New academy for Victorian teachers

An academy that will allow teachers to become recognised as statewide leaders in teaching excellence is a step closer for Victoria.

Key legislation to enshrine the Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership has now passed parliament.

The legislation paves the way for the Australian-first academy for teaching and leadership — a new statutory authority to deliver advanced professional learning for high-performing teachers across government, Catholic and independent schools.

The Victorian Government has invested $148.2 million over four years to establish the Academy, which will provide an unprecedented opportunity for our best teachers to develop their skills and become recognised as state-wide leaders in teaching excellence, while still teaching in classrooms around the state.

The Academy will start delivering programs from its central Treasury Precinct location from January 2022, with the upgrade of the historic building well underway to deliver flexible learning spaces with enhanced technology for contemporary professional learning.

There will also be seven regional centres located in Bairnsdale, Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong, Mildura, Moe and Shepparton. The Geelong site will open by mid-2022 — with the rest of the locations operating by the end of 2022.

This new authority builds on the Bastow Institute of Educational Leadership, with its focus on cross-sectoral professional learning and ensuring rural and regional teachers can access high-quality professional development, no matter where they live and work.

The Academy’s flagship offering will be the Teaching Excellence Program, a one-year program that will support up to 500 teachers each year to advance their professional practice, with access to the best research in the science of learning and discipline-based content knowledge.

The program will enable teachers to learn from one another and share best practice, ideas, experience and resources, raising the calibre and status of the entire teaching profession.

Graduates will be known as Academy Fellows, with the most exceptional graduates having the opportunity to become Master Teachers and undertake research fellowships to lead the design and delivery of the program.

The Teaching Excellence Program will commence in Term 1, 2022, with teachers encouraged to apply at bastow.vic.edu.au/professional-learning/teaching-excellence-program.

“I’m so excited to see this Australian-first academy take shape — giving highly skilled Victorian teachers access to the best professional learning, keeping our education state at the forefront of global education,” said Minister for Education James Merlino.

“Further developing high-performing teachers is key to delivering long-term improvements in student outcomes — so this investment in Victorian teachers is also a profound investment in every Victorian student.”

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Tierney