Best practice featured on small screen

October 26 2011

The pursuit of excellence in Queensland state schools has been further promoted since the start of Term 4 with a series of audiovisual vignettes highlighting best practice already in place in the state's schools.

Drawn from examples of outstanding practices as identified in the 2010-2011 Teaching and Learning audits across the eight audit domains, the short films, gathered under the title Showcasing and Celebrating Outstanding Practice in Queensland State Schools, feature principals and other school leaders from 22 schools talking about their practice.

Department of Education Training Assistant Director-General, School Performance, Mark Campling, launched the vignettes. He told a gathering of representatives from the featured schools that 'outstanding' was the keyword and the new benchmark for Queensland schools.

'When we asked ACER (the Australian Council for Education Research) to develop the teaching and learning audit instrument, we said we wanted them to go and research the world.

'We wanted them to identify what was absolute best practice, and we wanted  to measure ourselves against world's best practice.

'We've spent the past 12 months in Education Queensland looking outside our state: we have looked at Ontario, Victoria, and other different education systems.

'Now we've got a whole group of our own schools that we can capture on video and say "you really don't have to look too much further any more, because world's best practice is being demonstrated in our own state schools every day".'

Executive director School Performance Judy Menary thanked the 22 participating schools for sharing their 'authentic and outstanding practice'.

'A collective capacity and commitment to deliver high quality teaching and learning for all students is demonstrated here,' she said.

United in our pursuit for
excellence (PDF, 243 KB)

The video vignettes are available online to Department of Education and Training staff, accompanied by a suite of support materials which include suggested professional readings and self-reflective questions.

'They provide an online opportunity to view outstanding practice in a range of school settings and to reflect on the outstanding work that happens every day in schools and classrooms across the state,' Ms Menary said.

Visit Teaching and Learning Audit Reflection Tool - Showcasing and Celebrating Outstanding Practice in Queensland State Schools - on OnePortal (DET employees only) to access the vignettes and support material.