Victorian Mid-Career Scholarship Talk to us Phone us Email us Breadcrumbs Teachers Mutual Bank Community Your Community Victorian Mid-Career Scholarship Overview Highlights Previous recipients Overview The Teachers Mutual Bank Victorian Mid-Career Scholarship with Public Education Foundation supports public school teachers in Victoria who have been teaching for between five and fifteen years. The scholarship provides $10,000 to spend on approved professional development/professional learning. The scholarship may be spent on a single professional development course, including approved overseas courses with travel, or on a set of professional learning activities. Visit the Public Education Foundation’s website for more information. Highlights How Xavier Norden learned that teaching mathematics is greater than the sum of its parts from an education icon How would you spend $10,000 on professional development? For 2020 inaugural Teachers Mutual Bank Victorian Mid-Career Scholarship recipient, Xavier Norden, it was a no brainer: straight to Stanford. Do not pass go. With his passion for mathematics and a keen interest in teaching ‘outside the square’, the year six teacher and Assistant Principal at Wangaratta West Primary School knew he wanted to learn from the best - mathematics education legend and Stanford University Professor, Dr Jo Boaler. “I’d never been able to fully understand the best approach to teaching and learning mathematics.” Xavier said. “I noticed when I asked students a question I thought I’d taught well they would look at me with blank faces. I knew I had to become a better mathematics teacher. That’s when I came across Limitless Mind.” After reading Dr Boaler’s book, Xavier became an advocate of her growth-mindset approach to learning. He supplied copies to every teacher at his school and “growth-mindset” posters soon began to appear in every classroom. But Xavier knew they’d only just scratched the surface. He was on a mission to answer one of the most debated questions in education: what should mathematics teaching look like in today's classroom? And with his mid-career scholarship, there was nothing stopping him…except a worldwide pandemic. Stanford bound Fast forward to June 2022, and Xavier was finally able to make the trip to Stanford Uni to attend Dr Boaler’s Mathematics Mindset workshop. Dr Boaler is renowned for her work in mathematics education and for co-founding www.youcubed.org to inspire mathematics learning. “After putting my trip on hold for a year, I was extra excited to be heading to Stanford. I knew it would be an amazing experience, but it still managed to exceed my expectations.” Xavier said. At Stanford, Xavier was challenged to expand his own mathematics mindset over three days of intensive workshops with some of the world’s leading education minds and teachers from every corner of the globe. “It was great to learn about different school settings and to experience growth mindset learning not just as teachers but as learners ourselves.” The growth mindset approach to being a more effective mathematics teacher After bringing his learnings back to Wangaratta, and seeing the difference they made first hand, Xavier was keen to share them with other teachers. Here are some of Xavier’s key learnings from the Mathematics Mindset workshop. The importance of having a growth mindset approach - Teaching mathematics with a growth-mindset inspires student engagement and enhances deep learning. It involves challenging students by setting tasks and allowing them to grapple with the tasks in creative, interactive and collaborative ways. When teachers give their students time to problem solve before they ‘teach’, confidence and learning outcomes are enhanced. Growth mindset teaching promotes brain connectivity - Interconnected brains are powerful brains. Allowing students to draw, build, move, graph, and make in mathematics classrooms encourages important brain connections that enhance learning, comprehension, and the retention of knowledge. Growth-mindset tasks are creative, visual and three-dimensional, not just equations on a whiteboard. Teamwork makes the dream work - Learning is enhanced when students interact and collaborate, for example, by solving problems together, sharing their reasoning with other students or taking on the role of ‘the skeptic’ to question each other’s reasoning. Role play can be a powerful teaching tool in a mathematics classroom. Growth mindset teaching = being aware of behaviour reflection - It’s important to be aware of behaviour reflection in the classroom so that disengagement is not mistaken for problem behaviour. Many students have grown to dislike mathematics due to bad experiences with fixed-mindset tasks that don’t inspire them or fit their learning style. Some students would even prefer to get in trouble than risk the shame of ‘being wrong’ in mathematics class. Every brain is different - catering to the neurodiversity in our classrooms with diverse growth-mindset tasks is important if we want to unlock every student’s potential. Active facilitating - Promoting a growth mindset in the classroom means actively facilitating discussion and collaboration to prompt deeper levels of exploration and learning. But it’s not just what questions teachers ask, it’s when they ask them, how they respond to student questions and how they promote student collaboration to create an inclusive classroom that enhances active exploration and growth. One-on-one with an education legend During his time at Stanford, Xavier also had the privilege of sitting down with Dr Boaler to discuss the challenges and opportunities in his own school setting. “One of the things she stressed was the importance of