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Frequently Asked Questions
Advanced standards for teaching children aged 3-8 years – Where did it begin?
Early Childhood Australia is working in partnership with Teaching Australia to create the first national advanced standards for early childhood teaching.
Teaching Australia – Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership is an independent national body, funded by the Australian Government to strengthen and advance the teaching profession. Its focus is the professional practice of teaching and school leadership in all settings, sectors and jurisdictions.
Teaching Australia has been working closely with national professional associations over an extended period to develop national professional standards for advanced teaching and for principals. In this instance Teaching Australia is funding Early Childhood Australia to research and work with early childhood teachers nationally to write professional standards for advanced early childhood teaching.
The standards will be drafted for advanced early childhood teachers who teach children aged between three and eight years and may work in various settings across care and education.
The quality of teaching matters
Hattie (2003) identifies factors associated with students; their homes; their schools; the principal; peers; and their teachers as having the potential to cause variance in students' achievement. Through synthesis of the findings of other studies, he estimates that student factors 'account for about 50 per cent of the variance of achievement' (p. 1). Of the other factors, he finds that teacher factors are responsible for a further 30 per cent. The rest have minimal impact — in Hattie's view, less than 10 per cent for any of them. Hattie concludes '[i]t is what students bring to the table that predicts achievement more than any other variable' (p. 1). The task for schooling is 'to improve the trajectory of all [students]' and '[i]t is what teachers know, do, and care about which is very powerful in this learning equation' (p. 2).
Reference:
Hattie, J. (2003). Teachers make a difference. What is the research evidence?. Paper presented at the Australian Council for Educational Research Conference 19–21 October. Melbourne.
What are professional teaching standards?
The following in an excerpt from a statement about professional standards from the Directors of Teaching Australia which sets out clearly the nature and purpose of professional standards:
'Professional standards are the articulation of what a profession believes its members should know and be able to do, based on values, the experience of highly regarded practitioners and research in the field.
Professional standards are aspirational and dynamic, guiding expectations about the knowledge, understanding and values of teachers. They serve the interests of members of the profession as a tool for self-reflection and professional learning. They are not intended for use in performance management.
Like other professions, teaching is based on the specialised knowledge and skills of its members – skills developed and refined throughout the professional lives of teachers.
Standards play an important unifying role for a profession, raising its status and public esteem. The hallmark of any profession is the capacity to define its own standards of professional practice – these are the foundation for public confidence in any profession.' (Teaching Australia, 2006).
Reference:
Teaching Australia (2006). Teaching Australia Standards Statement: Our Profession – Our Future. Curriculum Leadership, 4(21). n.p.
What are advanced teaching standards?
Advanced professional standards are aspirational and grounded in a deep knowledge of teaching, in this case teaching in an early childhood setting including children aged three to eight years. They are rigorous and allow distinctions to be made between what is common practice and what is exemplary. Standards for advanced teaching:
' ... describe accomplished teachers who possess exceptional teaching skills. These teachers have moved beyond the academic knowledge level of beginning teachers, have added the practical knowledge of the experienced teacher, and have enhanced their performance with human qualities, expert knowledge and skill, and professional commitment that represents true excellence in teaching.' (Teaching Australia, 2008).
Reference:
Teaching Australia (2008). Draft Guidelines for drafting national professional standards.
What's the difference between entry level standards (i.e. standards for beginning teachers) and advanced standards?
Standards for beginning teachers bring greater clarity and focus to the outcomes expected of teacher education programs, while encouraging innovation in their delivery (ACER, 2008).
On the other hand, advanced teaching standards seek to capture what highly accomplished teachers know, understand and do. As standards for excellence, advanced teaching standards provide targets that all early childhood teachers can aspire to and work towards in their professional development.
Reference:
ACER (2008). Teaching learning and leadership. Retrieved 23 December, www.acer.edu.au/tll/Teachingstandards.html
What is the purpose of advanced standards for teaching children aged 3–8 years?
The development of professional standards for advanced teaching is important because they will:
- contribute to building a stronger early childhood profession
- be a powerful tool for increasing public recognition and increasing the status of the early childhood profession.
The professional standards for accomplished early childhood teachers will:
- provide inspiration to early childhood teachers and clarify expectations of the profession about excellent practice
- offer guidance to members of the early childhood profession seeking to improve their professional practice through self reflection, professional learning and other methods of personal professional development
- increase public recognition of the quality of the early childhood profession and understanding of the complexity and rigour or the work of teachers.
