A major milestone in a teacher’s professional journey is the transition from provisional to full registration.

Professional Practice explores the process involved and the support provided by the Institute, and interviews the principal and three teachers from Malvern Central School about their experiences with the process.

Moving from provisional to full registration – the process explored

To be granted full registration a provisionally registered teacher (PRT) needs to demonstrate to the Institute, via a school based process, that they have met or exceeded standards of professional practice.

Download the Standards of Professional Practice for Full Registration (PDF – 1.5 MB).

A vital part of the process is the recommendation meeting, where a PRT presents evidence of their professional practice to the principal of their school and a panel of their peers.

The panel considers the evidence and makes a recommendation that the new teacher be granted full registration or that their provisional registration be extended.

The Institute has located the recommendation process in schools, as it believes the school is best placed to understand the context of the teacher’s practice. A PRT applies for full registration using the school’s recommendation to support their application.

This process has significant benefits for the teacher and their school, providing a useful opportunity to discuss key elements of professional practice and review the teacher’s development and achievements throughout the year.

The Institute runs a support program for PRTs and their mentors, and the 2010 Supporting Provisionally Registered Teachers program is currently being rolled out across Victoria, with seminars being held in key metropolitan and regional locations from February through to April.

For more information, please contact Rhonda McPhee, Manager, Professional Standards on 03 8601 5841.

The recommendation meeting – a teacher’s perspective

Professional Practice recently visited Malvern Central School to interview the principal, Kerry Clayton, and three teachers who’ve just made the transition from provisional to full registration – Kylie Cooper, Sally Haddow and Carly Waldron.

Kerry, Kylie, Sally and Carly provided some valuable insights into the recommendation meeting and how it works in practice:

Kylie Cooper, Teacher, Malvern Central School

About Kylie
Kylie is now in her second year of teaching. As a graduate she came straight into the Malvern Central team, taking on the role of performing arts specialist. Kylie works with students from prep to grade two, designing a program that incorporates dance, music and drama. She finds watching the children grow and learn, especially through music, very fulfilling. Kylie’s biggest challenge so far has been understanding exactly how a school operates.

Kylie’s recommendation meeting
“I was a bit nervous going into the recommendation meeting but the panel was excellent and put me at ease straight away. I was allowed the freedom of speaking about any aspect of my unit of work and once I started, my confidence increased and the conversation flowed.

“The questions grew out of the conversation really naturally. I had a lot of support throughout the year and knew the panel well. I had confidence that they were there to support me.

“The interview was conducted in such a professional and relaxed manner, that in a matter of moments I was confident in my knowledge and professional practice. When the meeting was over, I was really proud of myself and happy that I was on my way to achieving full registration.”

Sally Haddow, Teacher, Malvern Central School

About Sally
Sally’s been teaching for three years – two years full time and one year as a casual relief teacher. She takes grades two and three and has a great deal of experience in working with young children, having been a kindergarten assistant and nanny before becoming a teacher. Sally loves seeing her students grow and develop. She says her biggest challenge is finding the best way to manage classroom behaviour, even though she believes she has good practices in place.

Sally’s recommendation meeting
“Before the meeting, I was a little nervous, mainly because I didn’t know what to expect. To prepare myself, I read through my collection of evidence which was all in my head anyway, because it was based on the work I had done with the two children I chose to focus on.

“The meeting itself wasn’t difficult or stressful. I went through each section of my evidence and talked about my personal reflections on what I felt had worked well and the areas I’d like to improve on. After all, you can never be perfect, you will always make mistakes, but the main thing is to learn from them and do better in the future.

“Once the meeting finished, I felt relieved but I also had a sense of achievement, because it went well and everyone seemed very pleased.”

Carly Waldron, Teacher, Malvern Central School

About Carly
Carly’s a second year teacher whose subject is LOTE. She teaches Japanese language and culture to students from grade three to year eight. What Carly loves most about teaching is getting to know the students. She says the fact that she has each of her classes for just one hour each week makes it a bit harder to build rapport. Carly says that while a lot of students love LOTE, there are also many who don’t, which makes behaviour management one of her biggest challenges.

Carly’s recommendation meeting
“I prepared for the meeting by reading through my collection of evidence, reviewing lesson plans and samples of my students’ work and looking over the analysis I had done.

“I was quite nervous, because I wasn’t sure whether or not I would be asked questions, or if I would simply be talking. However there was no need for me to have worried, because I just had to talk about my work and show examples of it.

“After the meeting was over, I felt really good because there had been a lot of positive energy from everyone on the panel. I thought to myself ‘that seemed to go well’ and I was happy with what I had covered. My mentor told me I’d handled everything beautifully, which was a big relief.”

Kerry Clayton, Principal, Malvern Central School

About Kerry
Kerry has spent the past 15 years in education as a primary school teacher and principal. Kerry’s been Malvern Central’s principal for just over a year. As a teacher, she enjoyed knowing she could support students to optimise their learning. Her biggest challenge was making a choice between all the potential learning experiences she could offer her students.

Kerry’s outlook on the recommendation meeting
“I look on the recommendation meeting as a professional development opportunity for the teacher who’s applying for full registration. It’s not just a show and tell exercise, but a chance to articulate and examine their professional practice.

“My reason for being in this role is to develop other teachers and support them to be the very best they can be. And the recommendation meetings are an important part of that journey. For me, participating in those meetings is one of the nicest parts of my job.

“Each of the teachers is an individual and brings something unique to our school. I gain a sense of pride from knowing that they will be taking the profession further in the future.”

“There was no need for me to have worried, because I just had to talk about my work and show examples of it.”