225They learn from each other as well as me, so that’s just an extra person to learn from. And
I’m here, I know everyone at the school, but if you come by yourself it’s a bit scary and a
bit daunting but if you have someone with you that’s in your position then you don’t feel as
scared anymore and you’re able to get on with what you’re here for, so I think it’s a very
good idea.
Coming in pairs it definitely really helpful for them, because I think back to my pracs and
how I was by myself on class. I think it’s much better for them to come together when they
can because they support each other and it’s not as intimidating for them.
It’s a real positive having two extra adults in your room, let alone pre-service teachers, who
are supportive, it means that you’re team-teaching pretty much all the time even though
they’re not necessarily teaching lessons, they’re still in that room supporting me and sup-
porting the students, so it’s been really beneficial, definitely.
The university mentors commented that the model helped preservice teachers
realise that teaching is not an isolated profession and that teachers are often colle-
gial in practice. The university mentors were required to convene a meeting of all
the preservice teachers weekly. In these meetings the preservice teachers were
encouraged to reflect on their teaching and relate this to the professional standards
in their handbook. Discussion focused on the experiences of peers working together,
which reinforced the advantages of working in pairs through a variety of other activ-
ities including peer observation, peer feedback, co-teaching, co-planning and shar-
ing workload. This reinforcement of the benefits of the model encouraged the
preservice teachers’ commitment to learning together and supporting each other.
Trust between the pairs, and between the supervising teacher and the preservice
teacher, is seen as a critical factor in implementing Model A. Trust between two
preservice teachers created a favourable atmosphere for peers to work together
freely and effectively and connect with each other. Some pairs in Model A knew
each other and had worked with each other in their program before. They found it
very comfortable to work together during their paired placement. Even some pairs
who worked with each other for the first time still considered their pair as a sound-
ing board. Some of the following quotes indicate how they trusted each other and
valued each other’s ideas:
It’s been really good because I feel like every time we observe each other we learn from
each other.
[What] we did was bounce ideas for lessons off each other, and that was good.
We discuss ideas together, and I guess I shouldn’t underestimate that. I just think that when
I prepare my lessons I prepare them on my computer by myself, but no, we do discuss ideas
for the lessons together.
University mentors were allocated to the same school for the professional experi-
ence each year in order to support the development of a trusting relationship between
university and school staff. Some of the university mentors conducted mentoring
training and professional learning workshops for teachers. This model helped to
develop a trusting relationship between the university mentors and supervising
teachers because they were going to the same site every year. The familiarity of the
same person supporting the preservice teachers each year helped build a strong and
13 Paired Placements in Intensified School and University Environments: Advantages...