190
Conclusion
The three university programs outlined here each began before the release of the
2015 TEMAG report. However, they are each effectively meeting the perceived
needs of communities by providing via a service learning model, teacher education
professional experiences that are outside the traditional professional experience.
Each program provides evidence of Fox and Wilson’s ( 2015 ) claim that to become
a teacher, it is not enough to acquire classroom skills, but to gain knowledge and
understanding of the communities in which these schools operate and the lives of
the students attending these schools is critical. It was the practice that formed the
new understandings (sayings), the new actions (doings) and the new ways people
related to each other in schools and broader communities (relatings) that created the
new knowledge and that ‘practices come into being because people, acting not alone
but collectively, bring them into being’ (Kemmis et al., 2013 , p. 31). The programs
each illustrate that professional experience outside of the traditional professional
experience is important not only in the development and learning of preservice
teachers but also to the schools and communities in which these alternative profes-
sional experiences are conducted.
Victoria University’s Applied Curriculum Project, Deakin University’s Aspire
Program and the University of Melbourne’s Yirrkala Indigenous Schools’ Program
are each addressing how best to develop prospective teachers’ understandings about
social justice and community development. Partnerships schools are collaborating
with university-based initial teacher education departments to ensure preservice
teachers ‘service learning’ and contributions align with the schools’ priorities. The
Applied Curriculum Project and Yirrkala Indigenous Schools’ program take place
within the partner schools where as Aspire regularly brings school students to the
university campus.
In essence, the three programs aim to build strong university and community
partnerships and employ different approaches to achieve similar outcomes. These
differences are important too. However, the focus on strong partnerships that advance
the learning of preservice teachers through professional experience and at the same
time offer mutual benefits for the school communities – communities of practice – is
a common aspect that unites and demonstrates the strength of these programs.
References
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