$16.4m Ramsay grant for teaching program at Newcastle University

The Paul Ramsay Foundation has given the University of Newcastle $16.4 million to expand a teacher development program.

University of Newcastle laureate professor of education Jenny Gore started the program in 2009.

The Paul Ramsay Foundation has given the University of Newcastle $16.4 million to expand a program that has revolutionised professional development for teachers in NSW.

Called Quality Teaching Rounds, it brings together teachers at all experience levels — from new graduates to school principals — to refine their approach.

Under the model, small groups of teachers watch a lesson in progress and assess teaching performance. Each teacher takes a turn and the lessons are discussed and assessed by the group.

The new grant will be used to extend the program — which was started in 2009 by the university’s well-known education research­er Jenny Gore — to more than 30,000 teachers during the next five years.

“Teachers are really excited about this way of working and the opportunity it creates for them to analyse and discuss in detail what they are doing and collectively develop ways to improve teaching practice,” said Professor Gore, who has just been appointed a vis­iting professor at the University of Oxford.

Paul Ramsay Foundation chief executive Simon Freeman said the grant would “work to strengthen the teaching profession, improve the overall quality of teaching and build the capacity of our education sector”.

The foundation was set up with a bequest from businessman Paul Ramsay to improve health and education and to build the capacity of social sector organisations. It is separate to the Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation which, while also funded from Ramsay’s will, has a different mission to fund a bachelor degree in Western civilisation in universities.