Building Expertise – Strengthening teacher expertise

All art forms

Critical Agendas
Critical Agendas lists professional development opportunities for Australian teachers in all subject areas. It is very easy and quick to search for professional development opportunities by state.

All art forms

Professional Development for Australian Teachers
This website is an outstanding resource from the TTA website (Professional Development for Australian Teachers). It provides a search option for professional development opportunities by state and subject area. Many arts professional development opportunities are available, mostly focused on secondary teaching. There are some primary teaching options, and primary teachers are encouraged to attend secondary-focused workshops to develop their skills. 

Music

More Music Toolkit – Professional Development
More Music Tool Kit offers excellent resources to support music teaching. This site provides links to professional development and teaching resources. It also details a useful action plan for teachers to overcome problems such as lack of confidence and training and no access to professional development. This action plan has links with every suggested step.      

YES

Music

Musica Viva – Education
Musica Viva offers accredited teacher professional development courses and curriculum-linked resources Australia wide, as well as performances and workshops for students.

YES

Music

The Song Room
The Song Room is a national not for profit organisation that provides free, tailored, long-term music and arts-based programs for children in disadvantaged and high need communities.

Visual Arts
Media

Kaldor Public Art Projects – Education
Kaldor Public Art Projects develops support resources for Australian education. Resources include video art, contemporary art in primary schools, public art and a variety of art project education kits.

YES

All Arts Areas

ACT Government – Education and Training Directorate
This ACT Government site provides teaching and learning support. The associated conference provides practical workshops on teaching the arts and updates on the development of the Australian Curriculum.

Music

Music Engagement Program – Australian National University
The Music Engagement Program (MEP) at Australian National University runs regular semester-length courses and short, intensive courses for both general classroom and specialist teachers. The MEP also runs a program entitled 'Hand-in-Hand' in which teachers and students perform at care facilities and meet residents.  

Dance
Drama
Music
Visual Arts

The Arts Unit – Teacher Professional Learning
This site offers professional learning workshops for teachers in drama, visual art, music and dance. The Arts Unit is part of Specialist Programs, Schools within the NSW Department of Education and Communities. It offers professional development for teachers, provides students with access to learning experiences and presents high profile public performance, events and competitions.

YES

Dance

Australian Ballet – School Education Program
Australian Ballet offers an incursion program free of charge to selected schools in NSW, South Australia and Victoria.

Drama

Drama NSW – Professional Development
Drama NSW offers professional development opportunities including conferences and workshops.

Drama

National Institute of Dramatic Arts – Course Listing
The National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA) gives workshops for primary and secondary school students with direct links to syllabi.

Drama
Dance

Seymour Centre – Professional Development
The Seymour Centre provides primary and secondary teachers professional development courses endorsed by the NSW Institute of Teachers. The Centre also offers school performances with teacher resources and study guides.

YES

Drama
Dance
Music
Visual Arts

Sydney Opera House – Professional Development for Teachers
The Sydney Opera House hosts a range of professional development opportunities for teachers with links to companies such as Bell Shakespeare, Sydney Theatre Company, ATYP, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Dance Company and the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Visual Arts

Art Gallery NSW – Education
The Art Gallery of New South Wales offers teacher professional development programs catering specifically for K–6 and 7–12 educators and trainee teachers. Relevant links to the visual arts syllabus are incorporated into each program, which includes lectures, discussions and workshops by educators, historians, artists and critics.

Visual Arts

Media

Association of Independent Schools NSW – Visual Arts
This site lists visual arts and media professional development workshops for teachers.

Music

Northern Territory Music School
Northern Territory Music School (NTMS) provides support for teachers and music programs in schools across the NT. Staff work with primary and middle schools teaching to develop choirs and work towards performances. NTMS is a division of the NT Department of Education and Training.

YES

All Arts Areas

Arts Career – SLQ Professional Development for Teachers
The State Library of Queensland page lists professional development for teachers in all arts areas (dance, drama, media, visual arts and music).

Dance

Queensland Ballet – Professional Development for Primary Teachers
The Queensland Ballet provides professional development for generalist primary school teachers. Teachers learn how to teach the elements of dance (shape, movement, formation, rhythm and quality). No dance experience necessary.

Dance
Drama
Visual Arts

Artslink Queensland – Professional Development
Artslink Queensland’s Professional Development page offers a range of workshops for teachers in dance, drama and visual art throughout Queensland.

Drama

Drama Queensland – Professional Development
Drama Queensland has professional development activities offered throughout Queensland. Their events cater to a range of needs, from beginning to experienced; primary to secondary.

Music

Queensland Conservatorium – Professional Development
The Queensland Conservatorium offers a short course 'Teaching Music for the Non-Music Specialist'. Most of their other short courses are for specialist music teachers.

Visual Arts

Queensland Art Teachers' Association
Queensland Art Teachers' Association website provides professional development events, online workshops and contemporary arts experiences for students.

 YES

Visual Arts

Flying Arts – Professional Development for Educators
The Flying Arts' site has professional development for art teachers with online workshops and Brisbane-based workshops. Workshops are mostly focused on skill development.

