Future Teachers Club gives aspiring teachers an in school taste of the profession

Senior students from a number of south western Sydney high schools have gotten a taste of a career in teaching via an innovative program being offered by the Australian Catholic University (ACU). 

The Step Up Into Teaching (SUIT) program offers high schoolers an opportunity to earn a debt-free unit of learning towards a teaching degree, and was offered to members of the NSW Department of Education’s Future Teachers Club.

The Future Teachers Club is a school-based initiative run by teachers for public secondary students interested in pursuing a career in teaching and engages its participants in behind-the-scenes activities to understand the scope and depth of the teaching profession.

The SUIT program helped take that experience to the next level through an intensive summer school program, which gave students the opportunity to experience learning in a university environment with other like-minded young people.

Students worked individually and in small groups to understand how children learn, honing their teaching skills and putting them into practice through the Future Teachers program.

For Oran Park High School student Nikhita Garg the SUIT course helped her to consider her future career more deeply. 

“I’d like to think I will be a future teacher. I come from a line of teachers and would like to continue that. I see myself in a primary school setting,” she said.

Jan Dolstra, Professional Experience Hub Advisor, Teacher Education Partnerships, and key facilitator with the Future Teachers Club, said the partnership with ACU worked on many levels.

“Through their participation in club activities, students were able to deepen their understanding of the complexities of teaching children and young people and the breadth of skills that are required to educate students in a rapidly changing world,” she said.

“The bonus is that students who complete the course get the equivalent of one semester unit’s credit and will be ready to enter university once they finish high school, confident they have made the right decision to become teachers.”

Dr Joanne Harris, Acting Head of ACU’s School of Education for NSW/ACT, said students who did the course were advantaged when it came to enrolling in and studying future education degrees.

“As Australia’s largest provider of teachers, ACU is proud to work with our partners to give senior high school students a step up in their journeys to become the educators of the future.”

Image shows: Perry Celestino, Head Teacher Macquarie Fields High School and founder of the Future Teachers Club, with Dr Joanne Harris (Australian Catholic University Acting Head of School) with public school students undertaking the Step Up Into Teaching (SUIT) program.