Ms Brittany Shapcott shares why she chose to undertake her journey into the vocation of teaching through the Teaching Schools Alliance Sydney.
Teaching is a funny business. It’s a science and an art, an activity that is not just complicated (like putting a man on the moon) but complex, with infinite variables shaping the way a child learns and grows to maturity. It’s also often a fairly solitary business, with much of what a teacher does happening on their own, in their classroom, with their students. This has some real strengths. Even when increasingly burdened with regulations and compliance requirements, teachers still have a lot of agency to work with their students in ways they see best. It also has some real weaknesses. It’s hard to get better when you’re rarely seeing the work of others and having others see your work. Teacher education and professional learning is best when it’s in what the sociologist Etienne Wenger called ‘communities of practice’ — environments where our work, our beliefs, our thinking is positively shaped by those around us.
That’s one of the big reasons why we have a Research Office, seeking to bring teachers together in communities of practice, and open up the classroom and the College to shape and be shaped by best practice beyond ourselves. One of the most significant projects we have been part of is the establishment in 2020 of the Teaching Schools Alliance Sydney. With five Sydney schools coming together to train their own teachers, the TSAS uses the time-proven Clinical Teaching Model to encourage bright and vocation-oriented Christians into the teaching profession and form their thinking and practice, not just in textbooks, but ‘on the job’ from day one.
Trainees work 1-day per week with a Teacher Mentor while completing their Bachelor or Master of Teaching in an online and face-to-face cohort. Rather than conducting a few practicum placements, they graduate with up to 350 days of classroom experience, as well as all that comes with being part of a school community. We have been delighted to see four Trainee Teachers join the College since last year: Ms Brittany Shapcott, Ms Tara Harman, Mr Ian Kim and Ms Elena Petschack. They have all been a blessing to the students and teachers they serve, and will go on to significant careers in education.
Dr Caitlin Munday leads the TSAS in addition to her part-time role at the College as Research Fellow (Professional Learning).
To find out more about this unique program, please visit the Teaching School Alliance Sydney website.
The Alliance be holding its final virtual information session for 2021 via Zoom on Tuesday 22 September, 7:30-8:15pm. Details and registration can be found here.
If you know someone who would make an outstanding Christian teacher, please share the details and invite them to contact Dr Munday, Director of the Teaching Schools Alliance Sydney, at director@teachingschoolsalliancesydney.org.
Dr Hugh Chilton
Director of Research and Professional Learning
That’s one of the big reasons why we have a Research Office, seeking to bring teachers together in communities of practice, and open up the classroom and the College to shape and be shaped by best practice beyond ourselves. One of the most significant projects we have been part of is the establishment in 2020 of the Teaching Schools Alliance Sydney. With five Sydney schools coming together to train their own teachers, the TSAS uses the time-proven Clinical Teaching Model to encourage bright and vocation-oriented Christians into the teaching profession and form their thinking and practice, not just in textbooks, but ‘on the job’ from day one.
Trainees work 1-day per week with a Teacher Mentor while completing their Bachelor or Master of Teaching in an online and face-to-face cohort. Rather than conducting a few practicum placements, they graduate with up to 350 days of classroom experience, as well as all that comes with being part of a school community. We have been delighted to see four Trainee Teachers join the College since last year: Ms Brittany Shapcott, Ms Tara Harman, Mr Ian Kim and Ms Elena Petschack. They have all been a blessing to the students and teachers they serve, and will go on to significant careers in education.
Dr Caitlin Munday leads the TSAS in addition to her part-time role at the College as Research Fellow (Professional Learning).
To find out more about this unique program, please visit the Teaching School Alliance Sydney website.
The Alliance be holding its final virtual information session for 2021 via Zoom on Tuesday 22 September, 7:30-8:15pm. Details and registration can be found here.
If you know someone who would make an outstanding Christian teacher, please share the details and invite them to contact Dr Munday, Director of the Teaching Schools Alliance Sydney, at director@teachingschoolsalliancesydney.org.
Dr Hugh Chilton
Director of Research and Professional Learning
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