Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Professional learning in education

Supporting professional development for teachers and leaders

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We design and deliver quality professional learning for the education community, supporting and developing teacher professional knowledge, practice and skill, and addressing the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers.

Sydney School of Education and Social Work's Office of Professional Learning provides short courses that address the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership's descriptors for Proficient, Highly Accomplished, and Lead Teacher.

Online and in-school programs

Our annual professional learning calendar is designed to support the emergent needs of school teachers and leaders. Courses, whether short or long, are evidence-based and provide practical strategies and resources to support you in your teaching context. 

Some of our extended professional development courses are able to be offered as a combination of face-to-face sessions at host schools with online participation and assignments. These include:

Tailored in-school courses

We can tailor programs and courses specifically to your school's needs and deliver them at your workplace. Modules can be adapted for delivery at staff-development days and in other customised modes.

To discuss this further, please email Nina Goodwin: nina.goodwin@sydney.edu.au.

Education resources

Below is a range of useful resources from some events held by the Office of Professional Learning.

Successful Learning Conference: 25 Years of Successful Learning – looking to the future

1-2 July 2019 

Keynote speakers
  • Professor David Chard, Dean ad interim, Wheelock College of Education and Human Development, Boston University, "25 years of progress: new knowledge, better practices, and ongoing questions about working with children and youth with learning differences" Download slides (pdf, 2.9MB)
  • Dr Devin M Kearns, Assistant Professor of Special Education, Department of Educational Psychology, Neag School of Education, University of Connecticut, "Teaching vocabulary: principles for reading success" Download slides (pdf, 1.8MB)
Featured speakers
  • Professor David Chard, Dean ad interim, Wheelock College of Education and Human Development, Boston University, "25 years of progress: new knowledge, better practices, and ongoing questions about working with children and youth with learning differences" Download slides (pdf, 523kB)
  • Dr Devin M Kearns, Assistant Professor of Special Education, Department of Educational Psychology, Neag School of Education, University of Connecticut, "Teaching vocabulary: principles for reading success" Download workbook (pdf, 380kB) | Download slides (pdf, 1.8MB)
  • Professor Michael Arthur-Kelly, School of Education, Faculty of Education and Arts, The University of Newcastle, "Real and rigorous: combining evidence-based professional learning with action research to enhance student-learning outcomes" Download slides (pdf, 6.7MB)
  • Dr Lorraine Hammond, Associate Professor, School of Education, Edith Cowan University, "A writer’s brain is like a magician’s hat: if you’re going to get anything out of it, you have to put something in first" Download slides (pdf, 770kB)
  • Fiona Thomas, Learning and Teaching Specialist, Texthelp Asiapac, "Rethinking assistive technology for students with diverse learning needs" Download slides (pdf, 2.3MB) | EquatIO software
  • Sarah Humphreys, Education consultant and co-founder, Inclusive Schools, Australia, “U can’t touch this!” How UDL enabled one school to change their approach to assessment design" Link to website

The role of phonics in learning to be literate  (pdf, 580KB)

Talking about code-breaking and other emergent literacy practices

  • Presenters: Pauline Jones, Lisa Kervin and Jessica Mantei, University of Wollongong

Morphemes won't leave phonemes alone – the essential role of meaning when teaching phonics

  • Presenter: David Hornsby, education consultant

Teacher knowledge and implications for the classroom

  • Presenter: Marie Emmitt, Australian Catholic University

Successful Learning Conference: Life-long learning outcomes: Data, curriculum and instruction

