Gowrie Victoria mentoring opens up avenues for provisional early childhood teachers

Early childhood teachers (ECTs) in Victoria who wish to move from provisional to full registration can sometimes experience challenges in finding experienced and fully registered teachers who can provide them with feedback and support to move to full registration.

A program from Gowrie Victoria, working on behalf of the Victorian Department of Education and Training is offering mentoring to early childhood provisionally registered teachers (PRTs) to address these challenges. 

ECTs in Victoria are required, by the governing body The Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT), to move their practice from the Graduate to the Proficient teacher level of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) within two years.

The Gowrie Victoria program lasts around three to five months. It includes three onsite observation and reflection sessions. In between sessions, mentors provide support to the PRT in any areas they need to develop further, support them to gather evidence of professional practice and to complete an Inquiry Project. Once complete, the Inquiry Project is assessed by a panel of teachers, supported by the mentor.

The workplace panel presentation is the final stage of the proces, and will involve the mentor and other experienced teachers within the PRTs workplace assessing the documented evidence of practice in order to determine whether or not the requirements of full registration.

Following the panel meeting the panel chair will complete a recommendation report which is submitted to VIT in order to assess the PRTs application to move from provisional to full registration. 

To enquire or submit an Expression of Interest to participate in the program ECTs are asked to email [email protected] or to call (03) 8624 1077. More information is available on the Gowrie Victoria website.