From February next year, secondary teachers who teach digital technologies or design and technologies despite not being qualified in those subjects will be eligible to upskill by undertaking a graduate certificate for free with Deakin University.
Deakin School of Education Associate Professor Julianne Lynch said chronic staff shortages meant out-of-field teaching was an issue across Victoria, particularly in regional areas.
Almost half of the teachers currently teaching technology classes in state schools do not have any formal qualification in those areas, which puts pressure on teachers and reduces subject options for students.
“Technology subjects are among the hardest learning areas to recruit in due to staff shortages and they have the highest rates of out-of-field teaching,” Associate Professor Lynch said.
“More and more we are seeing teachers being required to fill staffing gaps in the curriculum and having to oversee classes they are not qualified to teach.
“Our new graduate certificates will give them the support they need to deliver the course content effectively and confidently.
“For regional teachers, this is an opportunity to access learning that is otherwise difficult to get to.
“They will get to connect with teachers from other schools to share resources and experiences and to build their professional networks in technology teaching.”
A Deakin University report last year found Australia’s teacher shortage was stunting students’ ability to learn critical maths, technology and science subjects.
Education lecturer John Cripps Clark said the new qualifications were vital to strengthening the delivery of these classes and improving student outcomes.
“It is crucial that we have educators capable of equipping students with the knowledge, skills and dispositions they need for the jobs of the future,” Dr Cripps Clark said.
The course content will be delivered part-time over two years via a combination of face-to-face intensives and after-school online workshops, both comprising of four units.
Educators currently teaching Years 7 to 10 at Victorian state schools are eligible to apply, with online information sessions to be held on Tuesday, August 1 and Thursday, August 3 from 4pm to 5pm for interested applicants.
Expressions of Interest for both graduate certificates are open and will close on Friday, September 1.
Schools will also be funded to provide teachers with time out of the classroom to complete their studies in the courses.
Those eligible will also have their travel and accommodation costs covered by the Victorian Department of Education where required.
The new graduate certificates
Graduate Certificate of Secondary Design and Technologies
The Technologies and Society and Creating Design Solutions strands of the Victorian Curriculum: Design and Technologies are explored through all four units, with an emphasis on the four Technologies Contexts in the central two units.
Teachers will develop a more powerful and sophisticated understanding of the design process and systems thinking.
This will allow them to integrate a range of innovative and traditional materials and technologies into their teaching practice.
Graduate Certificate of Secondary Digital Technologies
The units integrate the three interconnected strands of the Victorian Curriculum: Digital Technologies (Creating digital solutions, Data and information and Digital systems) to further participants’ pedagogical content knowledge and skills.
The first three units support teachers to develop their knowledge and professional skills within the strands of the Digital Technologies secondary curriculum.
Unit 4 provides an opportunity for teachers to draw on the knowledge built in the previous units to investigate, design, develop, communicate and refine curriculum resources that respond to the circumstances, contexts and opportunities of their own schools.
All units involve experiential, hands-on learning, where teachers will identify, develop and share teaching and learning resources.
For more information or to register for an information session, head to schools.vic.gov.au/secondary-sciences-technologies-and-mathematics-sstm-initiative
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