A free retraining scheme will be rolled out to support Australia’s teachers in improving how students learn how to read, write, and do maths.
The new microcredential course, which teachers can complete in their own time and pace, will focus on explicit teaching, an evidence-based approach shown to help students learn by breaking down new information into smaller learning outcomes and modelling each step.
Federal Education Minister, Jason Clare, said the new explicit teaching courses will provide “vital professional development opportunities” for teachers, school leaders and other school staff.
“The reading wars are over. We know evidence-based teaching methods work and this free short course will help teachers in the classroom,” Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said.
“This will support teachers and help to improve how students learn how to read and write and do maths.”
The qualifications will also offer teachers a potential credit pathway towards post-graduate study with the School of Education at the University of Adelaide.
The Explicit Teaching Microcredential, developed by experts from the University of Adelaide, follows on from the first microcredential in Classroom Management, which went live earlier this year.
Early results from the course show promising results, with more than 1,280 educators nationwide enrolling within the first three months.
Additionally, 414 educators had begun the four-module course and completed at least one assessment task, and 46 had completed the entire microcredential – a total of 48 hours of learning.
The Federal Government says a further microcredential, Teaching Phonics, will be rolled out in early 2025.