- provide a benchmark that enables the profession to identify those who are working in ways that the profession defines as exemplary.
Professional standards across the world have the potential to increase teacher effectiveness and influence positive outcomes for children. A national set of professional standards will make visible and explicit the work of accomplished early childhood teachers and illustrate that early teaching is a complex task that demands a high level of professional knowledge and skill. This will assist in raising the profile of the profession and the quality of early childhood education and care in Australia (Barblett and Maloney, 2002).
The development of professional standards for exemplary early childhood teachers is a unique opportunity to make knowledge of early childhood professional practice accessible, usable and meaningful across the profession.
Reference
Maloney , C. & Barblett, L. (2001). Quality assurance in early childhood programs: The rhetoric and the reality. Paper presented at the Australian Association of Research in Education Conference. Fremantle: 4–7 December.
Who will develop the standards?
The standards will be developed by highly accomplished early childhood teachers—that is by the profession for the profession.
Professional standards have validity when grounded in teachers' own knowledge, experience, skills and values. This project is an opportunity for early childhood teachers to shape standards that are meaningful and useful to teachers and are grounded in a deep understanding of what constitutes quality in early childhood teaching.
Have any other professional teaching associations developed advanced teaching standards?
Yes, many professional associations have developed advanced teaching standards. These include the Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers, the Australian Society for Music Education and the Australian Association of Teachers of English in conjunction with the Australian Literacy Educators Association. Information about these standards is available on their respective websites.
How will the standards be used? Will they be compulsory?
It is envisioned that the advanced teaching standards for early childhood teaching will be used voluntarily by early childhood teachers to map their own professional growth and learning.
How will the standards be developed?
The development process will be informed by the following principles developed by Teaching Australia in consultation with the teaching profession. The principles ground the standards in the professional work of teachers. They include:
- be guided by a commitment to quality in teaching, so that the standards are developed with a view to improving, informing and supporting the professional learning of both teachers and principals
- be grounded in a deep understanding of the work of teachers and a shared understanding of what constitutes quality in teaching
- be conducted by accomplished practitioners, with many teachers engaged in the process and a diversity of professional opinions sought, captured and disseminated
- include consultation with a range of stakeholders in the education community
- adopt a common language based on agreed meanings for key concepts
- build in provision for quality assurance, sharing, revision and renewal.
What will the standards look like? Is there a model?
The model used is one that has been negotiated by Teaching Australia with the teaching profession, including the early childhood teaching profession. The model comprises three related components:
- The Charter for the Australian teaching profession, Charter for the Australian Teaching Profession, statement of the core values and commitments of teachers and principals.
- Generic capabilities, generic high level statements of the discrete elements of professional knowledge and skills expected of teachers operating appropriately and effectively at a high level of expertise in the different settings in which they work.
See the Revised Draft 2008 – Advanced Teaching Capabilities – Teaching Australia at end of this document.
- Descriptors of accomplishment—elaborations, under each of the capabilities, of observable professional practice. These descriptors will contextualise the generic capabilities for early childhood teachers and are the focus of work being done by Early Childhood Australia.
The Charter and the capabilities provide a consistent, teaching profession-wide frame for describing accomplished practice.
Are there going to be different standards for teaching of different age groups?
The advanced teaching standards will be the same for all teachers of this age group. What will vary will be the evidence teachers use to demonstrate that they are meeting the standards to themselves and/or to a possible voluntary accrediting authority.
How will this work link to the teaching standards work of the state and territory authorities?
There is no formal link between the development of these standards and existing state and territory standards.
Developing advanced standards for teaching children aged 3 to 8 Years—How will this happen?
The task for Early Childhood Australia is to have multiple conversations with early childhood teachers and stakeholders in order to describe these capabilities for advanced early childhood teachers. It is these rich descriptions of teacher's work across multiple early childhood settings that will be the core work for 2008-2009.
- Early Childhood Australia calls for Expressions of Interest in being part of the Standards Working Group (SWG), the writing group and consultation and validation processes.
- A stakeholder reference group will be formed. Members of this group will ensure their constituencies are informed about the project and will themselves have the opportunity for input into the standards.
- Appointment of SWG made up of outstanding early childhood teachers who are broadly representative across states and territories and across early childhood settings.
