News

SHINE for Kids has developed and implemented Australia’s first teacher training program to develop the skills, attitudes, knowledge and confidence of teachers to support the education of students with an incarcerated parent. In 2020, we partnered with Western Sydney University to have the training externally evaluated.

We are delighted to start the year by sharing the final external Evaluation Report of our Teacher Training conducted by Associate Professor Danielle Tracey and Dr Katrina Barker from the Centre for Education Research at Western Sydney University. You can download the final evaluation report here.

“SHINE for Kids’ Teacher Training is the only professional development program across Australia aimed at building skills, knowledge, confidence and improving attitudes of teachers in order to better support children with an incarcerated parent. I would personally like to thank Danielle and Katrina for this important evaluation which will inform the development and delivery of our NESA-accredited Teacher Training moving forward,” said April Long, National Operations Manager at SHINE for Kids.

This pilot study represents the first independent evaluation of SHINE for Kids’ teacher training program on these teacher outcomes. This evaluation had two core objectives:
The first was to assess if participating teachers report an increase in their skills, knowledge, and confidence as well as improved attitudes towards supporting children with an incarcerated parent, after completing SHINE for Kids’ teacher training program. The second objective was to gather participating teachers’ perspectives about the applicability of the program, in terms of both pedagogy and curriculum.

Responses from participants to the pre and post surveys indicated that SHINE for Kids’ teacher training appeared to result in substantial shifts in participants’ reported confidence, attitudes, and knowledge of supporting students with an incarcerated parent. Participants felt they became more knowledgeable about: strategies to engage students and support the family; other support services and resources available; and contextual information. The pedagogy and curriculum of the SHINE for Kids’ teacher training program was highly valued by participants.

“As students and teachers prepare for school to resume it’s important teachers are adequately trained and supported to work with students who have a parent in custody,” said April. “SHINE will be running further Teacher Training workshops later in 2021,” she said.

For more information about SHINE’s Teacher Training workshops, please contact us on 02 9714 3000 or email us at enquiries@shineforkids.org.au