As the first university to lead the direction and move to Science of Learning approaches in our teaching degrees, La Trobe University applauds the Victorian Government announcement it will embed evidence-based teaching and learning into every classroom, including the use of systematic synthetic phonics in the early years.
La Trobe’s School of Education, led by Professor Joanna Barbousas, has been at the forefront of evidence-informed approaches and structured literacy through short courses which have supported more than 11,000 teachers, many in Victoria.
Since 2020, La Trobe’s has been instrumental in advising systems and assisting schools to adopt well-established scientific approaches to improve how they teach children to read.
The Lab’s work is premised on the critical importance of word decoding skills and language comprehension. Early reading skills strongly predict children’s educational and vocational trajectories and their chances of being part of the social and economic mainstream in adulthood.
Our is a pathway from our renowned SOLAR short courses and provides quality teacher professional development to advance their careers and improve student outcomes.
We are eager to work closely with the Department of Education to integrate evidence-based approaches into classroom practice that promote success in reading, writing, and spelling.
Professor Theo Farrell, Vice-Chancellor La Trobe University
