Offered by the University of Adelaide, and designed for both primary and secondary educators, the self-paced course is aligned to the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers at the highly accomplished level.
Funded by the Federal Government, the targeted course is part of the broader National Teacher Workforce Action Plan and builds on the Engaged Classrooms initiative, which is developing free classroom management resources for teachers.
EducationHQ reported on the course in its preparatory phase in November, when three topics were decided upon for the courses, the others being explicit teaching strategies and phonics.
Head of the University of Adelaide’s School of Education, Professor Susan James Relly, said that, for teachers, updating their learning is incredibly important to them.
“... as teachers, it’s part of their professional identity, and so what these micro-credentials allow, being all online, is the flexibility that they can dip in and out when time pressures allow,” Relly told EducationHQ.
Relly said the micro-credentials offer teachers credit towards post-graduate award study with the School of Education.
“These types of credentials provide a learning opportunity for teachers to further build on their expertise and knowledge in the classroom,” Relly said.
“We’ve got fabulous teachers in this country, but they might not have had, or been in, a university learning environment since they did their degrees, which could be 10, 15, 20 years ago, and these micro-credentials are based on the most recent and relevant research.”
Taking an estimated 48 hours to complete, the micro-credential course will see participants “investigate strategies for creating safe, predictable, productive and orderly learning environments that foster routines, build trust, cultivate a sense of community and support more engaged and productive learning”.
Stamping out disruptive behaviour in Australian classrooms was the focus of a Senate inquiry last year, which resulted in a call for the introduction of a national ‘behaviour curriculum’ and explicit teaching to turn around poor learning environments at scale.
According to behaviour expert Dr Tim McDonald, who was involved with the inquiry and has spoken about the scripts and routines that create calm and safe classrooms, student behaviour will be improved if three key ideas attract mainstream recognition.
In a recent paper published by the Centre for Independent Studies, McDonald argued that:
- Managing student behaviour is about learning. Learning is the result of good management. To maximise learning in the classroom, it is necessary to teach the students how to behave.
- Behaviour needs to be taught explicitly to all students. Instruction in behaviour is central to effective classroom management. The teaching of behaviour needs to be planned, resourced and rehearsed just like any academic content.
- Behaviour as a curriculum needs to be the norm across Australian schools. If behaviour is incorporated in the national curriculum, it would lift standards of behaviour and learning productivity in classrooms. This would also to help lessen the disadvantage gap between schools.
The expert has previously spoken out about the lack of practical training preservice teachers receive when it comes to behaviour management.
“I suppose I was shocked; I came from this pupil referral unit, dealing with very challenging young people, and went to university and all they were dealing with was theory.
“There was no practical work whatsoever … we were talking about [a whole lot of stuff] that I just knew wasn’t going to prepare these young people (for the classroom),” he told EducationHQ.
ACER’s latest report on the 2022 PISA results found the disciplinary climate in Australian maths classrooms is one of the worst amongst comparable countries across the OECD, and that our student outcomes are suffering because of it.
According to students, noise, disorder, distraction and disruption are common in many classes across the country, the analysis found.
Education Minister Jason Clare said the new micro-credential course would have direct and positive impact on children’s learning.
“This evidence-based, free short course will help teachers build on their skills in classroom management,” Clare said.
“It will support new and experienced teachers and help to improve student learning outcomes.”
Within the course, teachers will:
- Explore ways to anticipate and reduce unproductive behaviours and manage more challenging behaviours;
- Critically reflect on the application of different strategies in their context;
- Examine and refine their practice through an optional ‘Action Research’ project;
- Connect with an online community for discussion and reflection, and;
- Access, share and contribute to a repository of relevant teaching resources.
Participants will also be able to work toward a potential credit pathway for postgraduate study at the University of Adelaide.
The course also counts towards the annual 20-hour professional learning requirement for teachers in order to maintain their registration.
In 2022, the Quality Initial Teacher Education Review found many teachers felt underprepared for the job in key areas including behaviour management, using explicit teaching strategies and teaching phonics.
In response, the Government has invested more than $3.3 million for the University of Adelaide to develop these micro-credentials so that teachers from all career stages can upskill in these areas with ’minimum disruption’ to their work.
The upcoming courses in explicit teaching and teaching phonics are set to be rolled out in the coming months.
Registration details can be found here.
