There are three domains in the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers, and they are the broadest categories to describe what the standards are about.
See more: Australian Professional Standards for Teachers Terminology Explained
What is a domain in the APST?
Every standard, focus area and descriptor fits under one of the three domains. These three broad categories describe everything that Australian teachers need to do.
The domains cover everything that teachers do inside and outside the classroom. They include what you know, what you learn, how you form relationships and networks as well as how you actually plan and teach.
What are the APST domains?
The three domains of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers are:
- Professional Knowledge
- Professional Practice
- Professional Engagement
To put it simply, Professional Knowledge describes all the things that you need to know before you step into your classroom. Professional Practice is about what you do in your classroom as well as planning and marking, and Professional Engagement is about professional learning as well as building relationships within the community.
What are the APST domains used for?
While the domains may seem simple, they are vast. If you’re looking at the Australian Teacher Standards, the domains are a great place to start.
Most people would recognise the domains as being the key elements of teaching. Whether you’re a teacher or not, the domains are pretty easy to understand.
Because they’re so broad, they aren’t super useful for teachers. The APST are designed as a tool to reflect on and improve your teaching, but the domains are the least useful part of the APST in doing this.
The domains are more useful as a way of categorising the other parts of the teacher’s standards. They are simple and easy to understand and split teaching into planning your teaching, working in the classroom, and all the extra stuff that you do after the day has finished. It’s also a neat way for teachers to think about all the stuff that they do in a day rather than a mishmash of tasks and responsibilities.
