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more approachable in the eyes of the preservice teachers. When interviewed after
the workshops, students noted:
Having the extra support there, just knowing that the teachers understand where we’re com-
ing from. I found this very beneficial (Student A).Actually the workshop helped me more than the lectures and on campus days. It was ...
because it was like small group. I felt like I was able to discuss my concerns and get feed-
back and ... it was very good ... I felt very strong after that (Student Y).
We had to again rethink the language we used in the 2016 online module. We had
thought we were being supportive of the diversity of pathways to university, but one
of the Diploma preservice teachers interpreted this as being condescending. The
student noted:
Don’t assume that all Diploma students are going to struggle in the unit. Please help them
to celebrate and use their experience during their university placements ... Just because
someone has a Diploma does not mean they will not have the academic language to com-
plete the unit – e.g. I didn’t finish year 12 due to health reasons, not because I was incom-
petent, and completed my Diploma to gain entry to university (Student X).
The research findings have also been disseminated to the university-based educa-
tors through various forums. The following reflection from one very experienced
tertiary supervisor (who visits students when they are on placement) captures the
diversity of the preservice teachers, particularly when compared to the past, and
how this diversity has impacted on her role as a mentor:
The background of the students has changed during the time that I have been a tertiary
supervisor – nearly 20 years. The students are entering this degree with so much diversity
themselves. There are students who have Recognised Prior Learning (RPL), who are inter-
national students, students who are not from this country, some may have a degree in a very
different field and some may have a degree from their country of origin which may not be
recognised here, so need to upgrade their skills. I have also found that the diversity in terms
of the student’s own lifestyle has changed incredibly over the 20 years. When I first started
the majority of students were studying internally but now there is a combination of internal
and external students as they are often combining part-time work with their university com-
mitments. There is so much more diversity today in my role as a tertiary supervisor com-
pared to when I began this role in the late 1990s (personal communication, 18 August
2016).
Being involved in rethinking how we support the Diploma students’ transitioning
into their first professional experience placement has made us stop and think about
our own beliefs and about our approachability and helped us to adapt the way we
conducted ourselves not just with this group but the whole preservice teacher cohort.
We now actively encourage preservice teachers to meet with us. We do this by invit-
ing them in different ways, including verbally, through our discussion forums and
most recently through the online module we have developed. We also meet indi-
vidually with students early in the semester to ensure they are feeling supported and
to open up these communicative spaces. By opening up and being available to the
preservice teachers, we are conveying that we want to know each and every one of
M. O’Brien et al.