Posted by Kambala
On Friday 29 October, New South Wales celebrates World Teachers’ Day. This is a day to recognise the commitment and contributions made by educators and to honour an age-old profession. Never could there be a more significant time to celebrate our teachers. Another year of remote learning has seen our Kambala staff rise to presented challenges yet again, aiming to use technology in new and interesting ways, striving to maintain student engagement, and keeping a close caring eye on the students on the other end of their Zoom screens. On World Teachers’ Day, we also congratulate our other homeschoolers – our parents, who have stepped in to support, encourage and at times, reacquaint themselves with algebra, long division, subordinate clauses or Egypt’s ancient history. Hats off to you, parents, our ‘hidden figure teachers’ supporting our students on the home front.
Teacher attrition is a popular topic in Australia, with many media reports alluding to poor attrition rates of graduates entering the teaching profession. While many of these claims are not certain due to the lack of robust evidence in quality national studies (Weldon, 2018) research does suggest that to improve retention rates of teachers in the occupation worldwide, attention can be paid to nourishing teachers through effective teacher professional development (Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leadership, 2016).
At Kambala, we know that teachers are the most important piece in the academic and social phenomenon that is schooling. The high impact of teachers on student achievement, in relation to other variants such as class size, is constantly reaffirmed in the research (Hattie, 2012). Kambala aims to not only recognise the work of our educators, most who have decided on this profession to make a significant contribution to our society by growing the young people of tomorrow, but it aims to give them the professional enrichment necessary to be great at what they do.
KITE, the Kambala Institute of Teaching Excellence, established in 2019, was created to provide inspired learning opportunities for teaching staff. It facilitates valuable avenues for professional growth, such as staff scholarships for further tertiary study. Such focus on building capacity and maintaining job fulfilment through professional learning opportunities can be one of many ways proven to retain excellent teachers (OECD, 2019) and Kambala is proud to be so dedicated to this area.
Taking a small moment to appreciate this profession, and to remind those who are in it of the impact they have on us can remind our teachers to continue their important work in striving to be the best. We should all rise to this call by being in touch with a teacher this World Teachers’ Day.
About the Author
Ms Samantha Gooch is Director of the Kambala Institute of Teaching Excellence (KITE).
To learn more about Kambala, download our Prospectus, or contact Tracy Mulligan, Director of Enrolments on 02 9388 6844.
