By Chrystal Gilkes | Stakeholder Engagement Coordinator
Every July, during school holidays, the dedicated folk who are training to be high school teachers give up time for R&R in favour of professional development. Across Australia, just over 300 first and second year teachers, who every day make a difference in the lives of young people, swapped being the classroom lead for being the student, as they learned and practiced more skills to help them be the best teachers possible.
Over three long days, the Teach For Australia Team delivered high-value, relevant and contextually appropriate content to Associates (training teachers), equipping educators to teach and lead effectively. The sessions covered pedigogy, of course, but also trauma informed teaching, the importance of routines, managing the influence of the manosphere, teaching literacy, and the list goes on. These professional development opportunities are vital for the Associates, because they need to be the most effective, positive, confident and empathetic versions of themselves every single day. The students they teach are often in schools and communities experiencing disadvantage, so some students face an uphill battle to even get to the classroom each day as they deal with struggles at home or have no access to transport, let alone hold expectations for their futures.
Education is the key to being able to make choices in life. The Teach For Australia Associates, many of whom have overcome adversity themselves, want to do everything in their power to help lift up the students in their classrooms, show them what's possible, and ensure they see that life can be what they choose to make it.
This intensive professional development, which takes place in person to allow real life practice, is free for the teachers to attend, but is costly for Teach For Australia to deliver. It's a non-negotiable from the organisation's standpoint because our number one value is to Serve The Students, and we know that these learning opportunities are of extrmely high value. But the price tag is also high.
This is yet another reason we are extremely grateful for your continued support! Without you being part of the journey towards educational equity, we might not be able to equip the Associates with the high calibre skills they need, which go far beyond simply teaching a subject.
We THANK YOU deeply for your support!
By Chrystal Gilkes | Stakeholder Engagement Coordinator
By Chrystal Gilkes | Stakeholder Engagement Coordinator
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