Teaching Excellence Program underway for 2023

The Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership (the Academy) has launched the 2023 Teaching Excellence Program for highly skilled teachers from government, Catholic and independent schools.

The advanced year-long professional learning program represents a significant investment in professional learning, aligned with the department's commitment to providing high-quality education to all students.

The program is designed for highly skilled teachers with a minimum of 3 years' teaching experience. In 2023, it will upskill 500 teachers across 8 disciplines:

• the arts
• English
• health and physical education
• humanities
• languages
• mathematics
• science
• technologies.

Innovating education by enhancing teacher professional practice

The Teaching Excellence Program is Australia's first cross-sectoral advanced professional learning program. Led by Academy Master Teachers-in-Residence, it offers highly skilled teachers a chance to learn from industry and discipline experts.

The program is underpinned by research. Throughout the year, teachers will learn together and receive support through conferences, responsive pedagogy workshops, regular onsite learning activities, check-ins and access to resources through the Academy's online learning portal.

The program gives teachers networks in which to test new and emerging practices, as well as opportunities to develop new ways of teaching specific to their context. As a cross-sectoral program, it is uniquely positioned to impact the outcomes of every student in every classroom across Victoria.

Teachers who complete the program gain alumni status from the Academy and will be eligible to apply to engage in fellowships to take their learning even further.

The Academy's flagship program

The Academy's dedication to teachers' ongoing professional learning shines through the Teaching Excellence Program.

'The Academy is dedicated to helping highly skilled and committed teachers to further develop their skills and in turn, improve student outcomes,' Academy CEO Dr Marcia Devlin said.

'The impact these 500 exceptional teachers will have in their classrooms across the state, together with the impact that the 220 teachers from last year's program are having, means that thousands of Victorian young people are getting the exceptional learning experience that they all deserve, regardless of where they live.'

Regional centre opens in Geelong

In 2023, the Academy is opening 7 regional centres, to bring high-quality professional learning programs to the doorstep of teachers across the state.

Earlier this month, the Academy officially launched the first of these new state-of-the-art regional centres in Geelong.

This launch was a symbolic step in the Academy's efforts to support equitable access to high-quality professional learning for teachers and school leaders in regional Victoria and towards improving outcomes for Victorian students.

Professional learning programs

The Academy provides a diverse and inspiring range of professional learning programs for teachers and school leaders to boost capabilities and confidence in their teaching and leadership practices.

Follow the links below to access program information including costs, dates, registration requirements, time commitment, delivery mode and contacts:

• Thought leadership series – starts Wednesday 29 March 2023. A series of webinars with educational thought leaders including Viviane Robinson, Andy Hargreaves, Helen Cahill and Yong Zhao, who share the latest research, big ideas and innovations
• Create: middle leaders – starts Thursday 30 March 2023. Feel confident and capable in your role as a middle leader
• Impact: emerging leaders – starts Wednesday 5 April 2023. Develop your capabilities as a transformative emerging leader
• Lead, empower and thrive with emotional intelligence – starts Thursday 4 May 2023. Enhance culture and wellbeing at your school through emotionally intelligent leadership
• Coaching with confidence – starts Wednesday 10 May 2023. Use coaching methodologies to support you to develop your professional skills
• Innovating for student engagement – starts Thursday 11 May 2023. Lift student engagement and drive improvement at your secondary school
• Unlocking potential: principal preparation – starts Tuesday 18 July 2023. Realise your potential to lead a school for learning improvement and transformation.

Find out more

For further information, visit the Academy website.

For further enquiries, contact the Academy's program and participant support team:

• phone: 03 8199 2900
• email: academy.support@education.vic.gov.au