National Graduate Teacher Standards: Implications for Professional Experience Policy and Practice
Author: Walkington, Jackie
Date: 2009-07-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Preservice Teacher Education,Preservice Teachers,Teaching (Occupation),National Standards,Foreign Countries,Benchmarking,Outcomes of Education,Teacher Education,Accreditation (Institutions),College School Cooperation,Partnerships in Education,Evaluation,Teacher Effectiveness,Academic Achievement,Professional Development,Standards,Responsibility

In 2009, Australian teacher education finally sees a series of graduate teacher standards that is designed as national benchmarking for those completing initial teacher education. The draft standards represent considerable negotiation and discourse by the various jurisdictions. They are being fine tuned in readiness for adoption across Australia as statements of quality and professionalism in teacher preparation course outcomes. Graduate teacher standards are integral components of a national system and form a basis for the accreditation judgments about teacher education to be made by local jurisdictional teacher regulatory authorities. This paper positions the development of national graduate teacher standards into the overall framework of teacher preparation in Australia, placing emphasis on what constitutes benefit for effective pre-service and graduate teacher learning. At the same time it acknowledges the tension that exists when the requirements of independent education authorities strive to agree on common ground to determine such ends. The paper seeks specific understanding of the impact that the implementation of national graduate teacher standards has on the policies and practices surrounding preservice teacher learning and university-school partnerships evident in the professional experience component of teacher education. To obtain this understanding, a review of the relevant literature surrounding national standards was undertaken with an emphasis on professional experience. Representatives of stakeholder groups were then consulted in focus group and individual interviews. Stakeholders were asked to consider how the adoption of the national graduate teacher standards would affect their particular relationship with the professional experience program. In summary, a range of modifications to professional experience policy, curriculum links, administrative and learning practices, resources and professional learning in partnerships were disclosed as priorities dependent on the stakeholder needs. While action in different jurisdictions would vary depending on what was currently in place, the adoption of the standards necessitates considerable modifications in order to ensure developmental continuity within courses, alignment with local requirements, and the informing of those in the teacher education partnership who would use the standards as learning and assessment markers of progress. Common to all of these modifications is the need for shared understandings of what constitutes evidence to demonstrate the achievement of graduate standards. The adoption of national graduate standards as shared benchmarks is as a catalyst to reviewing current practice. There is a renewed opportunity to work collaboratively as a profession to enhance learning outcomes and the quality of the teaching profession. (Contains 2 figures.)