The Federal Government and the Edith Cowan University (ECU) have launched a new employment-based pathway providing compensation for eligible students as they gather more qualifications for teaching.
Referred to as the High Achieving Teachers (HAT) program, the teaching pathway aims to resolve the shortage in educators within the country. According to the ECU School of Education, executive dean professor Caroline Mansfield, ECU serves as the only university in Western Australia that will provide the program.
“It allows recent non-teaching graduates and career changers looking for something rewarding the opportunity to attain a Master of Teaching while earning an income,” explained Mansfield.
The executive dean added that while the university was responsible for providing more than half of the number of teachers in Western Australia, there is a need for more educators.
“This is an innovative way of boosting the number of people entering the profession,” said Mansfield.
An innovative program for new teachers
Through the HAT program, successful applicants will be able to study one of the three Master of Teaching courses which are early childhood, primary, and secondary education. In contrast to the current coursework schedule for the three master’s degrees, the student’s study will centre itself around the four Western Australian school terms.
Mansfield explained that this will help in improving the alignment of school needs and will help in enhancing the theory-practice connections of students as well as make the transition of participants who have school-age children more convenient since they don’t have to work during school holidays.
The program will allow students to receive compensation while they study and simultaneously work in a classroom since their first year in the program. Eligible students will be assigned to one of the HAT partnership schools of ECU which may be a public, Catholic, or an independent school.
People who have a bachelor’s degree and would like to transition to the field of teaching such as recent graduates who have a non-teaching degree, students in their final year who will be graduating with a non-teaching degree this year, and people who want to switch careers to teaching can join the program.
Mansfield said that the program will be geared for individuals who have strong undergraduate results as well as those who graduated with a STEM-related degree. Applicants will be screened with their personal qualities being assessed in order to determine if they are suitable for the profession.
To know more about the HAT program, interested applicants can head to the official website of the ECU.