Creating opportunities through partnerships

A message from the Executive Dean of Education and Arts Professor Mary Ryan: How ACU is helping to address the teacher shortage – and a spotlight on the National School of Arts and Humanities.

Much work has been done by the Faculty of Education and Arts to build and nurture strong industry and diocesan partnerships throughout 2022. We have worked closely with our partners to address the changing demands on the higher education sector while creating opportunities for our students and securing our position as leaders in educational advancement.

We are pleased to highlight some recent announcements and events that exemplify this work.

Teach for Australia (TFA): NSW

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and Minister for Education and Early Learning Sarah Mitchell visited ACU North Sydney on 27 September to announce the NSW government’s support of Teach for Australia’s (TFA) NSW pilot, highlighting ACU’s role as an official partner.

Under the NSW pilot, TFA will selectively recruit eligible high-calibre career changers and graduates from other disciplines to teach in NSW. Our continued partnership with TFA highlights ACU’s position as an important part of the state’s higher education landscape.

NSW Government grants

The Minister for Skills and Training Alister Henskens visited ACU’s Blacktown campus to announce almost $2 million in NSW Government grants to help educate more low socio-economic students and provide cutting-edge training tools for future teachers.

The two grants include $997,317 to provide state-of-the-art immersive technologies for teaching students and $981,759 to expand ACU’s successful Uni Step-Up (USU) program.

The immersive technologies grant had been funded under the NSW Government’s Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Skills (TIES) program and will encourage students to drive innovation and develop their entrepreneurial skills. In this way, universities can better address skills gaps and develop job-ready graduates. Innovative training tools will be provided to teaching students including immersive Virtual Reality (VR) to help early childhood students link theory with simulated real-world contexts.

Speaking about the USU program, which is modelled on our highly successful Step Up into Teaching (SUIT) program, ACU Pathways Director Marta Spes-Skrbis said: “We know the USU program is successful. We know it raises aspirations, changes lives, and that our Uni Step-Up students are successful in their undergraduate programs and beyond.”

Teacher Expo

The Minister for Education and Early Learning Sarah Mitchell joined the Vice-Chancellor at the highly successful Teacher Expo held on 29 September at the ACU Strathfield campus. Our partners presented a range of employment opportunities to our third- and fourth-year students which afforded a positive perspective on teaching as a career, giving students ideas for careers through the independent, state and Catholic sectors and early childhood services.

The National School of Arts and Humanities at the 2023 Clunes Booktown Festival

The National School of Arts and Humanities is excited to announce our involvement in the 2023 Clunes Booktown Festival. The festival is a major annual regional event and draws visitors from all around Australia.

As part of our commitment to building community connections, ACU has been invited to convene a special stream for the festival. The historic Clunes Courthouse will be the ACU venue over the two-day literary festival, which is being held 25–26 March 2023. We will be holding talks and panels featuring ACU colleagues from across disciplines.

Read more about past festivals