TESTING TEACHERS

Six teachers, three schools, one aim; to make a difference in young people’s lives.

When some of Australia’s brightest minds enter the classroom as first time teachers, can they make a difference in school that face the greatest challenge?

Testing Teachers follows six first-time teachers from Teach for Australia, an ambitious program that places Australia’s brightest minds in schools serving low socioeconomic communities, where many students are falling behind. After a block of intensive training, these high-achievers are fast-tracked into those classrooms where they are needed most, while they study for their Masters of Teaching on the job.

With a massive decline in top school leavers choosing teaching, coupled with almost half of teachers leaving the profession in the first five years – the pressure is on this special breed of recruits to succeed. How will their ambitions unfold when faced with a classroom of disengaged teens where ‘respect’ is something that earned? Will their youthful energy sustain them through the long hours and endless coursework? Can they make a meaningful impact on the lives of their students?

With unprecedented access to this innovative program and the classrooms of Australia, Testing Teachers charts the highs and lows of these new teachers over twelve months, spanning three schools across metropolitan and remote Australia.

Release Date:

29 May 2017

Network: