Evidence for educators: helping teachers tackle the hard questions

The Evidence for Educators (E4E) program, launched in 2024, supports secondary school teachers by providing up-to-date insights on strategic issues relevant to young Australians. Now in its second year, it continues to grow as a unique professional learning initiative for teachers across Australia and internationally.

Developed by Bill Elischer, a DFAT secondee at the ANU National Security College (NSC), E4E fills a critical gap by delivering expert-led sessions on strategic, scientific, and societal issues that matter to young Australians – equipping educators to bring timely, complex topics into the classroom.

Following a successful pilot in 2024, E4E has expanded significantly in 2025, with sessions covering:

• climate change
• energy transitions
• online extremism
• artificial intelligence
• Cabinet processes
• critical minerals
• nuclear power
• counter-terrorism
• media literacy
• Australia’s global role.

This year alone, more than 240 educators have registered, Participants from every Australian state and territory. The program also had international participants from Papua New Guinea and China, teaching under the ACT Office of the Board of Senior Secondary Studies (BSSS), curriculum.

From September 2025, NSC is partnering with the ACT BSSS to support program delivery, marketing, and venue access. This collaboration strengthens E4E’s alignment with teacher needs, expands its reach, and builds partnerships with Head Teachers Associations and other education bodies.

Feedback from the participants show they value the program’s academic integrity, relevance, and flexibility:

“This is the best professional learning for experienced teachers available anywhere in Australia. This PL keeps me up to date with the latest research and thinking on the most pressing national and global issues, which in turn means my classroom practice is well-informed and connected to the real (and changing) world.”

“(The session) was the perfect balance of high-quality evidence and content on the subject matter, with resources for teachers to take away and turn into lessons. We don't need anyone to tell us how to teach the stuff, but having some high-quality resources we can use is invaluable.”

E4E’s hybrid format – combining in-person and online sessions – has enabled broader access:

“Highly relevant topics, expert speakers, and resources to improve teacher practice consistently feature at these sessions. The flexibility to Teams-in has also allowed me to juggle other commitments and still participate. Highly recommended!”

The E4E program exemplifies NSC’s commitment to national security outreach and educational leadership – bridging the gap between strategic expertise and classroom relevance. It empowers teachers to engage students with the issues that matter most, fostering informed, critical, and globally aware citizens.