Teacher professional development
The International Research Centre for Youth Futures is committed to excellence in teaching and learning, supporting creativity, cultural enrichment, and teachers’ professional development.
We offer a range of professional development opportunities for teachers in a range of areas. The following short courses are currently being offered:
Teachers into Coding (TIC)
This course is designed to inspire a world of coding in your classrooms, with practical ideas, tutorials and experiences in a range of areas. See how easy it is to get students working on solving real problems in code, mixing principles of science, mathematics, design and engineering. Additional and ongoing online support ensures you’re not left in the dark, and a follow up day completes the picture with deeper learning, ideas and projects to accomplish with your students. Proficient Standards 2, 3, 6, 7 (32 hours: 2 x 6-hour workshops + 20 hours own time on project work).
MusEd: HSC Australian Music Education (Music 1, Music 2, Music Extension)
This course is designed for teachers of Stage 6 Music, and all music teachers who wish to learn about new Australian repertoire. The MusEd kit provides five new Australian pieces of repertoire, written for, and performed by The Australia Piano Quartet, with analysis, score, excerpts, full performance and classroom activities provided. Participants will be workshopped in the activities, which have been designed to develop deep understanding of the repertoire and lead to conceptual development and composition techniques. The focus is on an active, multimodal, creative approach, resulting in deep, personal engagement with the repertoire, concepts and composition ideas. Proficient Standards 1, 3, 6. (6 hours: full day workshop)
Collaborative engagement in research
This course involves the collection and analysis of data related to Sky High participants. Teachers will be guided to collaborate with researchers on the use of a range of affective, behavioural and achievement data to gain an insight into their students’ needs and backgrounds as well as plan ways to accommodate them. Proficient Standards 6 and 7 (18 hours total: face-to-face 4 x 2-hour twilight sessions + 10 hours in own/school time)
Drama across the curriculum
This course will practically engage participants in exploration of core dramatic skills as well as application across the primary and secondary curriculum. Forms and elements of drama will be explored with time also given to consider opportunities for how drama can be utilised as a tool for learning across the curriculum. Theory and practice will be blended through a consideration of programming for effective integration of drama across the curriculum. Proficient Standards 1-3 & 6 (6 hours: full-day workshop).
Planning and facilitating theatre performances in schools
This workshop is a hand-on look at the planning required to put on such events from preplanning to delivery. It will go through the steps of creating a technical running sheet, understanding the questions that technicians will ask, working with a professional crew and making risk assessments. We will also look at making the most of basic sound and lighting equipment. Proficient Standards 3, 4-6 (6 hours: full-day workshop).
Reaching Teachers
The importance of research for teachers has been highlighted by the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) in its professional standards for teachers. As teachers advance during their career, these standards outline further expectations that teachers undertake research to devise programs and to expand their professional knowledge through research.
Reaching Teachers allows schools to tailor practitioner research to their own goals and school or community needs and offers a suite of professional development, research, and learning experiences for teachers, encouraging local practice-based action research. Our current projects are supporting the professional learning of teachers in areas such as middle schooling reform, enhancement of numeracy across the curriculum, development of communities of practice to achieve whole school strategic goals, and action research projects on engagement. Highly Accomplished/Lead Standards 6 & 7; minimum 40 hours.
More information: ircyf@uts.edu.au or 02 9514 2752