First ever Teaching Summit attracts the best and brightest in education

By Zac Piesse

The first ever ‘Teaching Matters: Science of Learning National Summit’ attracted some of the brightest minds in the field of education when it was held in Hobart last month. Over 330 delegates from around the country attended the three-day Summit at Wrest Point hosted by Catholic Education Tasmania (CET) and Catholic Education Canberra and Goulburn (CECG).

Sixteen highly credible and world renown educational experts shared their wisdom and knowledge to help strengthen the education of young people nationwide as they led keynote presentations and panel discussions.

Through the tireless work of the Insight and Catalyst project teams, it was a highly engaging Summit helping improve delegates’ approach to teaching and the learning achievement of all students.

They learned about instructional leadership, high impact teaching practice, and a knowledge rich curriculum.

Premier of Tasmania, Jeremy Rockliff, attended the Summit on day three, and commended Catholic Education Tasmania for leading the way in the Science of Learning.

Premier Rockliff spoke of his disappointment in not being able to attend the Summit in its entirety but was thankful for the invitation and said he looked forward to hearing more about how direct instruction and the Science of Reading will be applied throughout Catholic schools in Tasmania.

“In the area of Literacy, the science is clear on how to teach children to read, to write and to spell,” Mr Rockliff said.

“It is not a mystery. We know what works. I’m looking forward to collaborating with Catholic Education Tasmania on how we can extend such evidence-based practice to all schools throughout Tasmania.”

Dr Gerard Gaskin, Executive Director of CET, gave the opening address alongside CECG Director Ross Fox. Dr Gaskin applauded the work that CECG had completed in the Science of Learning space and acknowledged their efforts as trailblazers in this area.

“The findings of the Science of Learning have caused a major shift in the way in which we do education at Catholic Education Tasmania, and credit to Ross [Fox] because we first saw this great work in Canberra last year,” Dr Gaskin said.

“We were so thankful to work with CECG to be able to share this evidence-based research with other educators from around the country at the Teaching Matters Summit.”

Delegates interacted with presenters at the Gala Dinner which was headlined by a virtual presentation from Good to Great Schools Australia Co-Chair and Executive Director, Noel Pearson.

There was also a ‘Breakfast with the Experts’ where each table had a Science of Learning expert discussing their views on education and answering any questions that were posed by fellow table members.

Jennifer White, Project Lead for Insight at CET discussed how unique an opportunity it was for both CET and CECG to welcome passionate educators from across Australia to share research, new learning and build collective knowledge about the Science of Learning.

Mrs White explained how beneficial shared knowledge and system-wide learning can be in delivering highly impactful teaching.

“Our Summit was a tremendous opportunity for CET and CECG to showcase the benefits of professional collaboration, and to lead the way for the necessary innovation and change to drive exceptional education practice based on the principles of Science of Learning across the nation,” Mrs White said.

The Summit provided attendees with an opportunity to network, hold discussions with education experts in what was a great chance to examine all things Science of Learning, and how best to utilise these practices in their classrooms.

Attendees from Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia joined 203 Tasmanians who were fortunate to have such an insightful education Summit on their doorstep.

Following a successful Summit, the work in the Science of Learning field is nowhere near finished. CET is looking forward to seeing how instructional leadership, high impact teaching practice and a knowledge rich curriculum will be implemented in classrooms across the country.

CET’s Insight project is helping empower educators across the state, by equipping them with further insight into this evidence-based teaching and learning approach, helping their students grow in knowledge, wisdom, and service.

For those who missed out on attending the Teaching Matters Summit and learning more about the Science of Learning, is it anticipated it will return in 2024.

“We look forward to welcoming educators across all education systems nationally and internationally at our Autumn Summit in 2024, once again in Hobart,” Mrs White said.