Teacher self-efficacy (TSE) is among the most-studied constructs in teacher education and resists change after the early stages of development, particularly during professional experience. This study investigates the sources of early-career TSE longitudinally, which few previous studies have done. Two phases of one-on-one interviews were completed…

This paper details a two-stage process for standard setting using an extended pairwise comparison method. It describes the application of a new process of establishing a set of scaled and ordered performances as a basis for exemplifying standards. In stage one, the method of pairwise comparison was used to generate data from pairwise judgements…

When the World Health Organisation declared the novel Coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic, a change occurred across all levels of the educational landscape. It posed specific challenges in the context of initial teacher education (ITE) and inhibited teacher educators from physically observing pre-service teachers' lessons on school placement.…

There is a growing interest in pre-service teacher education programs on how to maximise the learning benefits of professional experience. This study attempts to discover how action research can be used as a vehicle to bridge the divide between theory and practice and to support pre-service teachers in the development of authentic professional…

The practicum is an integral component of teacher education courses, but culturally and linguistically diverse pre-service teachers can face particular struggles in meeting assessment requirements on the practicum in early childhood settings. This paper reports from a small, exploratory study of early childhood practicum handbooks from four…

The Australian Professional Teaching Standards require pre-service teachers to complete a minimum number of days of professional experience in order to graduate. Problems can arise, however, when the evaluation of their professional experience against the Standards shifts from the providers of teacher education programmes to school-based…

This paper focuses on the assessment of student teachers during practicum. The study is contextualised in an Australian pre-service teacher education program in which practicum has been reconceptualised to help bridge the theory-practice gap commonly associated with "front-end loading" programs. Survey and interview data collected from…

Purpose: Teaching and unit evaluations surveys are used to assess the quality of teaching and the quality of the unit of study. An analysis of teaching and unit evaluation survey practices in Australian universities suggests significant changes. One key change discussed in the paper is the shift from voluntary to mandatory use of surveys with the…

Beliefs about the validity and merit of self-, peer- and group-assessment practices are presented from 213 pre-service primary teachers and 30 staff who teach them. Both groups were surveyed using comparable items. A subset of seven staff participated in semi-structured interviews. Staff were far more supportive of peer- and self-assessment…

Initial teacher education (ITE) students participate in various workplaces within schools and in doing so, form understandings about the numerous, and at times competing, expectations of teachers' work. Through these experiences they form understandings about themselves as health and physical education (HPE) teachers. This paper examines the ways…

The effects of Physical Education Teacher Education program modifications upon selected characteristics identified with effective teaching were assessed utilizing the Teacher Work Sample (TWS). Data were collected from all student teacher candidates during the 2002 student teaching sessions. Based upon the 2002 data, interventions were made to a…

This paper presents two case studies that analyze how associate teachers and high school student teachers participate in post-lesson annual meetings evaluating what the student teacher does in the classroom. Semantic scripts are used to get to the heart of the meaning of "evaluate," and evaluation as a cultural activity is emphasized.…

In 1993, the University of Melbourne's Institute of Education determined that School Experience and Professional Practice subjects would be graded according to the University's standard assessment scheme instead of a pass/fail scheme. To establish a framework for assessment, the Beginning Teacher Competencies from the National Project on the…

This paper discusses the practicum component of teacher education, particularly as it is implemented at the School of Early Childhood Studies (SECS) of the University of Melbourne (Victoria), Australia. The purpose of the practicum is to socialize students into their profession and give them the opportunity to acquire relevant skills. The three…

This study sought information from two cohorts of student teachers regarding their concerns in the teaching practicum component of their course and strategies they used to cope with these concerns. Students completed the Perceptions of Teaching questionnaire, and supervising teachers rated them in seven teaching areas. Data were analyzed in…