26-27 June 2017 

Keynote speakers
  • Professor Lisa Monda-Amaya, Department of Special Education, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, "Using multi-tiered systems of support to create environments that address the needs of all learners"  Download slides (pdf, 2.9MB)
  • Dr Bree Jimenez, consultant in special-education pedagogy and research with Mater Dei, Camden, NSW and honorary associate with Sydney School of Education and Social Work, "Data-based decision making: a key to success for ALL!" Download slides (pdf, 5.5MB)
Featured speakers
  • Dr Kristy Goodwin, consultant, speaker, author and children's digital wellness researcher,"Teaching the iGen: how instructional approaches need to change in the 21st century" Download slides (pdf, 94MB)
  • Professor Genevieve McArthur, Head of Department and Clinic Director, Department of Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, "Reflecting critically on the evidence-base of interventions for poor readers" Download slides (pdf, 6.4MB)
  • Associate Professor Iva Strnadová, Deputy Head of School (Research), School of Education, University of New South Wales, "Transitions to and from high schools for students with disabilities: evidence-based practices to support students’ academic and social skills, and self-determination" Download slides (pdf, 42MB)
  • Dr Lorraine Hammond, School of Education, Edith Cowan University, "Getting them to remember: teaching students to recall literacy and numeracy concepts and skills through the use of fast-paced daily reviews and engagement norms" Download slides (pdf, 2.4MB)
  • Dr Bree Jimenez, consultant in special-education pedagogy and research with Mater Dei, Camden, NSW and honorary associate with Sydney School of Education and Social Work, The University of Sydney, "Embedded instruction: supporting individualised learning goals within the mainstream lesson" Download slides (pdf, 2.17MB)

Successful Learning Conference: In a changing landscape – working together for quality education

27-28 June 2016 

Keynote speakers
  • Dr Ben Clarke, Research Associate Professor, Centre on Teaching and
    Learning, University of Oregon, "Building systems to support mathematics instruction for all students" Download slides (pdf, 3.7MB)
  • Associate Professor Pamela Mims, Associate Dean of Research and Grants, Clemmer College of Education, East Tennessee State University, "A philosophical and evidence-based basis for including students with disabilities in the general education curriculum" Download slides (pdf, 14.6MB)
Featured speakers
  • Dr Ben Clarke, Research Associate Professor, Centre on Teaching and Learning, University of Oregon, "Thinking smart about assessment: lessons from the IES mathematics practice guide" Download slides (pdf, 433KB)
  • Associate Professor Pamela Mims, Associate Dean of Research and Grants, Clemmer College of Education, East Tennessee State University, "A philosophical and evidence-based basis for including students with disabilities in the general education curriculum" Download slides (pdf, 3.1MB)
  • Dr Anne Bellert, lecturer, School of Education, Southern Cross University, "Refining practice in a changing landscape: effective re-teaching" Download slides (pdf, 775KB) and handout (pdf, 445KB)
  • Dr Kristy Goodwin, consultant and Honorary Associate, Institute of Early Childhood, Macquarie University, "Healthy digital kids" Download slides (pdf, 6.9MB)
  • Dr Sofia Mavropoulou, senior lecturer in special and inclusive education, School of Education, University of New England, "Facilitating the social engagement of students with autism spectrum conditions in inclusive environments" Download slides (pdf, 1.5MB)
  • Dr Michelle Villeneuve, senior lecturer and co-stream leader, Disability and Development stream, Centre for Disability Research and Policy, University of Sydney,"Collaborative action for effective integration of therapy support services at school" Download slides (pdf, 857KB)
Workshops
  • Fiona Eastley, NSW Centre for Effective Reading, and Gillian Bale, NSW Department of Education "Vocabulary instruction and working with students with language difficulties" Download slides (pdf, 1.2MB)
  • Christine Mackey and Carolyn Mee, Sound Scouts "Turning up the volume on hearing needs schoolwide, using Sound Scouts" Download slides (pdf, 2.7MB)
  • Criss Moore and Janey Walker, NSW Department of Education "Vocabulary development for individuals, the class and the whole school" Download slides (pdf, 611KB)
  • Meredith Longfield, Nowra Christian School, and Lynelle Campbell, Association of Independent Schools of NSW "Five habits of highly effective numeracy teachers" Download slides (pdf, 2.6MB)