- The SWG develops draft standards that:
- reflect on the core capabilities as described by Teaching Australia
- identify specific knowledge, skills, and attitudes that support accomplished practice, while emphasising the holistic nature of teachingin different early childhood settings.
- The standards undergo repeated drafts until they are approved for public comment.
- A draft of the standards is distributed widely to the early childhood education community and stakeholders for public comment via consultation forums in all states and territories and in regional areas where possible. Comment will also be possible via Early Childhood Australia's Advanced Teaching Standards for teachers of three to eight year olds page.
- Following consultation the SWG meets again to review and revise the document.
- The draft standards are validated by a number of excellent early childhood teachers in a range of settings/sites.
- Standards amended on the basis of this feedback.
- The near-final Early Childhood Advanced Teaching Standards document is then submitted to the Early Childhood Australia Board of Directors for official recognition.
- The final document is sent to Teaching Australia.
How can I be involved?
There are a number of ways you can be involved at various times through this process.
The Standards Working Group
This Standards Working Group (SWG) will be made up of around 10 accomplished early childhood teachers that are broadly representative of states and territories and diverse early childhood settings in which teachers teach. The role of this group is to reflect on the knowledge and skills that accomplished early childhood teachers demonstrate that describe the capabilities.
This group will have trained standards facilitator Will Morony to assist with the work of this committee. This group would meet in Canberra on the 21 and 22 of February, and later in the year on 5 September 2009. SWG members will also be asked to give timely email feedback throughout the year and attend their state or territories forum on the draft standards. The writing group of three teachers will be drawn from the Standards Committee.
The call for Expressions of Interest in being considered for membership of the Standards Working Group is at Early Childhood Teaching Standards - Expression of Interest.
The Writing Group
The teachers that will form the Writing Group will be drawn from the SWG. The Writing Group this group will develop the first draft of the standards and will be lead by Lennie Barblett, an ECA member with standards expertise. Members of the Writing Group will need to be available to work on the standards outside of meeting times and give timely feedback. It is hoped that teachers who express an interest to be part of this group have excellent written communication skills and some experience in writing. The writing group will have two additional meetings in Canberra.
Expressions of interest for the Standards Working Group and Writing Group can be found at Early Childhood Teaching Standard - Expression of Interest.
Consultation forums
Consultation forums will be held in each state and territory on the draft standards during May and June 2009. Dates, times and venues will be published closer to the date on the Early Childhood Australia website. Teachers and interested stakeholders are welcome.
Online survey
There will be an online survey about the draft standards on the ECA website from late April until mid-June 2009. This is in recognition that location and other commitments may preclude many early childhood professionals from attending the forums. Further, it is important that many voices are heard and that the SWG considers all opinions.
Trial of Standards
In late September and early October of 2009 we will need four accomplished teachers to validate the standards in their setting. This would mean reading, noting ideas and perceptions/observations about how the standards are demonstrated in your setting. Further, an independent person to the standards process will interview the teachers.
Early Childhood Australia website
The Early Childhood Australia website will have constant updates about the process and how you can be involved in the standards development process.
Revised draft capabilities, September 2008
Advanced teaching capabilities
The values and commitments in the Charter for the Australian teaching profession underpin the high levels of professional knowledge and expertise evident in advanced teaching. Advanced teaching is evident when teachers consistently demonstrate high level capability in the area of professional knowledge, professional practice and professional leadership.
Contemporary and authoritative professional knowledge and understanding of:
1.1 students and the factors that influence learning and development
1.2 effective pedagogies, assessment and reporting
1.3 teaching specialisation, such as discipline or stage of schooling
1.4 a wide range of resources, including interactive technologies and their use in teaching and learning.
Exemplary professional practice which:
2.1 builds effective relationships and manages complex interactions
2.2 creates and maintains engaging and intellectually challenging learning environments
2.3 plans, implements and evaluates rigorous and inclusive learning programs
2.4 uses assessment and constructive feedback to inform teaching and learning
2.5 communicates effectively with different audiences using a range of strategies
Active and influential professional leadership to:
3.1 contribute to school planning, development and management
3.2 encourage professional learning, critical reflection and
professional discussion, drawing on evidence to improve practice
3.3 build an environment of confidence, resilience and success
3.4 contribute to the development and renewal of the profession
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