Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

Cooperating Teachers As School Based Teacher Educators : Student Teachers' Expectations, Lourdusamy Atputhasamy

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The National Institute of Education (NIE), Singapore adapted and implemented a Partnership Model with schools in 1999 to help student teachers translate what they have learned in the teacher education programme into practice during the Practicum. This was realized through the utilization of classroom practitioners as cooperating teachers (CTs) to monitor and supervise student teacher’s teaching. This study explored the expectations of the student teachers from their cooperating teachers and the type and level of help they received from their cooperating teachers during the practicum. The areas in which help is desired and considered important by student teachers fall under …

The Power Of Collegiality In School-Based Professional Development, Susanne Owen

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The school has increasingly become the focus for teacher professional development and school leaders are maximizing teacher learning through restructuring time and meeting structures to create additional opportunities for collegial work within the school day. This research paper is the second part of a three stage research design investigating South Australian teachers’ experiences of school-based professional development and how this relates to emerging trends. This second stage of research focuses on professional development and professional growth, by interviewing fifteen staff in three case study schools to obtain greater detail about the implementation of quality teacher learning strategies. This paper reports …

Teacher Education And Critical Inquiry : The Use Of Activity Theory In Exploring Alternative Understandings Of Language And Literature, Brenton Doecke, Alex Kostogriz

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This article explores the challenges of espousing a critical pedagogy within the managerial climate that presently shapes teacher education. Current discourses of professionalism are incommensurate with an understanding of the way that literacy practices are grounded in the social worlds in which both school and university students operate. Such discourses construct graduate teachers as the providers of decontextualised literacy skills to school students whose existing communication networks are ignored. We argue that an alternative understanding of professional practice can be developed by focusing on the textual resources university students use to mediate their learning, and by locating their emerging professional …

Australian Teacher Education : Although Reviewed To The Eyeball Is There Evidence Of Significant Change And Where To Now?, Michael Dyson

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Teacher Education within Australia is once again on the cusp of further reviews at both State and Federal levels. This is in spite of frequent and invasive reviews and inquiries over the last 150 years of formal teacher education. Since the 1980s many reviews have been conducted with the intent of improving the quality of teacher education – in order to improve the learning outcomes for the pupils in the nation’s schools. This paper examines some of the reviews and the emergent patterns as it follows the journey of teacher education from the 1850s to the present day. It highlights …

Webfolio - Using Electronic Portfolios In Preservice Teacher Education, Reesa Sorin

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The Webfolio project was developed at James Cook University to extend students’ professional learning beyond what is taught in lectures or gleaned through the practicum. The Webfolio project trialled alternative platforms and approaches to teaching and learning. It was developed as an online learning environment that incorporated both real people and virtual web resources. Through web-based case studies, early childhood and primary preservice teachers explored topics of professional significance to their growth as teachers. Each case study included a range of media, such as: work samples; audiotaped conversations; links to other websites; telephone and in-person professional opinions from practicing teachers, …

Prepared To Teach : An Investigation Into The Preparation Of Teachers To Teach Literacy And Numeracy, William Louden, Mary Rohl, Jennifer Gore, Daryl Greaves, Alistair Mcintosh, Robert White, Dianne Siemon, Helen House

Research outputs pre 2011

Teacher education in Australia is a large and diverse enterprise. There are more than 400 programs in 36 universities, enrolling a total of about 35,000 preservice teachers (DEST, 2003).

The labour market for newly graduating teachers, pattern of entry to teacher education, the range of courses offered, the place of literacy and numeracy in those courses, and the provision of school experience influence the quality of beginning teachers' literacy and numeracy teaching.

An Exploration Of Student Performance, Utilization, And Attitude To The Use Of A Controlled Content Sequencing Web Based Learning Environment, Justin A. Brown

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Universities, traditionally places of teaching and research, have seen and are continuing to see radical changes occur in the area of teaching and the methods of teaching delivery. The World Wide Web, or ‘Web’ has begun to subsume the classroom as the preferred means by which students access their tertiary learning materials, and ultimately, how academic staff deliver those materials. The delivery of learning via the Web takes many forms and is generically, and usually inaccurately, referred to by such names as e-learning, online learning, web-based training and web based education, using such technologies as virtual learning environments, learning management …

The Educational Beliefs Of A Group Of University Teachers And Their Students: Identification, Exploration And Comparison, Maria T. Northcote

