Dr Sharonne Telfer has over thirty years of experience as a teacher, school administrator and teacher professional learning consultant. She is the founder and Co-director of Raising Young People in Positive Learning Environments (RYPPLE), a not-for-profit organisation. She has extensive experience researching, designing, and providing professional development, technical assistance and coaching to schools in Positive Behaviour Support (PBS). Her doctoral research focussed on building teacher capacity in the use of evidence-based classroom practices to increase student engagement and decrease behaviour errors using a within-school multi-component coaching model of professional learning
Teachers make a difference
Teachers make a difference. The quality of teaching makes the biggest impact on students’ learning and success. Decades of research have provided us with a great deal of evidence about effective teaching and learning practices that, when implemented with fidelity, maximise the probability of student engagement and success in the classroom. Using science as a guide, the focus must be on practices that provide the biggest and most efficient effects. These practices can be summarised as being teacher-driven to provide explicit instruction, student engagement, and teacher feedback.
This session outlines what is within the control of teachers supporting students’ well-being and engagement needs in classrooms, focusing on the eight effective teaching and learning practices as a tier 1 foundational structure.
Despite significant empirical evidence to support their use, many of these practices do not find their way into the classroom setting to the degree necessary to facilitate sustained academic or social behavioural change in students. Teachers report that student behaviour is one of their most significant challenges, and classroom management is the skill they are least prepared for in their teacher preparation programs.
Research has consistently shown that providing teachers with high-quality professional development (PD) is crucial in improving student outcomes. Multi-component approaches that include direct training, coaching, and performance feedback have been found to be particularly effective.