New Teacher Education Initiative in Tasmania

With the proposed and controversial changes to South Australia teacher qualifications which would require all new teachers to have a masters degree to meet teacher registration requirements (see here for the government announcement) Flinders University has been vocal about the need to keep teacher education pathways open to allow for both undergraduate and masters level qualification instead of the proposed 'one sizes fits all' approach.

While in South Australia teacher educators continue to fight for programs and qualifications requirements that support our current and future pre-service teachers and the children and schools with which they will work, Tasmania has been exploring ways of elevating their pre-service teacher education programs and yesterday announced a new program designed to further equip pre-service teachers with the skills, knowledge, and experience they will need to thrive in the profession.

Here's an excerpt of the new initiative:

Tasmanian teaching students will have an opportunity to work full-time in our Government schools during their final year of study and gain a guaranteed job through the second initiative announced under the Hodgman Liberal Government’s Developing Our Workforce Strategy.

Forty positions will be available to University of Tasmania Teacher Education students in the first year of the Teacher Intern Placement Program, which is designed to give student teachers an alternative final year study option to better prepare them for work in our Government schools.

This opportunity will be on offer to our high performing students, who demonstrate a commitment to teaching in Tasmania after graduation, ensuring our brightest minds are inspiring our students.

And here's the link to the full release. Within the continued conversations about teacher education in Australia  it will be interesting to see how this adds to the conversation.