Bridging the Education Divide: Building Teacher Training That Works for All

Join UNSW and NSW education leaders for a timely panel on how co-designed teacher professional learning can strengthen STEM teaching.

Bridging the Education Divide: Building Teacher Training That Works for All is a high-level panel discussion exploring how universities, government education departments, schools and teachers can work together to strengthen STEM education across NSW.

A more diverse and capable future STEM workforce starts well before university. It starts in classrooms — with teachers who feel confident, supported and equipped to bring science, mathematics and emerging STEM fields to life for students from all backgrounds.

This panel will examine how sustained, co-designed teacher professional learning can help address teacher workforce challenges, support curriculum implementation, and improve student engagement and participation in STEM, particularly across metropolitan, regional, rural and remote communities.

The discussion will bring together senior education leaders, academic experts and school-based perspectives to consider one practical question:

How can we build teacher training that is accessible, effective and genuinely useful for every school community?

Panel members

Moderator: Professor Lisa Williams

Panellists:

• Martin Graham, Deputy Secretary, Teaching, Learning & Student Wellbeing, NSW Department of Education
• Scientia Professor Sven Rogge, Dean, UNSW Faculty of Science
• Professor Tony Loughland, Head of School, School of Education, UNSW Sydney
• Elizabeth Edwards, teacher/school leader representative, bringing a classroom and school-based perspective

Key themes

The panel will explore:

• how universities, the Department and schools can co-design practical and impactful teacher professional learning;
• how professional learning can strengthen teacher capability, support curriculum change and contribute to workforce sustainability;
• how flexible and accessible delivery models can better support teachers in regional, rural and remote communities;
• how stronger STEM teacher capability can improve student confidence, belonging and pathways into STEM study and careers;
• how this work can help build a more diverse cohort of students entering university STEM programs and future STEM careers.

Why attend?

This event is for anyone interested in the future of STEM education, teacher capability, equity of access and the school-to-university pipeline.

Participants will hear from leaders across the education system and gain insight into how collaboration between universities, the NSW Department of Education and schools can support teachers and students in practical, scalable and lasting ways.

The session will be relevant for teachers, school leaders, education policymakers, university staff, STEM educators, professional learning specialists, students and community partners interested in building stronger and more inclusive STEM pathways.