assessment requirements to reflect the newly established national graduate standards
outlined in the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (2012).
Classroom teachers to date have little to no professional development before
being assigned a pre-service teacher to mentor and assess and there is much criti-
cism from teachers of the perceived lack of engagement or involvement from
Universities in supporting them in their work. Teachers regularly inquire why
faculty staff, teaching in the various courses, do not visit pre-service teachers during
their practicum. The processes for selecting mentors and matching them to
pre-service teachers are generally ad hoc. In some schools, teachers deemed as
‘leading’or exemplary are chosen; in other schools, any teacher who is willing to
‘offer up’their classroom is assigned a pre-service teacher. In some schools,
teachers are weary of having what they perceive as the extra burden of taking a
pre-service teacher in times of increasing accountability and standardized testing.
Universities are thus often in competition with one another to secure placements for
all of their pre-service teachers for the mandatory practicum days. This has led to
something of a national crisis of an under supply of mentors and schools stretched
to accommodate growing numbers of pre-service teachers. Despite this situation,
the school site is increasingly viewed by politicians and principals alike as the best
place to learn to teach, with increasing interest in school-based ITE models.
In keeping with international trends, the existing university-led model has come
under increased scrutiny in Australia over the past decade. There have been calls for
more alternative pathways (for example,‘Teach for Australia’) and more‘practice’
time in schools with greater emphasis placed on the role of the supervisor/mentor in
improving initial teacher education. Following England’s lead in earlier incentives
for school-university partnerships, the Australian partnership policy agenda began
in earnest through theNational Partnership Agreement on Improving Teacher
Quality(Council of Australian Governments 2008) which laid the groundwork for
strengthening linkages between initial teacher education (ITE) programs and
schools. More recently, the Australian Government has focused more attention on
the practicum in school as the main site of learning about teaching, commissioning
a review into ITE. The report from the review, entitledAction Now: Classroom
Ready Teachers,was released in early 2015. Amongst many other recommenda-
tions, this report focused on the important work of the supervisor/mentor in
improving initial teacher education. It states
To ensure new teachers are entering classrooms with sufficient practical skills, the Advisory
Group recommends ensuring experiences of appropriate timing; length and frequency are
available to all teacher education students. Placements must be supported by highly-skilled
supervising teachers who are able to demonstrate and assess what is needed to be an
effective teacher. The advisory Group strongly states that better partnerships between
universities and schools are needed to deliver high quality practical experience. (p. 7)The emphasis on placements, partnerships and supervising teachers outlined in this
report is not new in the international literature. The shift in emphasis towards
‘partnerships’and more‘practical skills’is again consistent with changes that have
occurred in other countries. In England, for example, government legislation from
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