Education leaders from across Australia met on Thursday to discuss their continued commitment to strengthening initial teacher education (ITE), in a bid to develop higher quality, classroom-ready graduates.
Coinciding with the event was the release of the Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group (TEMAG) Report Card. The report card shows strong progress in the implementation and clear opportunities to progress the ITE reforms.
The government’s response to the TEMAG report of 2015 committed all states and territories to a reform agenda to better prepare graduate teachers and ensure their classroom-readiness.
The report indicates that from 2018, pre-service teachers will be consistently assessed in the classroom, putting the 10,000 teachers who graduate annually in good stead. Some of the next steps in the education space are to develop reports on the teaching workforce next year and allow for a robust supply and demand model of more than 600,000 practising and preservice teachers to be used by employers, sectors and providers.
The TEMAG Forum held at Parliament House in Canberra – convened by the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) – brought together some of the most influential decision makers and stakeholders who shape ITE in Australia, including universities, teacher regulators, teacher employers, principals, parent groups and government representatives.
In 2014, the Federal Government appointed TEMAG to make recommendations to improve ITE to better prepare graduate teachers and ensure they are classroom ready.
“Universities are opening the door to work with regulators and schools to provide the very best in teacher education and to lead contemporary practice. The more universities connect with schools, the more their graduates will be classroom-ready,” AITSL CEO Lisa Rodgers said.
“Teachers deserve the very best preparation so that they can be successful from their first day in the classroom.”
Speaking from Parliament House, Ms Rodgers added: “We saw a stunning example today of what can be achieved when education leaders work constructively and collaboratively, with a shared commitment to lifting the bar on quality teaching.”
“We can only achieve ambitious reform in education policy through sustained effort, commitment and collaboration – teachers and principals must be a part of this – and this forum showed dedication to achieving that,” Ms Rodgers said.
Read the full report card here.
