Teaching Excellence Program
The Teaching Excellence Program (TEP) enables highly skilled teachers to advance their capability and confidence for exemplary teaching.
Through the 2023 program, teachers analysed their practice to deepen content and pedagogical knowledge in and across key discipline areas. We accessed contemporary, evidence-informed research and were able to apply this to our students’ vast learning needs. We completed a collaborative and individual practitioner inquiry. Both focused on contextual needs. For my individual inquiry, I chose to research the area of resilience and metacognitive strategies to improve student outcomes. I thank my Year 12 PE cohort of 2023 for their interest and valuable perceptions into these areas. The use of individual and cohort-based feedback sheets allowed students to increase their own responsibility for their learning journey. I hope this can be used in SAS sessions across all year levels in 2024. My inquiry has interested researchers from Victoria and Monash Universities, and it was a privilege to present these findings on my graduation day to my peers and Master Teachers. I look forward to working with Victoria and Monash Universities in future to publish my findings and establish partnerships with St Aloysius College.
I was ably supported by a team of Master Teachers-in-Residence Paul Seery and Dr Chris Hudson (Health and PE) and Tanya Alderton (Profession studies) during the journey, TEP allowed us to engage with national and international expert educators in a diverse range of learning activities, including Conference Days, Discipline Days, Teaching Excellence Learning Community (TELC) Days and Practitioner Inquiry.
This qualification is not easy to obtain and includes a rigorous selection process. I would like to thank the HPE team specifically Chris Needle for the ongoing professional dialogue and willingness to try new approaches. It has been very refreshing to share innovative research and apply it to a context that best suits St Aloysius College. Less than 1% of teachers have this qualification nationally and it’s fantastic that St Aloysius College now has 3 teachers myself, Chris Needle (HPE) and Alizée Bourgault (Languages) who completed the qualification in its first year, in 2022. I would encourage all experienced teachers to apply for this course.
I look forward to working with students and parents to co-design Curriculum units in Health and Physical Education to create and maximise a meaningful HPE Curriculum for all stakeholders going forward. Watch this space…
Merry Christmas to all the St Aloysius College Community
Mark Smith
Learning Leader, Health and Physical Education