Abstract:
Arrangements within teacher preparation are rapidly changing in the Australian context. Preservice teachers now have a range of opportunities to engage in paid employment as classroom teachers while concurrently completing academic programs of study through university-based initial teacher education. In Queensland, Turn to Teach and Trade to Teach internship initiatives, alongside non-internship Permission to Teach approvals, have been embraced to address teacher shortages. While beneficial from a workforce capacity perspective, these arrangements change how preservice teachers can and do experience their learning.
In this presentation, we report on initial findings from an Education Horizon-funded project investigating the experience of learning of preservice teachers studying within Turn to Teach, Trade to Teach, and Permission to Teach arrangements in the Queensland context. Framed by systems/learning ecologies theory, we draw on data collected and thematically analysed from preservice teachers and relevant staff in one regional university via surveys, focus groups, reflections, and provocations to understand how and why learning is perceived to be enabled and constrained in each of these arrangements.
Early insights reveal that while the opportunity to engage in site-based learning is advantageous, challenges of study intensity and competing stakeholder expectations may undermine a quality learning experience. We will share findings relevant to the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders such as schools, universities, regulatory authorities, and sector leaders implementing these emergent teacher preparation pathways as we seek to understand how preservice teachers may be best supported through a systemic approach.
In this presentation, we report on initial findings from an Education Horizon-funded project investigating the experience of learning of preservice teachers studying within Turn to Teach, Trade to Teach, and Permission to Teach arrangements in the Queensland context. Framed by systems/learning ecologies theory, we draw on data collected and thematically analysed from preservice teachers and relevant staff in one regional university via surveys, focus groups, reflections, and provocations to understand how and why learning is perceived to be enabled and constrained in each of these arrangements.
Early insights reveal that while the opportunity to engage in site-based learning is advantageous, challenges of study intensity and competing stakeholder expectations may undermine a quality learning experience. We will share findings relevant to the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders such as schools, universities, regulatory authorities, and sector leaders implementing these emergent teacher preparation pathways as we seek to understand how preservice teachers may be best supported through a systemic approach.