to the university sector. Ironically, thefinding of a lack of‘public confidence in
initial teacher education’will not be helped by this report.
The recommendations from the report are telling in their grounding in an
accountability regime influenced by the GERM. On the basis of thesefindings, the
report recommended a number of proposals to bring about structural and cultural
change in initial teacher education in Australia:
(a) A strengthened national quality assurance process, requiring universities to
provide evidence of the impact of their initial teacher education programmes on
pre-service teachers and their students’learning.
(b) Sophisticated and transparent selection for entry to teaching, which addresses
both the academic skills (including literacy and numeracy) and personal
qualities needed for success in a teaching career.
(c) Integration of theory and practice, by establishing mutually beneficial part-
nerships between universities and schools that offer professional experience
placements.
(d) Robust assurance of classroom readiness, entailing rigorous assessment of
graduates’knowledge and teaching practices against a national assessment
framework.
(e) National research to inform innovative programme design and delivery, and
collection of national workforce data to build capacity for workforce planning.
Terms such as‘quality assurance’in relation to programmes,‘sophisticated and
transparent selection’in regards to entry into programmes, and‘robust assurance’
and rigorous assessment’in relation to the assessment of graduates’teaching
capacities all point to a strengthening of accountability regimes in teacher educa-
tion. This is illustrated in the media release by the Commonwealth Education
Minister, Christopher Pyne, when announcing the TEMAG report and the gov-
ernment’s response which emphasised that the focus would be on universities being
held to account. He stated in this media release:‘The report sets high expectations
for everyone involved in initial teacher education including universities. It also
makes a clear case that providers be held accountable for the quality of the teaching
graduates they produce’. He went on to say:‘I hope my state and territory col-
leagues will join with us to make sure all beginning teachers have the skills they
need and deserve to deliver positive education outcomes for students’. The media
release was highly selective in listing the following as key recommendations:
- A test to assess the literacy and numeracy skills of all teaching graduates
- A requirement for universities to demonstrate that their graduates are classroom
ready before gaining full course accreditation - An overhaul of the in class practical element of teaching degrees
- A specialisation for primary school teachers with a focus on STEM and
languages - A requirement that universities publish all information about how they select
students into teacher education programmes.
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