Reports have shown that teachers, especially those new to the profession, are feeling overworked and under-resourced, but a new free resource hopes to save primary school teachers valuable time while helping them boost literacy outcomes in their classroom.
The Primary English Teaching Association Australia (PETAA) Literacy Resources Portal for Early Career Teachers is a brand-new website portal that provides practical, accessible, and tangible support for primary teachers who are new to, or early in, their primary teaching career.
The resource brings together information, articles, instructional video examples, and classroom teaching and learning materials for each content area.
Each resource on the portal is created by English and literacy teaching experts – experienced teachers and school leaders, academics, literacy consultants – and together create a compendium of essential information a new teacher can turn to as they embark on their teaching career.
Users can navigate by resources suitable for lower or upper primary; curriculum literacies (Geography, history, maths, science, drama, poetry, music); grammar and literature focus; setting up the classroom for best-practice learning; teaching strategies and pedagogy; and resources for diverse classrooms.
“Now more than ever, it is important that teachers who are new to the profession receive meaningful support as they begin their career in the classroom,” PETAA President and Associate Professor at the University of Wollongong, Pauline Jones, said.
“The PETAA Literacy Resources Portal for Early Career Teachers draws on PETAA’s rich 50-year history of creating resources and reference materials for teachers by transforming research, advice, and instructional materials created by education experts into accessible, easy to digest, highly practical guides for new teachers.”
Jones said it is vital that teachers across Australia have continued access to quality professional resources and development that provide them with the tools they need to adapt and deepen their understanding of English and literacy in order to provide every young Australian with a powerful literacy education.
“If teachers are feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of a deeper focus on phonics in their classroom, we ask them to reach out PETAA for support, training, and access to expert strategies and advice.”