actually putting growth-mindset theories into our daily practice.” And Xavier has not wasted any time doing just that back in Wangaratta. He believes they need to strive to teach open, creative and connected mathematics to engage all learners. “It invites students to think creatively, critically, work collaboratively, and develop that extra 'grit' that they will need to thrive in our ever changing world.” Opportunities for mid-career teachers in Victoria Teachers Mutual Bank is proud to sponsor the Mid-Career Scholarship in partnership with the Public Education Foundation so that teachers like Xavier can access world class professional development opportunities. “I’m so grateful to Teachers Mutual Bank to have had the opportunity to go to Stanford Uni and learn from the best mathematics educators in the world. I hope that sharing my growth-mindset journey will encourage other teachers to apply no matter what postcode they’re teaching in.” Find out more about our Mid-Career Scholarship and how to apply. Keen to learn more about Xavier’s experience at Stanford? Contact Xavier at [email protected] Previous recipients 2025 Scholarship Recipients This year there were two recipients of the Teachers Mutual Bank Victorian Mid-Career Scholarship Emmie Keung and Huy Le. Emmie Keung, Learning Teacher – Numeracy, from Sunshine College, is a passionate advocate for lifelong learning and educational leadership. Reflecting on her scholarship, Emmie said, “This scholarship is an invaluable opportunity for mid-career teachers like myself to cultivate high-quality leadership skills and experiences to develop into an effective leader. I aspire to create a meaningful and lasting impact in public education, inspiring students and educators alike to embrace curiosity, persistence, and a commitment to growth.” Huy Le, Learning Specialist, from Sunshine College. Huy’s leadership philosophy focuses on equity, inclusion, and addressing the diverse needs of students. “This opportunity will enhance my ability to foster collaboration among staff, improve teaching practices, and ensure lasting positive impacts on school culture. Ultimately, it supports students in becoming empowered learners and engaged citizens.” 2025 Recipients of the Teachers Mutual Bank Victorian Mid-Career Scholarship Emmie Keung and Huy Le and Jade Coleman, Strategic Partnerships Manager, TMBL 2024 Scholarship Recipient Katie O’Connell is the 2024 recipient of the Teachers Mutual Bank Victorian Mid-Career Scholarship. Katie is the Humanities Learning Area Leader at St Albans Secondary College in Victoria. Katie will attend the Project Zero Classroom 2024 to be held at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in Cambridge, MA, USA. Visible thinking strategies, such as those developed and promoted by Project Zero, are key to helping students develop these critical and creative thinking skills, and, while they are relevant to all subject areas, are particularly useful in relation to her teaching of the Humanities. 2023 Scholarship Recipient Nicholas Ansell is the 2023 recipient of the Teachers Mutual Bank Victorian Mid-Career Scholarship. Nicholas is a teacher at Grovedale College in Victoria. He will travel to Broome to attend the University of Notre Dame to study the courses The Silent History and The Cultural and Spiritual Life of Aboriginal People. In addition to these courses in semester 2 this year, he will be studying the course Aboriginal People & the Media online. All of these courses will contribute to the Graduate Certificate in Aboriginal Studies that he is currently studying. 2022 Scholarship Recipient Marley Collins is the 2022 recipient of the Teachers Mutual Bank Victorian Mid-Career Scholarship. Marley teaches Literacy Intervention to year 7 students and English to year 9 students at McClelland College in Frankston, Victoria. Marley is passionate about public education and about the power of education to overcome social and economic barriers. Through her work in literacy intervention, Marley has identified a need to improve her knowledge in evidence based best practice training for improving adolescent literacy skills. She is undertaking a series of professional development courses to address this, with the aim to assess and improve the literacy intervention program at McClelland College. 2021 Scholarship Recipient Alanah Andrews is the 2021 recipient of the Teachers Mutual Bank Victorian Mid-Career Scholarship. Alanah is an English Teacher, English KLD Leader and MYLNS Literacy Support Teacher at Traralgon College in regional Victoria. Alanah is passionate about helping students with learning difficulties and started her career as an Integration Aid before becoming a teacher. Alanah will complete a Graduate Certificate in Education (Literacy Education Specialisation) at Edith Cowan University. This is an evidence based graduate certificate that will allow her to undertake advanced coursework to improve her knowledge and skills around literacy instruction and intervention. 2020 Inaugural Scholarship Recipient Xavier Norden is the inaugural Teachers Mutual Bank Victorian Mid-Career Scholarship recipient. Xavier is the Assistant Principal and year 6 Teacher at Wangaratta West Primary School in Victoria. He is passionate about numeracy and about changing the mindset of teaching mathematics. He is currently a Numeracy Leader who participates in weekly Professional Learning Communities working with a range of different teachers in the region. This scholarship will enable Xavier to travel to Stanford University in California and attend a three-day professional development workshop with Jo Boaler, a British education author and Nomellini-Olivier Professor of Mathematics Education.
