Teach for Australia program bringing benefits and teachers to regional secondary schools

New associates in the program started their coursework late last year and came together at the Greater Shepparton Secondary College as part of a summer semester.

It was also a chance for them to connect with other regionally-based associates who started the program last year, as well as graduates of the program.

The two-year program recruits and trains high-calibre career changers and graduates to teach in communities where teaching needs are greatest, while undertaking a master of teaching (secondary — leading learning) with Australian Catholic University.

Freya Horton Andrews, who is starting with the Greater Shepparton Secondary College this year, has taken up teaching after careers in publishing and marketing but decided to make the shift to teaching after being encouraged by family and friends.

She said the Teach For Australia program had helped her make a swift switch into teaching and make use of her past experience in the process.

“That was actually recognised as a strength, also in terms of what I would be able to bring to the classroom, that knowledge, that background, is looked upon favourably,” she said.

Caitlin Thomas, a professional musician and part-time music teacher, is another who has made the move into teaching full-time using the Teach For Australia program to help smooth the way.

Ironically, for someone who did not like mathematics when a student, Ms Thomas is teaching it at Greater Shepparton Secondary College.

“Through a very unpredictable series of events I went back to study mathematics and I fell in love with it because I was able to explore it in a way that wasn’t taught to me in high school,” she said.

In her second year in the program, Ms Thomas said Teach For Australia had allowed her to put into practice in the classroom theories she has learnt during training.

“It has been challenging for a number of different reasons, not least of which is the fact that I was a music teacher beforehand and maths is quite a different kettle of fish, but I’ve considered it a huge pleasure and a privilege to be put in a school like this, especially in the first year of its inception,” she said.

Ms Horton Andrews was looking forward to living in the multicultural hub of Shepparton, an opportunity she would not have thought of, other than for the program.

“It’s a really cool opportunity and the fact that I just didn’t know about it living in Melbourne, it’s just not something that was on my radar,” she said.

“It’s not an opportunity I would have sought out myself independently, and that’s another that's the great thing about Teach For Australia, connecting people with great places like this to work.”

Victorian Teach For Australia manager Philippa Williams said the program aims to break the cycle of educational inequity in Australia.

“Great teachers change lives, and the leadership development program offers an opportunity for career changers and graduates to study while making a positive impact for local students from day one,” Ms Williams said.

Since 2010, 42 teachers have been placed in Shepparton secondary schools through the program.

Applications for the 2024 intake open on February 13.