Reappraising the AITSL Professional Engagement Domain: Clarifying Social Capacity Building for School Leaders to Enhance Overall Teacher Job Satisfaction and Career Longevity - Article 4

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Franzy

The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (AITSL, 2018) specify knowledge, practice, and professional engagement across career stages, with professional engagement reflected in Standards Six and Seven. School leaders influence how collegiality, collaboration, and dialogue are interpreted and enacted. This study uses an Appreciative Inquiry lens to interview school leaders about social capacity building within the Professional Engagement domain. Findings show inspiration alongside uncertainty, lack of clarity, and practical difficulties, supporting the value of more explicit social context in AITSL’s wording, implications, and application for an aging teaching workforce.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages18

Reading Time45 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

AITSL standards and professional engagement domain

Social capacity building and interpretive focus

Study aims and methodology

Australian Journal of Teacher Education | Volume 45 Issue 9 | Article 4 | | --- | --- | | 2020
Reappraising the AITSL Professional Engagement Domain: Clarifying Social Capacity Building for School Leaders to Enhance Overall Teacher Job Satisfaction and Career Longevity
Geoffrey M. Lowe
Edith Cowan University, [g.lowe@ecu.edu.au](g.lowe@ecu.edu.au)
Peter F. Prout
Edith Cowan University, [p.prout@ecu.edu.au](p.prout@ecu.edu.au)
Christina C. Gray
Edith Cowan University, [c.gray@ecu.edu.au](c.gray@ecu.edu.au)
Sarah Jefferson
Edith Cowan University, [sarah.jefferson@ecu.edu.au](sarah.jefferson@ecu.edu.au)
Follow this and additional works at: [https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte](https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte)
Part of the Educational Leadership Commons, and the Other Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons | | Recommended Citation Lowe, G. M., Prout, P. F., Gray, C. C., & Jefferson, S. (2020) . Reappraising the AITSL Professional Engagement Domain: Clarifying Social Capacity Building for School Leaders to Enhance Overall Teacher Job Satisfaction and Career Longevity. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 45(9) . [http://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2020v45n9.4](http://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2020v45n9.4) [This Journal Article is posted at Research Online.](This Journal Article is posted at Research Online.)[ ](This Journal Article is posted at Research Online.)[https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol45/iss9/4](https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol45/iss9/4) Reappraising the AITSL Professional Engagement Domain: Clarifying Social Capacity Building for School Leaders to Enhance Overall Teacher Job Satisfaction and Career Longevity Geoffrey Lowe Peter Prout Christina Gray Sarah Jefferson Edith Cowan University Abstract: The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (AITSL, 2018) stipulate what teachers should know and do through each career stage. School leaders are complicit in promoting the Standards are met by all staff, including Professional Engagement (Standards Six and Seven). While the Standards emphasise content and pedagogical capacity building, we contend that teaching is a social enterprise. Although social capacity building is implied in the Professional Engagement domain through terms such as ‘collegiality, collaboration and dialogue’, we question the degree to which it is understood by school leaders. We ask this in light of influential studies by Waldinger (2010) and Vaillant (1977) which highlight the importance of workplace social connection in terms ofjob satisfaction and career longevity. Using an Appreciative Inquiry lens, we interviewed a number ofpositive school leaders about social capacity building among their staff against the Professional Engagement domain. While interviews affirmed many inspiring examples of its application, we also uncovered a degree of uncertainty, lack of clarity and practical difficulties experienced by these exemplary leaders. As per our research approach, we do not suggest that there is any fundamental problem with the Professional Engagement domain perse. However, findings indicate value forAITSL in reappraising this domain in relation to its wording, implications and application. Amore explicit emphasis on the social context may in turn help address some of the issues confronting Australia’s aging teaching workforce. Introduction In 2018, the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) revised the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. The Standards were originally developed to regulate the profession, improve teacher quality and streamline teacher mobility (Gray & Lambert, 2019). They provide “a framework which makes clear the knowledge, practice and professional engagement required across teachers’ careers”, and key to their application is that “teachers can use the standards to recognise their current and developing capabilities, professional aspirations and achievements”(AITSL, 2018, p. 3) . Th

FAQs

What does the Professional Engagement domain (Standards Six and Seven) require teachers to do?

It emphasizes identifying personal learning needs and expanding professional learning collegially and individually, along with lead teacher expectations to initiate activities that improve educational opportunities and colleagues’ professional practice.

Why do the authors focus on social capacity building in relation to professional engagement?

They argue that teaching is a social enterprise and question how school leaders understand the implied social capacity building embedded in terms such as collegiality, collaboration, and dialogue.

What did the interviews reveal about implementing social capacity building in the Professional Engagement domain?

Interviews confirmed many inspiring applications, but also uncovered uncertainty, lack of clarity, and practical difficulties experienced by exemplary leaders.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Franzy