Charles Darwin University has developed a new partnership with the Department of Employment, Education and Training to deliver high quality, innovative teacher education for the Northern Territory with increased in-school experiences.
The partnership, which was launched on Thursday, 21 August, uses a range of Darwin and Alice Springs schools as Teaching Schools to provide on-site quality classroom-based learning for pre-service teachers. Both Teaching Schools and the University gain from the partnership by sharing expertise and jointly supporting and mentoring student teachers to develop skills for effective teaching in Territory contexts.
Chief Executive of the Department of Employment, Education and Training Ms Margaret Banks said, “A significant increase to the number of days spent in the classroom means that prospective teachers spend more time learning in schools from as early as the sixth week of their teaching degree."
Pre-service teachers generally stay in the same school for twelve months to become familiar with the whole school community. A mentor teacher is partnered with each pre-service teacher to support the development of teaching skills and to guide career development.
Central to the partnership’s success are close professional links between school-based teaching staff, university pre-service teachers, and academic staff. Strong professional alliances help deliver quality teacher education programs with strong links between academic learning and in-school professional experiences.
Dean of CDU’s Faculty of Education, Health and Science, Professor Graham Pegg explained that the partnership was at the leading edge of teacher education preparation and recognised the important joint role of the teaching profession and the university in preparing teachers for their future work.
Charles Darwin University has close partnerships with a range of schools in the Territory and pre-service teachers can complete their in-school professional experiences in urban, regional or remote schools.
Head of the School of Education Professor Alison Elliott stressed the importance of close University-school ties to ensure that student teachers are well prepared for the realities of classrooms and early childhood centres. She said that “working collaboratively with school partners provided the best opportunities to support student teachers develop professional skills needed to meet tomorrow’s education challenges”.
For more information about Teaching Schools visit: http://eschool.cdu.edu.au/