Introducing NESA endorsed PD for teachers

At Atomi we are delighted to offer NESA endorsed professional development for teachers, having successfully satisfied the criteria and processes for the endorsement of high quality professional development for teachers. We were recently granted Category 2 endorsement for Standard 3 - Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning and Category 1 endorsement for our Standard 6 - Engage in professional learning for our course on Change Management in Teaching and Learning at the Proficient teacher level.

How important is professional development for teachers?

Just ask any parent what they want for their school-aged children; above all else the response is the best teacher possible in every classroom. The most important factor contributing to student success in school is the quality of teaching and the best way to achieve that is through quality professional learning. Research shows that an inspiring and informed teacher is the most important school-related factor influencing student achievement.

High quality professional development (PD) helps teachers to continuously improve and maintain their teaching practice and develop their careers and their students’ understanding.
–NESA, 2018

What it means for us?

Category 2 endorsement is a broad endorsement - with Category 2 endorsement for Standard 3, we can continue to develop more courses for teaching and learning to deliver during our 5 year endorsement period.

Category 1 endorsement is course specific - and we will continue to seek out and develop courses upon demand in any areas in which our partner schools seek support.

What it means for teachers?

Professional development is designed to help us keep up to-date with the most recent advances in knowledge and skills including pedagogy, curriculum and wellbeing, in order to have the greatest impact on student learning.

Every teacher maintaining accreditation needs to complete at least 100 hours of professional development during their maintenance cycle (5 years for full-time teachers, 7 years for casual and part-time). The 100 hours are broken into two categories:

1. NESA Registered Professional Development
2. Teacher Identified Professional Development (TIPD)

Teachers need to complete at least 50 hours of NESA Registered professional development. The balance of your 100 hours can comprise TIPD, further NESA Registered professional development, or a combination of both. With thousands of courses available online, having a provider like us you know and trust to deliver helps make the choice easier.

One constant finding in the research literature is that notable improvements in education almost never take place in the absence of professional development… Professional development is key to meeting today’s educational demands.
—Guskey, 2000

Why are we investing in teacher professional development?

Since 2013 we have provided quality online video content for students and teachers. With over 2500 titles on a solid platform, which now has seamless integration with a number of LMSs, it was a natural evolution for us to develop the third really important element to our school partnership program - quality support and training, hence our investment in NESA endorsed professional development.

Research and experience help us recognise that quality ongoing professional development that deepens teachers’ knowledge and pedagogical skills; provides opportunities for practice, research, and reflection; and includes efforts that are job embedded, sustained, and collaborative will assist in the goal of remaining up-to-date.
—Sparks, 2002

Feedback

With over 1 million video lessons delivered since 2013, 70 000 student and teacher subscriptions, exposure in about 850 schools across NSW, as well as recent international growth into the UK and Asia, we have a pretty good handle on what teachers want and need thanks to the feedback from so many teachers in our partner schools. We have responded with an emphasis on these five key priorities:

• More time
• Quality resources
• Measurable results
• Simple technology
• Professional development and training time

Our Mission

Providing quality resources is what we do best, buying teachers back time in the classroom to do what you do best - teach.

Giving you the tools, resources and training to ensure you’re spending your time on the things that really matter - things like:

• Assessment
• Feedback
• Professional development
• Higher order skills such as critical thinking and analysis
• Broader learning beyond the textbook resources
• Higher-orderA differentiated and individual learning experience

What courses are we offering?

Our courses have now been uploaded onto the NESA registry - we currently have seven courses satisfying Standard 3, specialising in video learning, blended and flipped learning as well as one on how technology influences and impacts pedagogy. We also have one course satisfying Standard 6 on change management in teaching and learning, all at the Proficient teacher level.

What’s in the pipeline?

We are currently developing more courses for Standard 3 and Standard 6 at the Proficient Teacher level as well as the Highly Accomplished and Lead Teacher Levels. We are also happy to hear from you if you are after something specific that we can work on together to develop and deliver for your staff.

At the moment all our courses are designed for face-to-face delivery, but we know it’s really important to be able to reach as many of our partner schools as possible so in time all of our courses will be available as webinars with face-to-face follow-up where requested.

We are also investigating our professional development offerings for leadership. Some of the broad topics we can tailor in a mentoring program for aspiring and current senior leaders in curriculum and administrative leadership, aimed at Highly Accomplished and Lead Teachers which may include:

• Change management
• Mentoring
• Performance review
• People management
• Conflict resolution
• Student behaviour management
• Risk management
• Registration and accreditation
• Policy writing and implementation
• Staff and student wellbeing

Get in touch

So, if you are interested in pursuing one of our current offerings or discussing something we can tailor specifically for your school, feel free to contact us at pd@getatomi.com and we can get started.