Supporting ITE and Career Change Teachers in Schools

Supporting ITE Students on Placement

Interview for Contextual Match

• Conduct structured pre-placement interviews to align school needs with ITE student goals.

• Consider teaching philosophy, subject strength and personality to match with suitable mentors (supervisor).

Welcome and Orientation

• Host a morning tea or briefing with Principal and key staff.

• Provide a clear introduction to the school culture, values and mission.

Guided School Tour

• Assign a mentor or buddy teacher to lead a walk-through of the school, covering essential locations (e.g., staffroom, evacuation points, ICT support, playground duty areas, bathrooms).

• Provide a school map with key locations highlighted.

School Handbook and Expectations

• Provide a digital/printed handbook covering school policies, procedures and dress code.

• Clarify professional expectations around punctuality, classroom conduct and student interactions.

• Provide clear guidelines regarding the school’s social media policies.

ICT And Learning Management System Access

• Ensure timely access to school email, Wi-Fi and online platforms including library, faculty spaces, and class roll marking where appropriate.

• Provide brief training session on navigating these.

• Provide training in how to use the school’s audio-visual systems.

Understanding School Pedagogy

• Share an overview of the instructional approaches used in the school.

• Encourage participation in professional learning communities (PLCs) to observe and discuss pedagogical strategies for a range of teaching approaches (Glover et al., 2024).

• Offer opportunity to attend whole staff meetings and professional development where appropriate.

Classroom Integration and Planning Support

• Ensure access to required teaching and learning programs and resources

• Provide class lists with student information (e.g., learning needs and accommodations, Individual Learning Plans).

• Offer opportunities for ITE students to co-plan and gradually take on teaching responsibilities.

Safe Space for Raising Concerns

• Establish a designated contact person for concerns, especially if the supervising teacher relationship is challenging.

• Offer confidential feedback channels such as check-in meetings with the ITE coordinator.

Supervising Teacher

• Provide professional learning for supervising teachers on effective mentoring and feedback practices.

• Encourage a strengths-based approach to feedback, focusing on growth rather than deficiencies.

• Dreer (2021) found that the best support comes from supervising teachers who can have positive and meaningful mentoring relationships with the ITE students in their care.

Regular Check-Ins and Feedback Loops

• Schedule structured check-ins throughout the placement.

• Use a reflective journal or online discussion forum to capture progress, challenges, and insights.

Internships

Consider adopting a teacher internship model where ITE students integrate more fully with the context of the school over an extended period (Ledger & Vidovich, 2018). For instance, see the AISNSW’s Teaching School Hubs program.