DTL Essay
DTL Essay
DTL Essay
Assignment Essay
”Not just anyone can teach. I know from personal experience that many people have given it a
go, but frankly, they just can’t do it. Teaching is a vocation and a profession. Through the
Australian Professional Standards for Teachers, teachers and leaders in Australia have set very
high standards about what someone needs to achieve to teach in an Australian classroom.”
Consider the quote from Lisa Rogers above. Write a 2,000-word critical discussion about
Teaching is an honorable profession, but it is definitely not suitable for everyone. It can truly be
quoted here that “Not just anyone can teach” (Molloy, 2019). Teaching is a profession that has
its own limits and boundaries, its own requirements and professionalism. In Australia, the whole
setup has been designed in a way that ensures people involved in education are focused and
dedicated to their professions. Leaders and teachers in Australia have set high standards
considered as a very dedicating profession and thus in order to be a good teacher, a person needs
high levels of patience. It requires dedication and both short and long term goals. The four
foundation concepts of teaching include the standards set by Australian Government for
professional teachers, the comprehensive national curriculum, the quality teaching model set
by New South Wales Government and the national assessment plan for literacy and numeracy.
I agree to the notion that teaching is not a suitable profession for a naïve and inept person. This
essay will entail these four foundations set by Australian institute of teachers and leaders to
statement of the elements of a quality teacher. These standards explain the job of teachers and
make clear the fundamentals of high-quality, operative teaching in this era schools that will
enhance educational consequences for students. The standards help in attaining high quality in
Essay on Foundations of Teaching 4
teaching by rendering a framework that make it easy to understand the practice, knowledge and
professional engagement needed across the teaching profession. They illicit a comprehensive
teachers, professional associations and general public. The APST (Australian Professional
Standards for Teachers) consists of seven Standards that sketch out the responsibilities and
overlapping. These standards are gathered into three domains of this profession including
The first one is professional knowledge. Teachers appeal on a frame of professional research and
knowledge to reflect to the requirements of their students inside their learning contexts. Teachers
should be well aware of the backgrounds of their pupils as knowing the distinctive characteristics
of individual student will help in understanding the individual needs of a student. This helps in
understanding the experiences of students that are being brought up into their classrooms and
that may impact their continued learning. Teachers should know the way to structure or frame
their lessons to fulfill the social, intellectual and physical development and traits of their students
(Simon & Hicks, 2006). They should know that contents of their curriculum and subjects. They
should know and comprehend the basic structure, concepts and enquiry processes pertinent to
programs they impart. Teachers should understand the basic constituents of developmentally
appropriate and effective strategies in their teaching and learning programs and use this
techniques may develop numeracy and literacy in students. Thus, they are able to utilize
Essay on Foundations of Teaching 5
communication technology and information to expand and contextualize the breadth and modes
Professional Practice domain involves practicing the teaching skills and knowledge. The teachers
have the capacity to create and maintain inclusive, safe and challenging learning environments
and implement equitable and fair behavior management strategies. The communication
teaching approaches and exercise them to enforce ingenious teaching lessons and courses. These
teaching practices are hence frequently evaluated to make sure that the knowledge needs of
pupils are well fulfilled. They use and interpret student assessment information to evaluate the
difficulties they may have in comprehending core concepts and thus amend the teaching
much better. The teachers function efficiently throughout the learning and teaching cycle,
comprising organization for learning and evaluation, evolving learning programs, evaluating,
Professional engagement domain entails the way teachers’ exhibit effective learning. For the
purpose, teachers need to recognize their personal learning needs and analyze, expand and
evaluate their professional learning both individually and collegially. Teachers should display
professionalism and respect while interacting with their colleagues, students, community and
parents. The teacher’s engagement process should consist of knowledge transfer inside and
beyond the schoolroom to augment the learning environment for learners. They should
understand the linkage between home, school and public in the intellectual and social
The standard descriptors and focus areas recognize the constituents of quality teaching at every
career stage. They establish agreed features of the multifaceted course of teaching. An
operational teacher has the ability to apply and assimilate knowledge, professional engagement
