The Teacher Education Expert Panel has handed down its report and recommendations that it hopes will boost the pipeline of teachers across the country.

The panel, chaired by University of Sydney vice-chancellor Mark Scott, is a Federal Government initiative focussed on performance, quality, and success of initial teacher education.

Given that there is a workforce crisis in the teaching profession, the report is aimed at forward-thinking measures to increase the number of teachers in Australia. To facilitate this, Australia needs a systematic approach to school placements, incentives for teacher mentors and supports for schools.  

“This report speaks to the importance of ensuring we have robust, effective, and accountable initial teacher education programs across all providers,” ACU Executive Dean of Education and Arts Professor Mary Ryan said.  “As Australia’s largest trainer of teachers, we know the teaching profession is too important for anything less.”

Professor Ryan welcomed the report’s focus on four core content learning areas for ITE students – the brain and learning, effective pedagogical practices, classroom management, and responsive teaching – as reflected in ACU’s evidence-based teaching programs.

Associate Professor Louise Jenkins, Deputy Dean, Monash University Faculty of Education argues the report does not address the workplace issues that make the greatest difference in the retention and further development of teachers and their teaching.

“As a faculty, we believe that the final report of the Teacher Education Expert Panel fails to address the significant issues affecting teaching as a profession in Australia.” 

A/Prof Jenkins endorses the attention in the report to issues of equity and diversity, Indigenous teachers and students, and partnerships with and mentoring in schools, but feels that the deliberations of the panel and the outcomes appear limited.

“Overall, the report does not address the workplace (including conditions and pay) issues that make the greatest difference in the retention and further development of teachers and their teaching,” she says.

A/Prof Jenkins said that the report also doesn’t engage with the growing body of international research into effective teacher education and professional learning, including the importance of workplace learning. 

“Prescribing what prospective teachers are taught in universities will not have the effects intended; decades of research show that such front-loading of content gets ‘washed out’ in the practice of student teaching without appropriate interventions in the workplace,” she says.

“As the largest and most research-intensive Faculty of Education with the highest completion rates in the country, we’re looking forward to the prospect of engaging with the government and the Teacher Education Expert Panel more closely on these reforms.”