AISWA creates and delivers high quality Professional Learning (PL) so that schools can keep up with the ever-changing educational landscape. These PL experiences include school-based training, seminars, hands-on workshops, conferences, network meetings, study tours, online courses, licensed/partnership training initiatives and one-on-one consultations.
We invite you to browse our PL Event Calendar and join us to work together for excellence in education!
Overview
- What types of PL are available?
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The PL Event Calendar uses the following tags to help Members and guests with choices:
- In-Person - events where colleagues enjoy face-to-face collaborations with each other and the presenters.
- Webinar - real-time online events where participants connect with the presenter and with colleagues
- On Demand - undertake anywhere-anytime online learning, open for a semester.
- Mixed Mode - multi-date PL events where different sessions are delivered in different modes (above) for different types of outcomes.
- Member - this event has discounted pricing for individuals from Member schools. A Member account is required. Schools can be invoiced.
- Non-Member - this event is open to all. Any Non-Member (guest) requires a website account. Payment is by credit card only.
- Topic tag - key words that indicate the related area of education or administration.
- What agendas drive AISWA PL ?
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AISWA's PL opportunities are offered in line with the key agendas of the:
The breadth and diversity that is available to teachers and leaders provides the opportunity for all students to succeed at school and contribute to their worlds beyond schooling. The offerings contribute towards imparting the skills and capacities young people need to be productive members of the workforce and their communities, give young people access to a broad swath of knowledge and ideas and inculcate the desire and ability to learn throughout life.
The path of school improvement is never ending and one of AISWA's roles is to work with schools to support their progress along that path. AISWA PL is developed or negotiated by AISWA’s team of consultants to support the wide range of professional needs of school staff including teaching, leadership, governing, administrative and support personnel.
- Is there PL tailored specifically for Leadership?
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Our Leadership and Teaching Excellence team designs PL seminars, workshops and courses that are focused on the needs of those in leadership roles and on leadership growth pathways. The HALT certification course is an example. Members can find more Leadership and Teaching Excellence information in the Member Portal.
Search 'Leadership' and 'Governance' on the the PL Event Calendar.
- Is PL available for non-teaching staff?
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Yes there is. Examples include:
- AISWA Leaders Conference
- Media Training
- Industrial Relations
- Business Managers PL
- IT Managers Seminars
Image: Hands-on PL in the AISWA Tech Hub
PL in Partnership - licensed and research partnerships
AISWA Consultants are trained and accredited in the delivery of specialty programs and can therefore offer these within our PL Event portfolio. Consultants also partner with various organisations to deliver well-recognised Australian and international PL programs.
- Little Scientists
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Little Scientist Australia is supported through the Australian Government’s National Innovation and Science Agenda. It promotes engagement with Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths experiences for Children 3-6 years old. AISWA is an official partner, trusted to deliver the licensed program.
Early childhood is the most intense period of learning in a lifelong learning process. Young children are natural scientists as they question, inquire, hypothesise, explore, investigate and theorise. The Little Scientist program introduces young children to the scientific inquiry process and encourages educators to provide scientific investigations on a daily basis.
Through hands-on activities, children build up a collection of experiences that support their emerging theories about how the world works. These core experiences become the building blocks of future STEM curriculum in the primary years. Once a module is completed, each participant receives resource cards to take back to their classrooms. Current modules include:
- Air
- Light/Optics
- Acoustics
- Engineering
- Design & technologies
- Computer Science
- Mathematics
- Human Body
- Chemical Reactions
- Sharp Reading
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Through a unique partnership with SharpReading, AISWA provides fully accredited consultants who deliver a range of workshops targeted to specific groups of teachers and students across Western Australia. The program targets 6 – 15 year old readers.
SharpReading provides teachers with a comprehensive approach to the explicit teaching of reading strategies; decoding, constructing meaning, and critical thinking, through guided reading. The developmental progression facilitates the targeting of readers of all ages.
SharpReading is recommended as a whole school approach so our consultants are happy to deliver workshops and in-school support on-site at member schools to meet the needs of the school.
Full-day workshops for a mixed school audience are also available. Details can be found on the AISWA PL Event Calendar.
- AERO - Aust. Ed. Research Organisation
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AISWA has formally engaged with AERO to conduct research into effective, evidence-based practices in schools.
The Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) is Australia's national education evidence body. In 2023 and 2024 AISWA will partner with AERO and their investigation of successful professional learning programs. The research will focus on AISWA's High Impact Practices (HIPs). The HIPs are based on the High Impact Teaching Strategies, a series of evidence-based instructional practices related to what works to improve student learning in Australian classrooms and across the world.
