Professional Experience
A partnership opportunity to grow the profession and support staff
Professional experience in schools and classrooms by pre-service teachers is a mandatory and essential component of supporting initial teacher education students. Amidst workforce challenges, providing opportunities for pre-service teachers to be immersed within school environments offers a chance to contribute positively to the growth of quality teachers entering the profession. This also provides leadership and growth opportunities for existing staff through higher-level accreditation possibilities.
NESA recommends that pre-service teachers are exposed to a range of settings across their professional experience placements. Engaging with the diversity of schools in the Independent sector can provide students with exposure to various approaches and philosophies. Hosting pre-service teachers also helps schools build and consolidate partnership opportunities with universities.
Pre-service teachers engage in professional experience placements at different points across their degree, with each university determining the style and structure of the students’ time in a school. Usually, placements are completed in blocks, with pre-service teachers engaging actively in the school community. The depth of this engagement is amplified in the final year of a degree when placements, or internships, often run for at least six weeks. During this time, the pre-service teacher must complete a mandatory Teacher Performance Assessment to demonstrate their ability to meet the Graduate Teacher Standards. Where required, training and support is provided by the university for teachers who work with pre-service teachers to guide their engagement.
Many schools have established strong relationships with local universities. If you wish to take first or further steps to support pre-service teachers, university contacts are listed below. AISNSW continues to strengthen our relationships with a wide range of universities through our Growing and Nurturing Educators initiative.
To get in contact with a university to organise professional experience placements at your school, find appropriate contact details here.
Are you ready to start looking for education employment opportunities? Discover rewarding teaching jobs or leadership positions through our recruitment portal. You may also be interested in reading Migrate to Australia to Teach, Why become a teacher? and Education as a Second Career