**ENROLMENTS CLOSED**

An exciting opportunity exists for IEU members to participate in the new Middle Leadership Program (MLP), a collaboration with the Teacher Learning Network and The University of Melbourne.

The MLP runs over 18 months, (June 2024 to November 2025), culminating in a Professional Certificate of Middle Leadership. Courses are delivered online and in person, offering 30 hours of professional learning.

The MLP, which incurs no direct costs, will develop the skills of educators and build a generation of sophisticated school leaders. 

Session 5/6: Supporting teachers’ work

In this session we will be thinking about challenges in schools that have been brought about by teacher shortages, and ways that middle leaders can work to support healthier and more sustainable teaching and learning environments. Although teacher shortage issues are not new, they are now at levels that have not been seen in recent times and are impacting a wider range of schools across Australia than ever before.

Both attracting people to the teaching profession and retaining teachers in their careers are equally important to solving this current crisis, yet often it is attraction policies and strategies that receive the most attention.

Based on the reading provided, we will unpack findings from the Teachers’ Perceptions of their Work project to better understand the range challenges teachers are facing with the working conditions of schools and the impact on retaining teachers in the profession. We will consider broader settings for the profession in Australia as well as reflect on how these are relevant for local school contexts of the participants.

Importantly we will discuss and share ways that middle leaders can work to promote safer, more caring and more connected work and learning environments so that teachers are healthy, more satisfied with their roles, more likely to remain in the profession, and able to provide the best learning experiences for students in their care.

Presenter: Dr Fiona Longmuir