and practice as framed in the Standard Descriptors to develop teaching environments where
In Australia, there exists a national curriculum, “The Australian Curriculum”, which offers
teachers, schools, parents, community and the students with a precise understanding of the
learning needs of students. Thus it renders a homogenous learning mechanism for all
content of curriculum to be taught, a standardized achievement criteria that has to be met by each
student and the relaxation for teachers to modify and personalize the learning process and
Non-government, territory and state education establishments are responsible for conveying the
Australian Curriculum, comprising decisions regarding the classroom resources and practice and
implementation timeframes that balance teaching of the national Curriculum. It includes eight
key subjects i.e. mathematics, English, Humanities, Science, Social sciences, Health and
Physical Education, Technologies, Languages and the Arts. It includes seven general
competences (Killen, 2013). These competencies include numeracy, literacy, creative and critical
thinking, social and personal capability, communication and information technology, ethical
include Sustainability, Asia and Australia’s Engagement with Asia, Torres Strait Islanders and
Aboriginal Cultures and Histories. This curriculum is designed to satisfy the requirements of
students by rendering a contemporary, relevant and engaging curriculum that is based on the
Declaration that, three core areas were needed to be tackled in order to provide benefit to
individuals as well as Australia as a whole. These core areas included general capabilities,
learning areas and cross-curricular priorities thus framing a three dimensional model. These key
areas hence have become priorities in the Australian Curriculum that provide students with the
language and tools to engage with the world and better understand it at various levels. These
priorities will encourage the communications between students, communities, and teachers and
In academic pursuit, Pedagogy refers to the study of the way skills and knowledge are exchanged
within an educational context and it reflects the interactions that happen during the learning
process. As mentioned afore the first and foremost foundation laid by Australian government in
instituting strong framework for quality education by setting the standards for professional
teaching (Sutherland, Howard & Markauskaite, 2010). These standards assist the preparation,
sustenance and progress of teachers. The NSW Quality Teaching model was initially introduced
in 2003. Soon after its inception, the leaders and teachers soon realized its potential for
enhancing the personal and the overall teaching quality within the school and how the idea of
shared quality teaching may impact the whole school environment (Education.gov.au., 2019). It
provides a lens with which the quality of practical teaching can be assessed all across the school
Essay on Foundations of Teaching 8
environment, at various stages as well as in particular subject areas. It has been presented below.
The NSW Quality Teaching model includes eighteen elements and three dimensions. This
model provides the ability to understand deeply the constituents of quality in teaching. The
dimensions of quality learning environment, intellectual quality, and significance render the
necessary framework to ponder about and discourse all features of teaching, supported by an
All learners’ needs can be met by enhancing the intellectual quality of the educational programs
developed and facilitated. Upon establishing a quality learning environment, it is ensured that all
students are well supported to engage in their personal learning process and thus become lifelong
learners. In order to show the significance of students learning dots can be joined. This therefore
ensures that within the classroom learning and teaching both are viewed as inter-connected and
significant to each individual student within the classroom. By engaging with the Quality
Essay on Foundations of Teaching 9
teaching model, teachers can ascertain their performance within their classrooms. This
framework has been incorporated in all learning and teaching programs to make sure that quality
education is being delivered all over the school and serves as a means of providing teachers with
a stage for critical analysis and reflection of present teaching practice, and thus can be utilized
Education, 2008).
The NAPLAN or National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy pertains to a series of
examinations based on basic skills that are undertaken each year to Australian students. Students’
skills like language (grammar, spelling and punctuation), writing, reading and numeracy are
undertaken by the ACARA or Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. This
Council. NAPLAN is being administered in all territories and states in the month of MAY each
year since its inception. It is a component of the NAP that has been utilized to report and monitor
the achievement of students in a consistent and comparable way. Since it’s the one and only
examination that can be considered as cohort national examination that students have to
undertake therefore, it is the only examination that can render nationally comparable information
regarding numeracy and literacy throughout the country (Anderson, Ewing and Gibson, 2019).
