Professional Development Activities for Australian Curriculum Teachers

This report delves into the crucial aspects of professional development for teachers, particularly within the framework of the Australian Curriculum. It emphasizes the need for continuous skill enhancement, knowledge acquisition, and the development of effective teaching techniques for early career teachers. The report explores various professional development activities, including workshops, seminars, and staff development plans, highlighting their role in improving teacher capabilities and student learning outcomes. It also discusses the duration of training activities, relevant qualifications, and the challenges teachers may face during their learning journey. The report references academic sources and online resources to support its arguments, underscoring the importance of ongoing professional growth in education.

Australian Curriculum

Table of Contents
MAIN BODY ......................................................................................................................................3
Explaining potential need for professional development towards attainment of skills and
knowledge for meeting standard......................................................................................................3
Training required for development of early career teacher..............................................................3
Duration of the workshops or training activities.............................................................................4
Professional development activities.................................................................................................4
Challenges during learning goals....................................................................................................5
REFERENCES.....................................................................................................................................6

MAIN BODY
Explaining potential need for professional development towards attainment of skills and knowledge
for meeting standard.
With the help of professional development, every early career teachers can expand its skills,
capabilities and thought process. Teachers can formulates professional development plan on
individual basis by relying on the student age of the classroom, subject and its related matter being
taught in the class, skills and specialised knowledge to be learnt and desire to be acquired. By
adopting better and effective teaching as well as instruction techniques, career of teacher can be
developed in better manner.
Along with individualized professional development plans many of the education centres
and school have created staff development plans (Beghetto, Baer and Kaufman, (2017)). These has
been designed so as to enrich the careers and growth prospectives of teachers and other employees.
By bringing special speakers, trainers or guider related to subject matter of instructing the school
staff as a group can help in development of teachers. The important aspect behind these plans of
teacher development are as follows:
1. Teacher is having proper teacher education as well as knowledge and is trained in the
specific subject going to teach.
2. It is very important on part of students learning that each teacher evaluates and enhance their
capabilities and competences.
3. It is the duty of every teacher to make teaching and learning process more enjoyable and
entertaining for developing interest in student related to learning.
Training required for development of early career teacher.
Professional development relates with activities and plans that helps in development and
enhancement of an individual skill, capabilities, knowledge, expertise and other characteristics
which are considered essential for becoming a successful and good teacher. For learning and
growing in an effective manner, it is very much essential for an individual teacher to make active
participation in the following business activities:
1. Courses, sessions and any workshops which is related with the subject matter and other
educational-related topics.
2. Conferences or seminars related to Education prospective at which teachers and/or
researchers present their research results and discuss education problems (Whatmore,
Wyman and Sezonov, (2019)).

3. Qualification programme including certificates, degree.
4. Making observation by visiting to other schools and education centres.
5. By taking active participation in the network of teachers of both the primary as well as
secondary level which has been formed specifically with the objective of providing
professional development to all the teachers.
6. By conducting research on individual or group basis related to the topic of professional
interest, learning and development.
7. By mentoring, making peer observation, undertaking coaching for the betterment of student
learning and improving the overall arrangement of the school.
Duration of the workshops or training activities.
For developing professional skills and capabilities, teachers can attend various seminars,
workshops of different time duration as per their requirements such as Standard Teaching
Certificate having validity of six years. This certificate requires to fulfil certain condition for
renewing it viz. Completion of 180 clock hours of professional development or 12 semester hours
of education courses verified by school or eduction centre. The basic characteristics which each
teacher required to have during career stage are:
1. Professional attributes such as developing professional relationships, increasing
communication with others etc.
2. Improving professional knowledge and understanding by brining in confidence related to
subject matter being taught for the betterment of school children.
3. Professional skills concerned with the establishment of clear expectations in context of
positive attitudes towards learning, discipline process(Ditchburn, (2015)).
Professional development activities.
By emphasizing on the continuous professional development activities it will directly helps
teachers and educators, as it will help in increasing their knowledge level and potential skills. Also,
with the help of new knowledge and capabilities generated in teachers by undergoing these
professional development plan will directly help and affect the learning process of all the students.
The overall achievement of classroom learning is increased in case when teacher and educators
makes active participation in the development activities which helps in development of both
professional and personal level (MacDonald and Polly, (2019)). These activities have focus on
addressing of all the major learning challenges coming in way of classroom students. With the help
of this development it not only benefits teachers and educators in updating their skills, knowledge

and craft but also improves the learning process in student making them successful. These activities
can be in form of:
1. Reading professional literature, articles, scholars books in the form of journals, evidence
based papers, thesis and research projects.
2. By involving in the engagement process with the peers one in informal dialogue
conversation on manner to improve teaching.
3. By attending conferences, seminars and workshops.
Challenges during learning goals.
Various challenges has to be faced by each teacher in their learning process which includes
lack of teamwork, support from the students and peer ones. Along with basic subject knowledge and
skills, teachers are required to develop capacities by keeping up to date with subject knowledge.
Also, they should be capable of exchanging knowledge with persons outside the school premises
(Moss, Godinho and Chao, (2019)). Identification and selection of best, effective and suitable ideas
for student learning can also be sometimes difficult.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Beghetto, R. A., Baer, J., & Kaufman, J. C. (2017). Teaching for Creativity in the Australian
Curriculum Classroom. Teachers College, Columbia University.
Ditchburn, G. (2015). The Australian curriculum: History–the challenges of a thin
curriculum?. Discourse: Studies in the cultural politics of education. 36(1). 27-41.
MacDonald, A., & Polly, J. (2019). Empowering arts teachers to embrace and enact The Australian
Curriculum-The Arts: A Tasmanian perspective. In National Visual Art Education Conference
Program.
Moss, J., Godinho, S. C., & Chao, E. (2019). Enacting the Australian curriculum: Primary and
secondary teachers' approaches to integrating the curriculum. Australian Journal of Teacher
Education (Online). 44(3). 24.
Whatmore, S., Wyman, N., & Sezonov, A. (2019). The creation of the Australian industry and skills
committee, and the governance and operational reform lessons of the new Australian
curriculum development model. Contemporary Apprenticeship Reforms and Reconfigurations.
35. 122.
Online
Professional development activities and plans. 2019. [Online]. Available through:
<https://soeonline.american.edu/blog/professional-development-for-teachers>.