The New South Wales (NSW) Education Standards Authority (NESA) controls accreditation

levels for all Teachers in NSW by ensuring that teachers satisfy the Australian Professional

Standards (Authority, 2019). This accreditation process correlates with the “monopoly”

element of professionals above. NESA also maintains The Australian Professional Standards

for Teachers (APST) to provide a basis of “self-regulation”. (Australian Institute for

Teaching and School Leadership, 2019). APST requirements ensure teachers transmit

specific content (Curriculum), make the curriculum interesting and relevant to all students

(Pedagogy), and constantly monitor through formal and informal methods the progress in

students’ learning (Assessment). These expectations correlate with both the “expertise”

(Curriculum Knowledge), “public service” (Pedagogy and Assessments to benefit each

student) and “Vocation” that must exist to perform this broad range of functions (Bengtsson,

1995). The APST also requires teachers’ engagement with students’ families and

community to enhance everyone’s participation and success in the learning process – also

reflecting “public service” and “vocational” drive. Next, we will go deeper into the “First

Pillar: Curriculum”.

First, we must highlight that although the Federal government has developed a National

Curriculum, the states customise it to meet regional differences. The New South Wales

(NSW) Education Standards Authority (NESA) is responsible for the curriculum

development in NSW. The curriculum is the “study of any and all educational phenomena”

(Egan, 1978). In education, it prescribes the items teachers must cover to develop the

students’ knowledge in certain areas. For instance, in Year 11 Physics, the curriculum

requires teachers to enhance students’ knowledge of how energy exists in different forms

((NESA), 2019). Transmitting this concept requires “expertise”. The curriculum also

prescribes: when will teachers cover the concept