APST 3: Plan For and Implement Effective Teaching and Learning.

Summary:

• What does this standard mean?
• What does meeting this standard look like?
• What evidence can I collect to show that I’m meeting this standard?

The third of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers is to plan for and implement effective teaching and learning. This standard covers how you teach in your classroom, from the planning and resourcing of your lessons, to the actual teaching strategies that you use, to how you reflect to keep improving.

See more: Australian Professional Standards for Teachers Terminology Explained

What does this standard mean?

This standard is all about how you actually teach. There are seven descriptors that outline the different elements that come together to make up your pedagogy:

• Establish challenging learning goals.
• Plan, structure and sequence learning programs.
• Use teaching strategies.
• Select and use resources.
• Use effective classroom communication.
• Evaluate and improve teaching programs.
• Engage parents/carers in the educative process.

These descriptors range from the planning stages of each individual lesson to the reflection once it’s done. They provide details about the different things that teachers need to consider when they choose and implement teaching strategies in their classrooms.

What does meeting this standard look like?

At the Graduate level, teachers need to understand the importance of each of these descriptors to designing and implementing effective teaching and learning. They need to demonstrate that they know what each of them are and that they can do all of them to deliver an effective lesson.

At the higher levels, this standard requires teachers to do these things in more innovative ways. Teachers may be expected to be more flexible and responsive in the teaching strategies that they use, or use a greater range of types of resources to supplement their teaching. At the Highly Accomplished and Lead levels of this standard, teachers will need to show evidence of creating systems to innovate in teaching practice such as building systems for including parents and carers in the learning process or coaching other teachers to improve their own teaching.

What evidence can I collect to show that I’m meeting this standard?

As this standard has to do with what you actually do and what actions you take in the classroom, it can be a little more difficult to find evidence for this standard compared to some of the others. A couple pieces of evidence that you could collect are:

• Resources that you use in lessons.
• Written or recorded reflections after particular lessons, with annotations or clear planning about actions to take in the future.
• Emails or other correspondence with parents and carers.
• Notes from lesson observations.

Lesson observations make up a key part of providing evidence for this standard. Descriptors such as “Use Teaching Strategies” are very difficult to prove at a particular level without a lesson observation. To get evidence for this standard, you may need to organise a formal lesson observation.

Learn more about the other Australian Professional Standards for Teachers:

1. Know students and how they learn.
2. Know the content and how to teach it.
3. Plan for and implement effective teaching and learning.
4. Create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments.
5. Assess, provide feedback and report on student learning.
6. Engage in professional learning.
7. Engage professionally with colleagues, parents/carers and the community.