Our Story So Far
The idea of an organisation with a vision of an Australia where all children are given the best chance to receive an excellent education seems ambitious and bold.
But the inception of Teach For Australia was motivated by a spirited individual with a grand desire to improve the educational outcomes of all children, regardless of their social-economic backgrounds. With that passion and the knowledge of effective models working overseas, the founding and current CEO Melodie Potts Rosevear, built a business case and championed the cause, after observing first hand the educational disadvantage facing children in the Cape York region in far North Australia.
The organisation officially launched in late 2008 by the then Federal Education Minister, Julia Gillard MP. With an initial team of four passionate individuals, the program has grown and expanded substantially in just three short years. In addition to the Federal Government, the beginnings as a social enterprise would not have been possible without the support of Teach For All, The Boston Consulting Group, Corrs Chambers Westgarth Lawyers, and the Victorian Government.
The first year was spent building a presence amongst the graduate market and the organisation managed to recruit over 700 applicants nationally, select 43 outstanding graduates, and design and deliver an innovative intensive training program, in collaboration with the Melbourne Graduate School of Education.
Since then, Teach For Australia has expanded placements to three States (Victoria, ACT and the NT) in both government and Catholic sectors, and recruited and placed another 83 Associates. An ambitious and effective Leadership Development Framework was established, allowing Associates to have greater impact in their classrooms and schools. Our recruitment campaign materials were awarded best in the country by the Australian Association of Graduate Employers. We have established over 1,000 new relationships across all sectors to collaborate with us on this mission.
The first cohort has since graduated the program, and with that, we have our first batch of Alumni. The work and achievements of Cohort 1 are now coming to the fore, as evidenced in the independent evaluations commissioned by ACER. With 75% of Alumni staying on as teachers or delving further into the study of education, and all continuing to be champions for educational equality, Teach For Australia will continue to grow in number, and belief, in this fight.
