News Archive

Quality and authentic school placements for student teachers present an ongoing challenge. However they are key ingredients in the preparation of teachers across all courses in Australia.

Schools and teachers are often reluctant to take on student teachers. The many jurisdictional demands and priorities leave little time for that mentoring role.

An ageing workforce, the Australian curriculum, NAPLAN and increased teacher workload impact on teachers' capacity to be part of preparing the next generation of teachers.

The Faculty of Education is working on this challenge by providing opportunities for student teacher placements to be more cooperative and useful to schools.

There are the usual classroom tasks student teachers need to undertake. However they are encouraged to volunteer specific expertise, for example, tutor a child identified by the teacher in specific literacy and numeracy skills or develop classroom e-learning resources.

Our staff provide Professional Development and assessment advice to schools as part of this partnership approach. This is proving to be very popular with the teachers who are working with UWA teacher education courses.

For many years, our students have undertaken field trips and practica in rural and remote communities taking up leadership positions in the Wheatbelt, Pilbara and Kimberley schools.