Developing Sustainable Attitudes: Teacher Professional Development (5B1)
Project Status: Complete. Teacher professional development events continued for the full term of CSRP.
Project Leader: Dan Churach (CSRP)
Historically teachers have had little or no personal experiences with the industry and it would be advantageous to offer a series of positive mineral processing activities that could positively impact on their attitudes concerning the sector. In order for that to be a viable option however, school teachers need to be offered a straightforward, pain free series of interactive professional development offerings that show the industry for the exciting, value-adding asset it is.
This project aimed to deliver an expanded pilot project offering this professional development and assess the value of the project in shifting teacher (and therefore student) attitudes towards the industry in a positive way.
The research objectives were to:
- Form a network of science teachers who have repeated, positive contacts with research and industrial partners.
- Shift teacher attitudes towards the mineral resource industry in Australia in a positive way.
- Positively influence science teachers’ perceptions of the mineral resource sector as a high tech, environmentally aware industry that adds great value to the Australian community.
- Raise awareness of and a positive attitude towards the mineral resource sector with secondary school students with the aim of increasing the desirability of career options at all levels.
- Raise awareness of and a positive attitude towards the mineral resource sector with secondary school students with the aim of increasing the number of students selecting university majors that are feeder disciplines to the mineral resource industry.
- Raise awareness of and a positive attitude towards the mineral resource sector with all school students and the wider community resulting in a more favourable perception of the industry.
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