Wider Field Experience and Supervised Professional Experience in rural schools as operative segues from pre service teacher to graduate teacher

Graduate teachers entering the teaching profession generally experience an array of emotions and self-negotiations about beliefs, values and personal and professional identity as they commence responsibilities as classroom teachers. Much has been said about the developing and fluid nature of teacher identity as an ongoing construction shaped by different contexts, interactions and relationships. This paper builds on an initial study of four pre service teachers and their reflections during Wider Field Experience (WFE). Findings from the initial study suggested that the autobiographical reflections the pre service teachers completed resulted in a critical examination of teaching practices gained from previous classroom experiences. The pre service teachers believed the process of evaluating teaching practices had contributed to their developing teacher identity and extended the quality of their teaching performance. As graduate teachers in this present study this project focused on the participants’ experiences in planning, teaching and decision making. The participatory action research approach used in the initial study was continued throughout this study because the quality of shared communication and collaboration exchanged previously was considered beneficial in developing personal and professional identity. The graduate teachers continued to engage in autobiographical reflections because they were familiar with the approach and it provided a platform for developing shared perspectives and identifying priorities for consideration in their new roles as classroom teachers and decision makers. The graduate teachers reflected on their teaching and classroom experiences against the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) at Graduate Level and exchanged with each other the evidence they had collected against the APST. Differentiation in teaching strategies to accommodate students with diverse needs was a focus because of the locations in which each of the graduate teachers were teaching. Analysis of the autobiographical reflections highlighted the challenges and the achievements experienced during the study. The value of reflective practices in a democratic and safe environment as a collaborative process of knowledge production was also identified.