The Standards Are Under Review, the Skill of Proving Them Isn't
Australia's Teacher Standards are under review for the first time in 15 years. Here's what's changing, what isn't, and what it means for your portfolio.
Hayley Laney-Teaching Futures
7/22/20264 min read
It's true of education that the better teacher you are, the less time in the classroom you spend. The only leadership track for teachers goes through primarily administrative roles, which carry responsibilities that classroom teachers may not want to take on. The introduction of the AITSL standards in 2011 gave a framework for what quality teaching looked like, and developed different stages of teaching. It recognised that quality teaching was not a matter of years in the job, but engagement as a professional educator. These standards are now under review. The scoping process started late in 2025, with 30 different stakeholder groups, with the final report due with recommendations for changes in 2027.
So what's changing, and why?
The main criticism of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers is that it reads somewhat like a shopping list of things to prove. A step by step process with no real definition of what "quality" looks like, but rather the activities that teachers carry out. While times have certainly changed in the 15 years since the standards were introduced, globally there is still little evidence of what constitutes "best practice" (reference needed). States and territories are beginning to mandate curricula and teaching practices and programs that require little input from the teacher, showing that individual teaching practice is becoming uniform, less of a profession and more of a technical skill. This deprofessionalisation of teaching is concerning, and while no changes have been made yet, the standards must include a level of individualisation for teachers to be able to show progression through the career stages.
AITSL is testing six new domains of standards: teacher effectiveness, learner progress and achievement, inclusivity for learners with disability, safe and ethical use of digital tools and AI, strengthened child safety requirements, and cultural responsiveness
Arguments for further integration of soft skill recognition are also being brought forward (Teng, 2023). Teng argues soft skills, including interpersonal skills, motivation, self-efficacy, resilience and adaptability, should be added to the standards to protect early career teachers from burnout. This needs to be treated with caution. The adoption of such skills within the standards implies the individual responsibility of workload pressures and genuine resourcing issues in schools, rather than a systemic problem.
If the focus turns to resilience and motivation, we risk further deprofessionalisation of teaching, diminishing any "quality" to the reductive nature of content delivery. When a profession's own standards start asking practitioners to demonstrate resilience, that's the standard quietly relocating a systemic problem into the individual.
What counts as effective teaching?
There is no agreed global framework for teacher quality. TALIS, OECD (Berkovich and Benoliel, 2020), every major body defines "good teaching" differently, and those definitions shape what gets measured, funded and praised. Add to this a considerable difference in how cultures value education in the first place, and it becomes clear why a single global standard for teacher quality was always going to be a stretch.
Teacher self-efficacy sits at the centre of this. It's one of the strongest predictors of teaching outcomes we have. But self-efficacy doesn't exist in a vacuum; it's built through the stories we tell about what teaching is and what it's for. The continual decline of the autonomy and professionalism of teachers, and the continual undermining of the profession, sinks deep into the psyche of teachers and what impact they can have. We need to strive to understand the value of what teachers are doing, and our systems need to reflect the purpose of education to decide what skills teachers need to demonstrate, as this is dramatically different depending on the culture you live in.
So what's next
The review is happening now, and there is an opportunity for stakeholders in the profession to have their say on how the teacher standards may be reframed (AITSL review of the Teacher Standards).
It's important to communicate your thoughts, as whatever framework we land on matters. Whatever definition of "quality teaching" gets embedded in policy and measurement becomes the story teachers are told about themselves, and that story shapes what we believe teachers are capable of achieving.
There is good news for those that are yet to receive proficiency. Whatever the standards may be, the outcome will be the same: telling the story of your teaching and true reflective practice will be at the forefront of proving your professionalism now and in the future.
If you're working through that story right now, The Portfolio Builder walks you through the CARES method and turns your classroom work into standards-mapped teaching stories, ready for your portfolio or your next application.
If you'd rather have someone alongside you while you do it, Strong Start Mentoring pairs you with a Highly Accomplished Teacher for six 1:1 sessions, someone who helps build the evidence you already have into a portfolio you can actually use, without also judging your job.
And if you're a school leader reading this and wondering what proper support for your early career teachers looks like while all of this is under review, I'd like to hear about it. Enquire about support for your school.
How Teaching Futures can help
References
Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership. (2026). Review of the Teacher Standards. https://www.aitsl.edu.au/standards/review-of-the-teacher-standards
Benoliel, P., & Berkovich, I. (2021). Ideal teachers according to TALIS: Societal orientations of education and the global diagnosis of teacher self-efficacy. European Educational Research Journal, 20(2), 143-158. https://doi.org/10.1177/1474904120964309
Henebery, B. (2024, April 24). Experts voice concerns over Explicit Teaching push in NSW schools. The Educator K/12. https://www.theeducatoronline.com/k12/news/experts-voice-concerns-over-explicit-teaching-push-in-nsw-schools/284554
New South Wales Department of Education. (2025). What Works Best 2025: Evidence guide for excellent schools. https://education.nsw.gov.au/about-us/education-data-and-research/what-works-best/what-works-best-2025-evidence-guide-for-excellent-schools
Teng, S., & Alonzo, D. (2023). Critical review of the Australian professional standards for teachers: Where are the non-cognitive skills? International Journal of Instruction, 16(1), 605-624. https://e-iji.net/ats/index.php/pub/article/view/216
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