Visual Arts

Queensland College of Art – Short Courses
Queensland College of Art offers short courses in art making skills suitable for developing expertise in visual arts.

Dance

Ausdance SA
Ausdance SA runs a yearly conference to support dance educators as well as other professional development activities.

Dance

Australian Ballet – Incursion Program for Schools
Australian Ballet offers an incursion program free of charge to selected schools in NSW, South Australia and Victoria.

Drama

Drama Australia – SAADIE Curriculum
The South Australian Association for Drama in Education (SAADIE) runs in-service workshops for teachers and a biennial state conference. Many of the professional development activities have a cross-arts focus. The organisation also connects teachers with each other.

Music

The Australian Society for Music Education – Conferences
The Australian Society for Music Education (ASME) offers a conference and professional development program for primary and secondary music teachers.

Visual Arts

Art Gallery South Australia – Learning Support
The Art Gallery of South Australia offers professional development for teachers and teaching sessions in the gallery for teachers and students. The Gallery also hosts teacher briefing days and personalised group sessions for teachers.

YES

All art forms

arts@work Arts Tasmania
The Artist in Residence program (AIR) by Arts Tasmania provides pathways for artists to connect their practice to young people, and for artists to inspire and introduce teachers to new ideas and approaches.

Drama
Dance

Drama Tasmania
Drama Tasmania runs professional development activities for teachers of drama and dance. Resources and support materials are available via membership.

YES

Visual Arts

Tasmanian Art Teachers Association
Tasmanian Art Teachers Association offers art education advice, information and assistance to members, and advocacy for the education sector.

YES

All art forms

Education Victoria – Teacher Resources
This website lists resources to help Victorian teachers with their professional learning in all arts areas. Many sites offer student workshops and excursions.

Dance

Ausdance Victoria
Ausdance Victoria offers professional development training for primary and secondary school teachers.

Dance

Australian Ballet – Education in Schools
Australian Ballet provides an incursion program free of charge to selected schools in NSW, South Australia and Victoria.

Drama

Drama Victoria
Drama Victoria offers professional development through a yearly conference and other events.

Drama

Western Edge Youth Arts – School Programs
Western Edge Youth Arts Inc. work in collaboration with teachers and schools. Programs are co-planned and developed between teachers and teacher-artists. Current projects are detailed on their home page.

Media

The Australian Centre for the Moving Image – Creative Workshops
The Australian Centre for the Moving Image offers workshops to develop skills in movie making and digital storytelling.

Music

Association of Music Educators Victoria
The Association of Music Educators Victoria has a large range of professional development activities for generalist primary teachers.

YES

Art Education Victoria
Art Education Victoria provides professional development activities and conferences for primary and secondary teachers.

Visual Arts

Ballarat Fine Art Gallery
The Ballarat Fine Art Gallery provides gallery tours for schools, professional development programs, professional development for teachers and arts workshops for students from disadvantaged areas.

Visual
Arts

Bendigo Art Gallery – Professional Development
The Bendigo Art Gallery provides professional development workshops and conferences for teachers. The Gallery also provides teaching kits for specific exhibitions.

YES

Visual Arts

Zart – Professional Development
Zart is a Victorian based company that runs visual arts professional development workshops in schools. The company offers free ideas and product presentations every term, and have an extensive range of options for workshops from textile workshops to whole school professional development days on 'Looking at Art to develop deeper thinking'.

Drama

Drama West – Professional Development
Drama West supports drama teaching at all levels through workshops, seminars and publications. Drama West runs a yearly conference in Perth with practical workshops and papers.

Drama

Spare Parts Puppet Theatre – Professional Development
Spare Parts Puppet Theatre offers professional development for teachers and workshops for students. Contact them to be notified of upcoming professional opportunities.

YES

Media

The Western Australia Newspapers in Education – Workshops
The West Australian Newspapers in Education program offers practical professional development workshops, which provide newspaper-based teaching programs for all levels and across many learning areas.

Visual Arts

Art Gallery Western Australian – Teacher Education
The Art Gallery of Western Australia offers professional development for teachers, teacher previews of exhibitions and other events. The gallery also gives guided tours for students and art workshops with an educator customised according to curriculum needs, ability and interests.

YES

Visual Arts

Art Education Association of Western Australia – Professional Development Providers
A list of centres and organisations that offer visual arts workshops in Western Australia.

Visual Arts

Art on the Move
Art on the Move provides professional development workshops for teachers and opportunities to meet artists and talk about their new work in Perth and regional centres. Subscription to Art on the Move’s education website allows access to teacher and student pages of the site and all educational resources for exhibitions since 2004.

YES

Visual Arts

Claremont School of Art
Claremont School of Art has a selection of short course art classes for beginners to advanced artists. 

Visual Arts.

REmida Perth
REmida (Perth) focusses on sustainability education across curriculum areas. They offer a short professional development workshop for teachers that introduce the use of REUSE materials towards projects and play. They also offer workshops for students interested in sustainability education. The workshops have many cross-curriculum links and are mapped to ACARA.