Teach the future: interactive classroom experience hopes to inspire ECEC careers

The Victorian Department of Education has come up with an innovative new way to attract more professionals to the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector, developing an  immersive classroom experience, giving aspiring teachers the opportunity to visualise a future in the teaching profession at all levels. 

The interactive experience, built by events specialists En Pointe in consultation with teachers, is part of the Department’s Teach the Future campaign and consists of four quadrants showcasing the full spectrum of learning environments – a staff room, an early learning space, a primary classroom and a secondary classroom.

Designed to reach school leavers and those considering a career change, the experience is appearing at career expos across Australia, most recently at the Melbourne Career Expo at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

At the classroom experience, aspiring teachers learn about pathways into roles as educators and teachers in early childhood, primary and secondary education, and speak to real life educators who answer questions and talk about their own professional experience. 

The goal is to empower individuals to realise their potential as educators and create a more inclusive and diverse teaching workforce that meets the needs of all students.

“We made the experience as authentic as possible by consulting on design choices with a current teacher who provided sector-based advice as we created the space, carefully selected props and even ensured that featured books came from curriculum-approved books,” said En Pointe Events Director Rocco Trimboli.

“Incorporating interactivity and ‘play-based learning’ was another key design focus. Just some of the ways we achieved this include a nature play table in the early childhood quadrant, sensory play mats and other sensory / calming activities. These had a great impact during the Melbourne careers expo, proving popular with career seekers!”

The interactive classroom experience is appearing at the upcoming Canberra CareersXpo (9-10 August), Victorian Careers and Employment Expo (17-19 August) and Sydney Career and Employment Expo (8-9 September).