The findings from this AERO research will inform future practices that support teachers and educators to implement what they have learned through professional learning programs in practical and sustainable ways.
Additional information on this project can be found at AERO's website or obtained by emailing the AISWA Curriculum and Pedagogies team.
- NoTosh - Leading Design Thinking for Learning
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NoTosh Design Thinking is a creative process. It works in every environment, from the classroom to the boardroom, helping you see things you hadn’t seen before and discover things you didn’t know you needed to discover!
The NoTosh program includes 3 core sessions (Incubator Days) and 2 face-to-face sessions (School Visits). The Incubator Days are presented by NoTosh as collaborative group sessions, giving participants a chance to meet and interact with the other participating schools. As the program progresses, schools are required to choose two days for NoTosh to visit them. These sessions provide one-on-one coaching, allowing NoTosh to individually track each project with personalised support and feedback. In addition to the 5 program days, there is also ongoing online support from both NoTosh and AISWA, throughout the entire program.
- Amplify - Deeper Engagement in Learning
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Amplify was an initiative from AISWA and Innovation Unit Australia. The aim was to increase the proportion of Australian students who are deeply engaged in their learning, through the development of teaching, learning and assessment practices that promote engagement.
Over the year, and beyond, AISWA worked with interested schools to establish a ‘community of practice’. We provide the professional learning, support and work with the ‘community of practice’ to develop and implement bold new professional practices that engaged students in meaningful learning.
Communities of practice create opportunities for collaboration and partnership across different contexts. They enable schools to:
- share activities and resources (intellectual and physical) that might not otherwise be possible as a single school
- help to accurately calculate and manage risk
- expand opportunities to be creative about common challenges
- develop a more robust evidence base for their work
Example Case Studies
"Amplify became an umbrella and the facilitating tool for the Junior School to initiate significant change; it gave a pathway for this to happen and involved all members of the community."
"Staff showed high levels of commitment and motivation in a school that can only be described as extraordinary."
- share activities and resources (intellectual and physical) that might not otherwise be possible as a single school
- Author and Illustrator Visits - Children's Laureate
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AISWA has provided ongoing access, for member schools, to well-known children's authors and illustrators from around Australia. AISWA has worked in partnership with the Australian Children’s Laureate Foundation (ACLF) since 2015 to make many of these visits possible. ACLF is an independent, not-for-profit organisation, founded in 2008 to champion and promote the transformational power of reading in the lives of young Australians. ACLF is a collegial and inclusive organisation with representation from across the field of children's and young adult literature.
Through 'invitation only' opportunities, we connect students from remote and low ICSEA value schools to quality and authentic opportunities that support their learning and engagement.
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Meet the Author/Illustrator Visits
A 'meet the author/illustrator' session is presented to students and staff in schools. After an initial talk, there is time for interacting with students and answering questions from the group. Time is also allocated to signing books for students and the school library.
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Writing Workshops for Students
Students with a particular interest in writing work with visiting authors as they share their writing inspirations, ideas and processes, guiding students through a writing experience.
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Author/Illustrator in Residence Placements
When possible, authors/illustrators are invited to work in schools over a period of time on a residency placement.
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Expression of Interest:
To inquire about a school visit or student workshop, please complete the Author Visit EOI Form.
AISWA also provides the following access to opportunities for all member schools during scheduled PL events and can assist all schools with negotiating visits from authors and illustrators.
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Parent and Community Events
Visiting author/illustrators will often present a workshop for parents and community members hosted by a member school.
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Teacher Professional Learning Sessions
Authors and illustrators present engaging Professional Learning sessions for educators, librarians and school staff.
Australian Children's Laureates - Remote school visit highlights
In late July 2016, Children's Laureate Leigh Hobbs along with Ann James, illustrator, author and friend, travelled about 4,000 kilometres to spend a week with students at Purnululu School in Western Australia's Kimberley region.
Leigh Hobbs: ‘...working with the kids at Purnululu was the reason for the trip – and very much the highlight. And what funny, enthusiastic and spirited kids these are: ready to grasp new ideas and run with them. I feel that I came away having learned more than I’d taught.'
Members can read about - and apply for - the Australian Children's Laureate Foundation school visits in the Member Portal. Authors have included:
- 2022 - 23 Gabrielle Wang
- 2020 - 21 Ursula Dubosarsky
- 2018 - 19 Morris Gleitzman
- 2016 - 17 Leigh Hobbs
- 2014 -15 Jackie French
- 2012 -13 Alison Lester
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- Australian Institute of Company Directors
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Content pending. please check here later.
