Recruitment
Teacher Registration – ACT Teacher Quality Institute
All people working and/or seeking to secure a teaching position/role in the ACT must be registered with the ACT Teacher Quality Institute (TQI)
How to apply to teach in ACT public schools
Qualified teachers are continuously recruited throughout the year and recent teacher graduates and those seeking a change to the ACT are welcome to apply at any time.
The ACT Department of Education and Training’s annual teacher recruitment round occurs from May to July. Through this process ACT DET recruits teachers for employment in the following year.
Teacher recruitment is a merit selection process and involves the assessment of an applicant through a written application, supporting documentation, an interview and referee reports. Following this assessment process applicants are assigned a recruitment rating with suitably qualified applicants being immediately considered by school principals for suitable teaching vacancies at their schools. Offers of permanent and contract employment are made throughout the year depending on the system’s priorities.
To receive a classroom teacher application package go to https://activated.act.edu.au/classroomteacheremployment.
Applications for casual teaching employment are welcomed throughout the year. To seek work as a Casual Teacher please complete an Application to Register as a Casual Teacher found at http://www.det.act.gov.au/employment/casual_employment/casual_teachers.
School Counsellors: The recruitment process for School Counselling is ongoing and separate to the Recruitment Round. Information and application packages are available online at: http://www.det.act.gov.au/employment/teach_in_canberra/school_counsellors.
Advice to applicants
Quality Applications
- Address the selection criteria demonstrating a high level of knowledge and understanding through well supported claims and recent examples.
- Demonstrate the link between effective teaching practice and student outcomes and the importance of partnerships.
- Encourage the panel to want to explore claims further at interview.
- Describe competence, initiative, creativity, flexibility, capacity and level of motivation.
- Use teaching practice and personal experience to demonstrate skills.
- Reflect an understanding of nature of the ACT system and school-based curriculum.
- Are carefully formatted, grammatically correct, use limited jargon and are devoid of spelling errors.
- Are supported by a well organised and current Curriculum Vitae.
Supporting Documents
A minimum of two teaching reports or professional teaching references are required along with your application. The documents should be current and written by teaching colleagues or teaching supervisors. Two of the following should be included: Pre-service reports, Contract reports, Internship reports, Teaching references.
Preferred reports
- Are written in a teaching context, focusing on teaching and learning, student management strategies, relationships and engagement in the profession.
- Are written by a colleague or a current supervisor who has observed classroom practice for a length of time.
- Show development over time and a commitment to teamwork and on-going professional learning.
- Contain an informative final comment.
- Have information that readily translates into the ACT context.
- Are less than three years old.
The Interview
You will be interviewed by a panel who will ask questions relating to the selection criteria. Your interview is designed to assist the panel in finding more information about your teaching knowledge, skills and capacity.
Candidates who perform well at interview
- Demonstrate a clear understanding of the links between teaching, learning, assessment, reporting and professional partnerships.
- Display enthusiasm for teaching and use strong examples to reflect their practice.
- Use portfolios that are well organised (often around selection criteria), visually impressive and tagged for easy access.
- Provide strong evidence of commitment to enhancing outcomes for students.
- Exhibit potential to add value to the classroom or the school through demonstrated skills, abilities and interests.
- Provide evidence of a commitment to professional learning and demonstrate the importance of ICT in the classroom.
- Arrive a few minutes ahead of time and are well prepared for their interview.
- Embrace the interview as an opportunity to reflect on their teaching practice.
Referees
Teaching referees are contacted to provide recent information about you and to clarify information provided in your application or at interview. The panel will contact at least one listed referee and may contact additional, non-listed referees to seek further information. Referees may be contacted at any time during the recruitment process.
Supportive Referees
- Provide encouragement and advice as you develop your application and prepare for the interview.
- Have observed your teaching and can attest to your professional growth and potential for further development.
- Work with you in a teaching and learning partnership to support reflective practice and enhance student outcomes.
- Are readily available to provide a referee report.