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The quality of teaching and learning in tertiary education contexts is influenced by many factors including the educational beliefs of the university teachers and students who teach and learn in such contexts. Most belief research in the tertiary education sector has, to date, reported on the teaching or learning beliefs of just teachers or the teaching or learning beliefs of just students. Much less research has explored the connections between the educational beliefs of these two groups. This research has aimed to extend the parameters of previous research by investigating the point of intersection between the educational beliefs of a …

Reflection : Journals And Reflective Questions : A Strategy For Professional Learning, Maggie Clarke

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Reflective journals have been used widely in teacher education programs to promote reflective thinking (Freidus, 1998; Carter & Francis, 2000; Yost, Senter & Forlenzo-Bailey, 2000). Smyth (1992) advocated that posing a series of questions to be answered in written journals could enhance reflective thinking. It was for this reason that reflective responses to directed questions were introduced in 2002 and subsequently in 2003 in the Bachelor of Education 4th year primary internship program at the University of Western Sydney, Australia. The internship program provided a sustained ten-week period of time in a school that afforded student teachers the opportunity to …

Learning 'Through' Or Learning 'About'? The Ridiculous And Extravagant Medium Of Opera : Gardner's Multiple Intellegences In Pre-Service Teacher Education, Julie White, Mary Dixon, Lynda Smerdon

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

In recent years, pre-service teacher education has attempted to incorporate into programs an understanding of Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences as it applies to schools. In this paper the tension between ‘learning about’ multiple intelligences and ‘learning through’ multiple intelligences supports Gardner’s (1993) distinction between ‘understanding’ and ‘coverage’. This paper examines the use of the performing arts in the professional studies component of our teacher education program. During 2002 at The University of Melbourne, a group of education students were offered the opportunity to develop an opera in order to learn about assessment and curriculum. Thirty-seven of the students volunteered …

Assessing The Nature Of Science Views Of Singaporean Pre-Service Teachers, Tan L. Thye, Boo H. Kwen

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Despite the many developments in the teaching of science, an aspect that continues to be neglected appears to be the character and nature of science (NOS). This is becoming especially important in the light of recent developments in pedagogy, as, for example, more teachers adopt constructivist methodologies and computing technology enables simulations that may blur the lines between models and reality. From the literature, it is known that teachers' modern NOS conceptions, though not a sufficient condition for transmission of modern NOS views, is necessary. In this study, pre-service teachers' NOS conceptions are assessed with an adapted Views of the …

Towards Optimal Student Engagement In Teacher Education, Laurie Brady

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This article, written by a teacher educator who won an AUTC National Teaching Award in 2003, focuses on the strategies that might be used in teacher education programs as distinct from addressing subject matter concerns. Endorsing the need for optimal engagement, the article posits a model combining student centred learning (arguing that some strategies by their very nature require greater degrees of student exploration and interaction); problematic and situated learning which finds an ideal expression in case method; and more far reaching expressions of field -based experience including team teaching on site, mentoring and community based professional development

Is 'Education' Becoming Irrelevant In Our Research?, R, S. Webster

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

It is argued in this paper that in a culture of ‘performativity’ research into ‘education’ is often avoided. It is observed in many research publications that attention is given to techniques of learning, teaching, management, social equity, identity formation, leadership and delivery of the curriculum, without a justification being offered as to why such instrumental approaches should be regarded as being ‘educational’. Often research quite unproblematically adopts rational-economic justifications couched in terms of ‘efficiency’ and ‘effectiveness’. Such approaches are however identified as nihilistic and not educational (Blake et al., 2000)

Are Beginning Teachers With A Second Degree At A Higher Risk Of Early Career Burnout., Richard Goddard, Patrick O'Brien

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This study investigated the impact that holding a second university degree has on levels of burnout that is reported by beginning teachers during their first year of employment. This research formed part of an ongoing investigation that aims to identify important elements relating to teacher well-being during the transition from university to a teaching career. One hundred and twenty three teachers responded to a mail survey six weeks after they commenced full-time teaching (T1) and again six months later (T2). On both occasions the survey included the Educators Survey version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI: Maslach, Jackson, & Leiter, …

Preservice Teachers' Epistemological Beliefs And Conceptions About Teaching And Learning : Cultural Implications For Research In Teacher Education., Kwok-Wai Chan

