Challenge Yourself to Make a Difference. About Teach for Australia
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Challenge yourself to make a difference. About Teach For Australia Our vision is of an Australia where all children, regardless of background, attain an excellent education. In Australia, children from the lowest income households are on average three years behind in school. Teach For Australia is an innovative non-proft organisation and part of a global movement dedicated to developing leadership in classrooms and communities to ensure all children achieve their potential. We work tirelessly to elevate the amazing potential of all children with the vision of what could be possible to realise an Australia that truly provides equality of opportunity for all children. Fundamental to achieving this vision is to get great leaders into classrooms as teachers, for a minimum of a two year commitment. We recruit Australia’s future leaders and inspire, connect and empower them to a lifetime of action – activated by the classroom. As a collective force—educators, advocates, entrepreneurs, policymakers and community members—our Associates and Alumni strive for the aspirations of students and families. We are helping to tackle educational disadvantage through the two key levers that research shows impact student outcomes most: teacher quality and leadership. In nine years, we have placed over 670 Associates into more than 150 schools, ultimately helping to change the lives of over 130,000 students. We are part of a global network with a shared vision for expanded educational opportunity. Teach For Australia is proud to be a member of the growing Teach For All global network of nearly 50 independent, locally led and funded partner organisations with a shared vision for expanded educational opportunity in their countries. Beginning with Teach For America in 1990, each organisation around the world recruits and develops diverse individuals from a range of professional backgrounds and academic disciplines to commit themselves to teaching for two years. Alumni go on to do a range of things – including continuing to teach, leading schools, innovating in the education sector and infuencing policy. At the core of Teach For All’s approach is the understanding that while each network partner’s local context is unique, the similarities in the nature of the challenges facing children from place to place mean that solutions are ofen shareable. Teach For All’s global organisation facilitates many opportunities, both in-person and virtual, for partners to exchange ideas, learn from each other’s successes and challenges, and adapt promising innovations in their own communities. 3 | Teach For Australia Leadership Development Program Through Teach For Australia, you’ll find that classroom leadership builds a foundation for long-term impact. The Leadership Development Program ofers a combined postgraduate education and employment opportunity, allowing Associates to put their education into practice immediately. Associates teach in subject areas directly related to previous studies, regardless of if they have just graduated or are more than ten years out, and in accordance with the subject requirements of placement schools. Over two years, Associates: • teach at a school serving a low socioeconomic community, with full salary and benefts; • earn a Master of Teaching (Secondary)(Professional Practice) through ACU on an assisted scholarship; • participate in targeted professional development that is tailored to experience and context; and • receive one-on-one coaching and mentoring to accelerate personal, professional and academic growth. Through the program, Associates develop the skills and experience to enable them to lead efectively, with the opportunity to make a tangible positive impact on students, schools and communities— every single day. “When I frst started my Science Degree, I anticipated becoming a researcher—but afer gaining professional experience, I knew that something was missing. I wanted to make a tangible diference to people’s lives.” Lianna Beeching (Cohort 2016) Physics and Maths Teacher at Bayside P-12 College The bigger the challenge, the greater the reward. Few other careers offer the opportunity for Develop leadership skills where they’re genuine responsibility, autonomy and impact needed most. from day one. Teach For Australia provides comprehensive support to accelerate Throughout the Leadership Development Program, Associates Associates’ personal and professional development. With the help work as a teacher with full salary and benefts, while studying of dedicated coaches and mentors, Associates ofen progress into towards a Master’s Degree, in a new profession and potentially positions of leadership within schools very quickly. in a new community. Afer two intense, challenging and rewarding years, Associates gain “It’s fast-paced, intense and hugely rewarding. Schools are such a set of unique and highly sought-afer leadership skills. complex organisations to work in. You develop strong stakeholder At the end of the program, Associates may take the next step in engagement, communication, project management, data analysis, a teaching career, striving towards having even more impact on confict management, and of course leadership skills.” (Ash Duggan, students, schools and communities, and continuing to master the Cohort 2013) art and science of being a transformational teacher. Join a network of passionate leaders Many Alumni also launch on exciting paths beyond the classroom, and changemakers. taking with them the invaluable skills and experience obtained throughout the program. Associates are part of a national and global network of teachers and leaders who are passionate about achieving educational equity. As at March 2017: Teach For Australia Associates are people of diverse backgrounds, • 65 per cent of Alumni remain in teaching, with almost half in perspectives and experiences who have made the decision to fnd school leadership roles. solutions to one of the greatest challenges facing our nation. • 15 per cent of Alumni continue to work in education, in Many Alumni remain in teaching, while others become leaders non-proft organisations, government or policy, and social in schools or work in diferent capacities to develop innovative enterprises. solutions to problems in education or infuence education policy and government-decision making. Ash Duggan (Cohort 2013) Management Consultant at the Boston Consulting Group Ash wanted to push his boundaries and develop his professional skills somewhere outside of his comfort zone. Ash challenged himself to make a diference, moving interstate to share his skills in the school that needed him most. Afer completing the program, Ash moved to a remote town in the Northern Territory, taking on a Leading Teacher role. Now, Ash works as a Management Consultant driving system level change, and is an active participant of the Teach For Australia Alumni network. 5 | Teach For Australia Leadership Development Program An employment-based pathway into teaching. Earn a nationally accredited degree Australia needs excellent teachers in the while fast-tracking your career. classrooms in which they can have the greatest impact. Delivered in partnership with ACU, Associates earn a Master of Teaching (Secondary)(Professional Practice). Approximately 40 per cent of children from the lowest socioeconomic households do not complete Year 12. Research and feedback from The degree is unique in Australia, closely linking theory to practice schools in regional and remote communities also reveals that they to provide powerful insights into how students learn, while preparing have dificulty attracting and retaining high quality teaching Associates to diferentiate their teaching practice to meet individual and leadership staf. student needs. We partner exclusively with schools serving low socioeconomic Afer an intensive period of initial training and development, communities, working in the regions and communities that need Associates commence employment as a teacher at a Teach For the most support. Australia partner school, with time release to complete their studies. The combined approach ofers the opportunity to immediately We match Associates with a teaching vacancy that exists at a integrate the knowledge, skills and mindsets developed through partner school, meeting their profle, curriculum, subject and the program into the context of an actual classroom. organisational needs. For many Associates, school placement requires relocation – to a new community, state or territory. Throughout the recruitment process, applicants have the opportunity to express a preference for where they would like to work. We encourage fexibility within at least one of our placement states or territories, to improve our ability to secure a placement and the teaching position in which candidates can have the greatest impact. Working in close collaboration with fellow Associates, teachers, school leaders and the community, we endeavour to place Associates in a cluster within the same school or schools nearby, to provide increased local support for Associates while increasing the opportunity for impact within the communities we work with. Ying Qin (Cohort 2016) Maths and Business Management Teacher at Fairhills High School Ying worked in Finance as a Commercial Banker for fve years before joining Teach For Australia. As a career-changer, Ying valued being able to work and study at the same time, and now feels like she is where she belongs—in teaching. The program’s development, coaching, support and opportunities for progression allowed