Supporting Teachers in Obtaining Full Registration

The last five years I have supported graduate teachers in obtaining full registration via the Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT). Graduate teachers are often feeling overwhelmed at the start of the year so I always give them some time and space to get used to the daily routine of school life before sending them a copy of the email below.

If this is something you oversee in your school and would like some further information on how I go about managing the entire process with each graduate teacher, be sure to get in touch!

Dear [name],

Hope the term/year has started well for you and you are settling in nicely to your new role.

Just wanted to touch base with you about the VIT process at some stage within the next few weeks. If you could let me know some suitable times that would be great – we should only need 20 minutes or so.

The purpose of this meeting is just to make sure you feel supported and understand the requirements of moving from provisional to full registration. There is a suggested timeline in the body of the email below, and I have also attached a VIT publication which has a wealth of information.

In summary, VIT will require of you throughout 2018 to;

• select a class or group of students and assess the level of learning and factors affecting learning
• determine what they already know, curriculum expectations, and identify learning outcomes
• develop a question for inquiry
• deepen professional knowledge and refine skills to respond to the identified area of inquiry
• use this new knowledge to establish and implement an action plan to improve student learning
• assess the learning of students
• document your learning
• reflect on the effectiveness of practice on the learning of the students and the implications for future practice and professional learning

Further information is provided in the attached eBook.

Gathering Evidence for Full Registration – Suggested Timeline
A template is provided to assist in the documentation of evidence to demonstrate the standards of professional practice for full registration.

The following timeline gives a guide to when the components of this process could take place, however if you are wanting to get it done sooner rather than later, we are more than happy to expedite the process:

Term 1: Find your feet and begin to understand the VIT requirements for full registration
Term 2: Continue to develop practice, have a mentor observe your class, observe other classes
Term 3: Use an inquiry-based approach to investigate student learning
Term 4: Organize evidence and plan for College panel meeting. Apply for full registration.

See VIT Resources via the VIT website for templates and work/evidence samples. A checklist which succinctly breaks down what is required is also available.

[Name] is excited about being your mentor through this process.

The role of your mentor is threefold:

1. To assist you in visiting and observing at least one other class.
2. To organize with you three classroom observations and then engage you in a professional discussion about what they observed.
3. To sit on the final panel with the appropriate Head of School & the Director of Teaching & Learning before final submission of evidence for full registration. The purpose of this panel is for you to talk about the work you have undertaken, and to ensure that all requirements have been met up to the Proficient Teacher standard of the AITSL teacher standards.

I promise you that the process is not as scary as it all sounds! Look forward to discussing with you in the next few weeks.