In order to graduate as Australian teachers, prospective Victorian graduates complete their degree with a Graduate Teacher Performance Assessments (or a similar assessment) where prospective graduates teach on a final placement and gather evidence to show understanding of all AITSL Standards. 

Upon becoming teachers, these professionals are on a two year probation. In order to leave this probation period teachers must do the VIT application where they teach and gather…evidence…to show understanding of…all AITSL Standards…

Strange. 

In order to become a “full” teacher (whatever that actually means in relation to VIT), teachers must pay to show evidence of knowledge they needed to show in order to graduate the course in order to become educators in the first place. Again. 

Why? 

The VIT application has no practical purpose. Not a single human soul mentions it once it has been completed. Not senior leadership, not parents, not students, not other teachers, nor pedagogy. 

It is in every way a useless hurdle, as the hurdle has already been completed before graduating to actually become a teacher. There is no discernible difference between the GTPA assessment and the VIT application. Both are the same standards, both are completed through classroom evidence. There is, quite literally, no difference except one is called the GTPA, and the other VIT. 

The requirement literally means nothing, and happens to exist purely on the basis that it happens to exist. 

Get rid of this nonsense hurdle, just let teachers teach. They’ve already proven they can do the job. Otherwise they wouldn’t be in the room doing it. Do you see how that works?