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Four epistemological belief and two teaching/learning conception dimensions were identified from a questionnaire study of a sample of Hong Kong preservice teacher education students. The epistemological belief dimensions were labelled Innate/Fixed Ability, Learning Effort/Process, Authority/Expert Knowledge and Certainty Knowledge. The somewhat different results on epistemological beliefs from Schommer’s findings with North American college students suggested the possible influence of cultural contexts. The teaching/learning conceptions were labeled Traditional and Constructivist Conceptions. MANOVA indicated no significant statistical differences across age, gender and elective groups in their epistemological beliefs and conceptions. Canonical Correlation Analysis showed significant relations between epistemological beliefs and conceptions about …

Facilitating Teacher Professional Learning : Analysing The Impact Of An Australian Professional Learning Model In Secondary Science, Rachel Sheffield

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

In education, innovations are frequently introduced to promote changes to the curriculum, teachers' practice, and the classroom environment, however, these initiatives are often implemented without sufficient evaluation to monitor their impact and effectiveness in bringing about the desired changes. This thesis analyses the impact of a teacher professional learning program on lower secondary science teachers' practice. It examines the relationship between teachers' concerns about the strategies incorporated in the Collaborative Australian Secondary Science Program (CASSP) and teachers' ability to understand the strategies, on their ability to utilise those strategies in the classroom. It also seeks to determine teachers' beliefs about …

Learning How To Learn : Problem Based Learning., Wendy Hillman

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

During the course of study for the Graduate Certificate of Education (Tertiary Teaching) we participated in a seminar about Problem Based Learning (PBL) and were asked to write a piece of assessment about this topic. I struggled long and hard with PBL and came up with a fairly mediocre piece of work to be assessed. This led me to an interest in PBL itself and, to the writing of this general overview of the subject. It has helped me to understand the concept and its implications within the tertiary system to a much greater degree.

Describing Standards For Early Childhood Teachers : Moving The Debate Forward To The National Level., Carmel Maloney, Lennie Barblett

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

In Australia, there is no set of agreed upon national teaching standards for early childhood teachers. In some states such as Western Australia and Queensland, documents have been produced that outline generic teaching competencies for all teachers. However, research in Australia and overseas shows that one set of standards does not always fit all teaching specialisations easily. This paper reports on the culmination of a joint research project between Edith Cowan University and the Department of Education (WA) that undertook to describe the generic teaching competencies for Phase 1 teachers in terms of early childhood teachers work. The views of …

Art Collections And Teacher Education, Penelope J. Collet

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

My interest in teaching collections began at Geelong Teachers’ College where I did my undergraduate training. Fellow students seemed to be oblivious to the marvelous artworks hanging on the walls throughout the buildings. The opportunity to study the F M Courtis Collection, initiated at Bendigo Teachers’ College, now part of La Trobe University Bendigo, raised obvious questions about the role of these collections in the early teaching colleges and what events or factors led to their beginnings. This case study will be situated within a broader picture of art collections in institutions across three states.

Robert George Cameron : The First Professor Of Education, At Uwa 1927-1954, Di Gardiner, Tom O’Donoghue

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

There has been much debate about the status of Education as a field of study within universities. In many circumstances the evidence suggests that there was hostility towards the inclusion of Education within the university curriculum. The fact that ‘teacher training was never accepted at the Universities of Sydney or Melbourne in the same manner as the professional training courses such as Medicine, Law or Engineering’ (Bessant and Holbrook, 1995. p.266) was a legacy of the association of teaching with the public service and apprenticeship training.

Building 'Professionalism' And 'Character' In The Single Purpose Teachers College, 1900-1950., Malcolm Vick

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Teacher training, in a variety of forms, is a well-established, integral component of mass schooling. Institutions specifically for that purpose were established in England by the first half of the nineteenth century. They made their first appearance in Australia in the form of Model or Normal schools in the 1850s and as purpose-specific teachers’ colleges from the 1880s. For the majority of new teachers in Australia, until at least the end of the nineteenth century, however, training consisted of a form of apprenticeship, either as monitors (around the mid century) or pupil-teachers.

Claremont Cameos, Bruce Haynes

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Hunt, L. and Trotman, J. (2002) Claremont cameos : women teachers and the building of social capital in Australia. Churchlands, Edith Cowan University.

