- Related consultation
Rogers, Jo
Related consultation – Teacher Education Expert Panel Consultation
Submitter information
Name Rogers, Jo
Reform area 1: Strengthening initial teacher education programs to deliver confident, effective, classroom ready graduates.
Q: To what extent would the proposed opportunities strengthen ITE to deliver confident, effective, classroom ready graduates?
To a large extent
Reform area 2: Strengthening the link between performance and funding of initial teacher education.
Q: To what extent would the proposed opportunities provide a strengthened focus on improving the performance of ITE programs?
To a great extent
Reform area 3: Improving the quality of practical experience in teaching.
Q: To what extent would the proposed opportunities improve the quality of practical experience?
To a large extent
Reform area 4: Improving postgraduate initial teacher education for mid-career entrants.
Q: To what extent would the proposed opportunities improve postgraduate programs to attract mid-career entrants?
To a large extent
Feedback
I read the Teacher Education Discussion paper with great relief and pleasure. Finally - teacher education is back on track, even more advanced than before because scientific evidence is more available.
Thank you.
I have enjoyed a most rewarding career for 55 years now, teaching so many children to become independent readers and writers and cope with mathematics, but only because I was taught how, by my initial teacher training in the late 1960's and my further study in 1976 and also an effective English and Mathematics curriculum to follow before 1990, before primary education adopted the ideologies of whole language and constructivism.
When that occurred, I was teaching in school based remedial Special Education Units so did not have to change my teaching practice.
Teachers then did not know any 'scientific evidence for effective teaching', but the curriculum we followed has been shown by science since to be best practice, so we were still effective teachers, we just didn't understand the 'why and how.'
All I knew then was if I followed the teaching strategies I had been taught, they always resulted in success for my students, if I taught skills incrementally from where children were with their learning and kept my teaching to their pace and rate of learning.
Even now in remedial teaching, my latest student is in Year 5, but can only read, write and compute to Year 1/2 level, because she has been left behind more each year from Year 1.
If she had been noted in the Year 1 Phonics Check or Year 3 NAPLAN to be at risk of failing, she could have had effective intervention earlier, so she could have caught up to her peers by Year 5. at this late stage she is progressing but will start Year 7 behind peers.
The point I wish to make is that only because of my teacher education, I know what and how to teach her, when her class teachers at school have not known for the past 5 years.
If I was a young teacher nowadays, I know I would not have been able to be an effective teacher no matter how much I wanted, because my teacher training would have been ideological and not fit for purpose and curriculum except for NSW NESA is balanced literacy/inquiry based.
And I would have missed having such a rewarding and enjoyable career.
I totally support the report on Initial Teacher Education you have released for discussion.
I imagine the expert panel will have challenges ahead, convincing teachers committed to ideologies, but I hope for the benefit and welfare of teachers entering the profession and all the young children coming to school, that you stay strong and firm against any mis-informed criticism.
This tide must now weaken or turn back, so the professionalism of primary teaching can be improved.