Grammar Gazette- Issue 1, 2013

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DR KAY KIMBER, DIRECTOR, CENTRE FOR PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE Provocations & Pedagogy

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THE SCHOOL’S CENTRE FOR Professional Practice (CPP) was established in 2005 to enhance student learning outcomes through ongoing teacher education. With the current public focus on teacher quality, providing staff with effective, teacher-focused and collaborative professional learning opportunities

principles from the SoLT, our Provocateur challenged staff to reconsider their concepts of scholarship and how they might engender such approaches in their own students. Staff thoroughly enjoyed her presentation and gained new understandings of several models and processes by which their own professional learning journey might be reconsidered, complete with strategies for enacting scholarly teaching and even becoming SoLT practitioners. Distinguished Provocations speakers in previous years have included Professor Paul Mazerolle, Pro Vice Chancellor (Arts, Education, Law), Griffith University, who is recognised nationally and internationally for his work in criminology and with juvenile offenders. A presentation on middle schooling by Professor Nan Bahr, Assistant Dean (Teaching and Learning) at Queensland University of Technology, was also very well received. Other topics have included cyber-bullying, philosophy in learning, new paradigms of schooling, global education and social entrepreneurship. In terms of the CPP’s support for aspiring teachers, our reception of pre-service teachers has become international. The Instrumental Music Faculty has been pleased to welcome Miss Rachel Walter from Akron University, Ohio, for her term’s practicum experience. Akron University is renowned for its Music programme, particularly with bands. Miss Walter is the first Music student from Akron to undertake an international practicum, and we hope that her initiative might spark a regular, reciprocal arrangement. While Miss Walter is our first pre- service teacher from the United States of America, three students from Germany have completed their field experience with us in the past. Since the CPP was established eight years ago, over seventy staff have completed professional learning courses through Learning Innovation Groups in partnership with Queensland University of Technology, approximately sixty pre-service teachers have begun their professional learning journey through CPP, and thirty visiting experts have inspired us through their Provocations. All our teachers, from pre-service to experienced, appreciate the collegiality of their professional learning experiences, as well as finding stimulating ways by which to reflect on their individual practices.

ensures that Girls Grammar is at the forefront of best pedagogical practice. Provocations, professional learning, and pre-service teachers are three key elements shaping the CPP’s annual operations. The Provocations series of seminars offer

THE SCHOOL’S CENTRE FOR PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE (CPP) WAS ESTABLISHED IN 2005 TO

ENHANCE STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES THROUGH ONGOING TEACHER EDUCATION.

opportunities for our staff to hear from and engage with visiting experts across a range of stimulating topics. The series was launched in February with our first Provocations speaker for the year, alumna Professor Keithia Wilson from Griffith University. Professor Wilson came with an impressive academic research record and practical experience in a significant movement across universities — the Scholarship of Learning and Teaching (SoLT) — that specifically targets ways of enhancing student learning. A psychologist of considerable counselling and organisational experience, as well as a committed educator, Professor Wilson has been instrumental in improving the first year tertiary experience for Griffith students, becoming the Griffith Academic Leader Student Success and Retention. A worthy recipient of the Prime Minister’s Award for Australian University Teacher of the Year in 2007 and an Australian Learning and Teaching Council National Fellowship during 2010–2012, Professor Wilson Chairs the Griffith University Educational Excellence Committee and the Griffith Academy of Learning and Teaching Scholars, a group comprising outstanding researchers and educators who have been nationally and internationally recognised. With our School Intent clearly articulating our commitment to be ‘leaders in exceptional scholarship’, Professor Wilson’s talk was particularly illuminating. Drawing on research evidence and

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