Staking Out The Territory : The University Of Western Australia, The Diploma In Education And Teacher Training 1914-1956, Kaye Tully, Clive Whitehead

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The Diploma in Education has been a licence to teach in Western Australia since 1929. As an award made outside the State's education system, the history of the decision-making behind its institution has been overlooked. This article surveys some of the more important decisions made by The University of Western Australia as it staked out its territory in teacher education and training in the first half of the 20th Century. It suggests that the main motivation for such involvement by the University was to protect the quality of its matriculants, many of whom came from independent schools.

Editorial, Janina Trotman

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

In recognition of the centenary of Claremont this issue of the Australian Journal of Teacher Education is devoted to the history of teacher education. The four articles selected for this edition provide a miniature of key issues and enduring themes in the history of teacher education in Australia. They delineate debates about the balance of theory and practice in courses, the politics of decision-making, the importance of networks, the influence of individuals and nature of teacher professionalism.

Sowing The Seeds Of A Pre-Service Model Of Teacher Education In The Early Twentieth Century., Lynne Trethewey, Kay Whitehead

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Our article seeks to describe, analyse and assess the contribution of Margaret Hodge and Harriet C. Newcomb to the training of kindergarten, primary and secondary school teachers in New South Wales at a time of wide-ranging educational reform. These two English teacher educators were recruited to Sydney in 1897 for the purpose of establishing a new training scheme equivalent to the teaching diploma courses offered at the University of Cambridge. In their subsequent work for the Training Board of the NSW Teachers’ Association, reconfiguring training programs for teachers in private schools, as lecturers and examiners in the history and theory …

Questions : Help Or Hindrance? Teachers' Use Of Questions With Indigenous Children With Conductive Hearing Loss., Ann Galloway

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The development of oral language skills is an important foundation for written literacy for all children. However, where children have conductive hearing loss and consequent language impairment, the development of good oral language skills, especially those that underlie written literacy, becomes even more important. This paper discusses the use of questions during literacy focus lessons by three teachers of Indigenous students, and the way in which their use of questions serves to support or inhibit children’s opportunities to participate in classroom interaction. The paper concludes with a brief consideration of the implications of the findings for teacher education.

Two Book Reviews, Richard G. Berlach

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Crowley, S. (2003). Getting the Buggers to Behave (2nd ed.). NY: Continuum.

McLeod, J., & Reynolds, R. (2003). Planning for Learning. Tuggerah, Australia: Social Science Press.

Teacher Development Through Action Research : A Case Study In Focused Action Research., Gillian Perrett

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

'Focused action research' was employed in a teacher inservice program which sought to develop a fusion between trainer-centred input and teacher-centred action research. The areas of input to teachers were learning strategies, thinking skills, questioning skills and the teaching of study skills. During the four months of this action research project of the teacher educators, teachers experienced two cycles of action research, one investigating their students' learning strategies and the second implementing a plan to improve some aspect of their students' learning - such as summary writing, remedial reading, hotseating, introducing group work, vocabulary-learning techniques - and wrote reports on …

'Being A Teacher' : Developing Teacher Identity And Enhancing Practice Through Metacognitive And Reflective Learning Processes., Anne Graham, Renata Phelps

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The discourse of reflection is now firmly embedded in a range of teacher education programs in Australia and overseas. Reflective frameworks have been used by teacher educators to offset the perennial emphasis on technically prescriptive interpretations of ‘being a teacher’. Whilst these undoubtedly contribute to the personal ‘meaning making’ of neophyte teachers, particularly in relation to practical classroom experiences, there remains significant scope to integrate a more concerted reflective approach throughout other elements of the teacher education endeavour. When the language of reflection is applied only in a cursory or superficial way in the teacher education context the opportunity to …

Why Indigenous Issues Are An Essential Component Of Teacher Education Programs, Gary Partington

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The extensive failure of Indigenous students in school, particularly during adolescence, is a shameful characteristic of Australian education. Students who have most to gain from a successful school experience are the most likely to leave school with minimal skills and qualifications. The situation has shown little improvement over 30 years, as evidenced by the repetitious nature of articles in, for example, The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education. Government inquiries into Indigenous education, especially those addressing issues such as attendance (Bourke, Rigby & Burden, 2000), identity (Purdy, Tripcony, Boulton-Lewis, Fanshawe & Gunstone, 2000) and achievement (Department of Education, Training and Youth …