in practice, which is driven by a desire to make a difference to the quality of teaching and learning.
• Innovation: Explore, design, implement and evaluate approaches or interventions that enhance teaching, learning or student engagement.  
• Inquiry: Engage in evidence-informed, practitioner-led inquiry to investigate professional challenges in context.
• Leadership: Exercise leadership by building collaborative networks that enhance professional expertise within and across schools.  

Support

Funding to support the project implementation  

• Evidence-informed and self-directed learning  
• Engagement with experts and fellowship advisors  
• Fellowship learning communities  
• Enabling school relationships and structures.

2024 Teaching Innovation Fellows

List of Fellows 2024 (PDF)

2023 Teaching Innovation Fellows

In May 2023, the Minister for Education, the Hon. Natalie Hutchins MP, announced the 2023 Teaching Innovation Fellows. Thirty teachers from 26 government and non-government schools were awarded Teaching Innovation Fellowships.

Congratulations to our 2023 Teacher Fellows (PDF).

Case studies: Teacher fellows leading innovation

Fees and financial support

Fellowships awarded cover the program fees and include project funding to support teacher fellows’ learning, work and influence.

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