The University of Newcastle’s Teachers and Teaching Research Centre has won the prestigious Engagement Australia 2022 Excellence Award for Outstanding Engagement for Research Impact.
The Centre was nominated for delivering striking benefits to teachers and students on the back of a 20-year relationship with the NSW Department of Education which resulted in the development of an innovative and scalable form of professional development – Quality Teaching Rounds.
Research on QTR shows that it enriches understanding of quality teaching, transforms teaching practice and delivers significant improvement in student achievement, including in schools that serve disadvantaged communities.
In 2018, in recognition of the powerful effects of QTR on teaching and learning, the philanthropic Paul Ramsay Foundation provided $17.2M to scale QTR nationally. Since then, the program has benefited more than 3,500 teachers and 400,000 students.
Teachers and Teaching Research Centre Director, Laureate Professor Jenny Gore, said it was a great honour to win the award.
“We are in a fortunate position to be strongly supported by the Paul Ramsay Foundation and the NSW Department of Education so that our work can deliver a positive impact for teachers and students on a large scale.”
“We look forward to continuing this work with our partners and making a difference for education in Australia.”
Engagement Australia is the peak alliance of Australian and New Zealand universities focused on developing the engagement agenda in higher education. Supported by UniBank and the Department of Industry, Science and Resources, the Engagement Australia Excellence Awards focus on outstanding nation-building initiatives, demonstrating far-reaching impact and innovation, in all sectors and aspects of the Australian economy and community. The awards were announced and the work of 24 finalists across 7 award categories was celebrated at the Engagement Australia Excellence Awards dinner at UTS on Monday 21 November.
