Mastery Teaching Pathway

A tailored specialised effective teaching platform

The Mastery Teaching Pathway (MTP) is Good to Great Schools Australia’s unique professional learning platform. It supports schools who are seeking to improve their student outcomes through effective teaching and family engagement.

Mastery Teaching Pathway is built on evidence-based, internationally acknowledged, quality teaching practices.

Graduates of the pathway are able to successfully apply effective teaching they learnt to any curriculum or education program in classrooms across Australian schools and get improved student outcomes.

National standards

Mastery Teaching Pathway standards map to the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership’s (AITSL) Australian Professional Standard for Principals (Principal Standards) and Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (Teacher Standards). Teaching Assistant standards are also informed by the national Diploma of Education.

The standards detail the elements of high-quality, effective teaching in schools that are likely to improve educational outcomes for students. They present a common understanding and language for discourse between schools, school teams, educational organisations, professional associations and the public. The Standards are implemented by all Australian education systems.

Development stages

Foundation

The starting point for most participants with no prior experience with effective teaching, or who are new to the role. They acquire the foundation skills that enable them to perform the basic functions of the role. Once participants have demonstrated mastery they progress to ‘proficient’.

Proficient

Participants acquire a deepened understanding and are able to improve delivery of practices to further improve student results. Once participants have demonstrated mastery they progress to ‘accomplished’.

Accomplished

Participants are considered skilled practitioners by their peers and work independently, routinely collaborate with colleagues and continuously drive improvement in the school and share their skills and knowledge to help others achieve proficiency. Once participants have demonstrated mastery they progress to ‘lead’.

Lead

Participants have acquired expertise across standard knowledge, skills and practice areas required for effective teaching. They have a high profile in the school and community and are recognised as exemplary practitioners. They influence their peers and others with what they know and how they apply it and take responsibility for their own and others’ delivery of practice to ensure fidelity.

Roles supported on a pathway

Principal

Leads the school team, students and parents to create an environment that enables delivery of the program with the fidelity and maximise outcomes for students. Principals become instructional leaders to lead instructional improvement in their schools.

School Instruction Coach

Provides technical support to the school team to enable its members to develop in their role and deliver the program with fidelity and maximise outcomes for students. School leaders become instructional coaches to provide the targeted technical teaching support and coordinate instructional improvement delivery.

Teacher

Delivers effective teaching and gains the best outcomes for students by collaborating with the school instruction coach to develop and perfect their practice and work, with their teaching assistant, to deliver effective teaching in the classroom each day and engage with parents. Teachers become more effective, leading to improved student outcomes.

Teaching Assistant

Supports teaching in the classroom by working with the teacher to deliver effective teaching, and working closely with parents by harnessing local networks. Assistants become skilled and effective teaching support workers, with the option of acquiring further qualifications to become Community Teachers.

Mastery Teaching Pathway at a glance

Defines what learning and development each school role needs to undertake and when

Determines the training, coaching and assessment each participant requires and shows the delivery sequence

Provides participants accreditation they can use to enhance their teaching accreditation and career

Tracks the training and coaching accreditation of each participant

Provides a pathway to being a master teacher.

Professional learning plan

Each participant is supported to develop their own professional learning plan. Individual participant learning plans all link into the school’s improvement plan so that the benefits of the participants learning are immediatly transferable to the improvement efforts of the schools and flow directly on to students.

The learning plan outlines a participant’s:

starting point and skills

knowledge and practice

milestone developments to accomplish

development level upon completion.

The professional learning plan also tracks participants along the four development stages: foundation, proficient, accomplished and lead.

Training and coaching

Each role is supported to master their role in delivering and supporting effective teaching and family engagement.

The pathway sets out what each role needs to know and what they will be able to do at each development stage to deliver and support effective teaching.

Roles develop knowledge, skills and practices through staged training that they apply in their school role.

Where and when more support is needed, it is provided to participants at that stage through formal coaching. If needed, elements of the training can be completed again.

Assessment

Participants are assessed in training and ‘on the job’ – as they are delivering their role in the school. Participants are accredited for this learning through a transparent documented process.

Each development stage (foundation, proficient, accomplished and lead) has a range of competencies that articulate the expected attainment of knowledge, skills and practice the role requires.

Participants achieve the standard by working through the defined competencies and demonstrating that they have achieved them.

The competencies derive from the standards set for each role and articulate a range of points on how that standard will be achieved.

A set of training modules supports each competency. Participants receive regular formal training in particular modules that have been tailored to meet their needs. Participants are tested at the end to ensure they learnt the content. Participants then return to the school and classroom to practice and perfect what they learnt.

Participants also receive coaching during this time that is tailored to their needs to help them perfect their practice. They are then assessed through formal observation that they have mastered the knowledge, skills and practice they were originally trained in. They receive certification as they master each module of effective teaching.

The Mastery Teaching Pathway holds the record of all school team training and development including testing, assessment and certification. Participants can use the records to support their professional development activities and a record of how they meet the Teacher Standards.

Accreditation offers participants greater flexibility in their career choices and evidence to support their experience.