QTP in Victoria: listening to teachers leads to quality professional development

How do you get information and communication technology working for authentic learning across the curriculum? It depends on quality professional development. The author draws on her research and evaluation work on a Quality Teacher Program pilot project by the Victorian Department of Education and Training to explain why listening to teachers is leading to just that.

Evaluating a strategic approach to professional development through guided reflection

Research on quality in early childhood has consistently shown that staff are the cornerstone of excellence, and that staff training makes a difference to services provided to children and families. There is also a growing awareness of the importance of adopting a planned approach to career development and that this begins with self-assessment, and can be enhanced through the use of guided reflection with a mentor. The Early Childhood Consortium Victoria (ECCV) at The University of Melbourne, has developed a self-assessment manual (SAM) designed as a tool for early childhood practitioners to explore their work in a strategic way. It serves the dual purposes of assisting practitioners to address issues of service quality, as well as promoting individual professional development through reflective practice. SAM has now been piloted in a number of early childhood settings in Australia and this paper presents a formative evaluation of this work and discusses its potential for professional development planning.

Guidelines for best practice in doctoral education

In recent years the Australian Council of Deans and Directors of Graduate Studies has become increasingly concerned about the quality and standards of doctorates, that is, PhDs, professional and other doctorates. It has become clear that PhD programs are not always of sufficient quality and that some PhD students do not receive a quality doctoral experience and outcome. Similarly, the Council has been concerned about the quality of some Australian professional and other doctorates. As a result of these concerns, the Council established a working party to prepare a set of guidelines for best practice in Australian doctoral programs. The draft guidelines are consistent with the Australian Qualifications Framework and were reviewed and refined at the last Council meeting in May, 2003. In this presentation, an overview of the guidelines is offered for further discussion and advice to the Council.

Workplace change & the care of the self : health and wellbeing as a professional duty of care?

This paper examines the ways in which transformations in the organisation and practice of teacher’s work have witnessed large numbers of teachers being seen, and seeing themselves, as stressed. These understandings of teacher stress have provoked a number of strategies designed to encourage individuals to take care of themselves – and to take care of themselves in ways that will make schools more effective.