The Australian students’ results in NAPLAN are substantial measure of the assessment of
national education system as these scores exhibit that performance of young Australians and thus
enable in assessing the performance of teachers in equipping these students with critical
numeracy and literacy skills. This test encompasses both national and the territory and state
level. Testing and particularly NAPLAN, render information regarding the way students are
progressing within their schools as well the way they are performing in comparison to their peers
Essay on Foundations of Teaching 10
all across Australia. NAPLAN data also helps the government in making resourcing decisions
thus helping in directing funds to the priority areas. It helps teachers by providing access to the
outcomes of students for each question which then can be further utilized by them in developing
appropriate treatment strategies for the enhancement of outcomes. NAPLAN helps the parents by
rendering information regarding the performance of children against the national standards and
not only confined to classroom. Similarly NAPLAN helps students by providing the opportunity
to demonstrate their learning skills on a national level (Zionts, Shellady & Zionts, 2006).
While going through the four foundations that are necessary to provide high quality education in
Australia, it has been evidenced that teaching is not a job for everybody. It requires thoughtful
understanding of the concepts as well as the understanding of the standards that have been set
flexible, patient and considerate. Therefore it is correctly that teaching is not everybody’s cup of
delivering their role as a teacher and benefitting the community as a whole. Professional teaching
hence requires the transfer of knowledge in the most efficient manner. Until and unless a person
knows the basics of conveying their thoughts and concepts while keeping in consideration the
References
Anderson, M., Ewing, R., & Gibson, R. (2019). Retrieved from https://sydney.edu.au/education-
portfolio/ei/synergy/pdfs/2633.pdf
Formosa, L. & Dixon, R. M. (2004). The NSW DET's Quality Teaching Framework and the
realities of a special education classroom. In P. Jeffery (Eds.), AARE International
Research Conference (pp. 1-8). Coldstream Victoria: AARE Inc..
Gough, E. (2019). Topic 3. Introduction to the Quality Teaching Framework (QTF) and the
Australian Prof…. Retrieved from https://edufolios.org/emilygough/2018/08/09/topic-3-
introduction-to-the-quality-teaching-framework-qtf-and-the-australian-professional-
standards-for-teachers/
Hattie, J. (2003). Teachers make a difference: What is the research evidence? Background paper
to presentation at ACER Research Conference, Melbourne, October 19-21.
Hayes, D., Mills, M., Christie, P. & Lingard, B. (2005). Teachers and schooling making a
difference: Productive pedagogies, assessment and performance. Sydney: Allen &
Unwin.
Hudson, S., Hudson, P., Weatherby-Fell, N. and Shipway, B. (2016). Graduate Standards for
Teachers: Final-year Preservice Teachers Potentially Identify the Gaps. Australian
Journal of Teacher Education, pp.135-151.
Essay on Foundations of Teaching 12
Killen, R. (2013). Foundations for effective teaching. In Effective teaching strategies: Lessons
from research and practice (pp 1-44). Victoria, Australia: Cengage Learning
New South Wales Department of Education and Training. (2003). Quality Teaching in NSW
public schools: Discussion Papers. Sydney : Author.
Simon, H., & Hicks, J. (2006). Opening doors: Using the creative arts in learning and teaching.
Arts & Humanities in Higher Education, 5 (1), 77-90.
Sutherland, L., Howard, S., & Markauskaite, L. (2010). Professional identity creation:
Examining the development of beginning preservice teachers' understanding of their
work as teachers. Teaching and teacher education, 26(3), 455-465.
Zionts, L. T., Shellady, S. M., & Zionts, P. (2006). Teachers' perceptions of professional
standards: Their importance and ease of implementation. Preventing School Failure:
Alternative Education for Children and Youth, 50(3), 5-12.