Teachers play a crucial role in preparing students to lead successful and productive lives. They are arguably the greatest resource in our schools. Luckily for us, a large percentage of teachers will naturally identify as life-long learners. They recognise the need for ongoing self-improvement and recognise the importance of and joy of growth and personal development. Teachers at MMCC never settle for what they currently know, but always seek to build upon their current knowledge.

At Mary Mac our strategic intent is to:

Develop a commitment to excellence in education, collaborative learning, high quality pedagogy, the intentional development of resilience, a growth mindset and intrinsic motivation.

The framework that we use to support the attainment of this goal is the Australian Professional Standards. These standards guide professional learning, practice and engagement facilitates the improvement of teacher quality. They define the work of teachers and make explicit the elements of high-quality, effective teaching in 21st century schools that will improve educational outcomes for students. Teachers can also use the standards to recognise their current and developing capabilities, professional aspirations, and achievements.

The standards are organised into 3 Domains of Teaching: Professional Knowledge; Professional Practice; and Professional Engagement. Underpinning the Domains of Teaching are 7 standards which identify what is expected of teachers.

For the remainder of the year, teachers have identified 3 standards which they will focus on embedding and developing further within their practice.

• Standard 3.1: Establish challenging learning goals
• Standard 4.3: Manage challenging behaviour
• Standard 5. 2Provide feedback to students on their learning

Teachers have approached this process in a similar way to how they would measure the growth of student achievement. That is, teachers have self-assessed their pedagogical practice against the standards (baseline data). For the remainder of the year, 3 impromptu observations will take place for each teacher, followed by a self-reflection and feedback conversation with the person who observed their practice. The last step in this process occurs at the end of the year when each teacher will once again complete a self-assessment of their practice (exit data), measuring growth.

Like teachers ask students to have a growth mindset, set reasonable and achievable goals and reflect on their learning, they too will engage in these skills to achieve growth. This in turn, benefits the students. Our students at MMCC are incredibly fortunate to have such passionate, dedicated and engaging teachers educating them.

Watch this space and our social pages for more on our teaching and learning practices! 

Natalie Adler
Assistant Principal: Teaching & Learning Junior