This volume presents distinctive, innovative models of teacher education from Australia, discusses their successful elements and considers possibilities for successful teacher education in the twenty-first century. Each model is couched within the international teacher education concerns of the theory practice nexus, school-university partnerships, reflective practice, and the role of technology. The contributing authors, drawn from different contexts and locations around Australia, each offers research-based perspectives on successful teacher education. Responses to teacher education challenges in rural and regional contexts, metropolitan areas, among low socio-economic populations and Indigenous communities are considered. Ways in which technology, and in particular mobile technology, can be used to support learning across these diverse contexts are illustrated, as is the role of reflective practice to encourage critical reflection for improving teacher learning. Collectively, the authors present a range of directions that can guide the future of teacher education both nationally and internationally, demonstrating that context, partnerships, reflection and technology are critical elements in the provision of successful teacher education.

This book offers a detailed examination of reflective practice in teacher education. In the current educational context, where reflective practice has been mandated in professional standards for teachers in many countries, it analyses research-based evidence for the power of reflective practice to shape better educational outcomes. The book presents multiple theoretical and practical views of this often taken-for-granted practice, so that readers are challenged to consider how factors such as gender and race shape understandings of reflective practice. Documenting approaches that enhance learning, the contributions discuss reflective practice across the globe, with a focus on pre-service, in-service and university teachers. At a time when there is pressure to measure teachers’ work through standardised tests, the book highlights the professional thinking that is integral to teaching and demonstrates ways it can be encouraged in beginning teachers. Aimed at the international community of teacher educators in schools and universities, it also includes a critical examination of methodological issues in analysing and evaluating reflective practice and showcases the kind of reflective practice that empowers teachers and pre-service teachers to make a difference to students.

This volume sheds light on debates about personalised learning in teacher education by exploring the popular emergence of personalising learning in education and hence its significance in teacher education in the 21st century. It examines personalising learning theory and explores the tenets of this theory and its recent trends in international settings. The theory is explored in relation to both general and higher education pedagogy, and in a range of examples within a teacher education context. The examples from practice provide insights into maximising the potential for personalising learning theory to enhance teaching, learning and assessment in teacher education. The book includes case studies involving pre-service teachers working in communities of practice with one another, with schools and with the wider community. Examples of technology for personalising learning are also described. All the case studies demonstrate how the learner is made central to the teaching and assessment approaches adopted and contributes to a lifelong learning continuum. Providing insights into a new pedagogy for teacher education that leads to an enriched student experience, the book presents a model for personalising learning in teacher education that offers support for 21st century teacher educators.

This book demonstrates school-based approaches to primary science teacher education. The models used involve partnerships between universities and primary schools to engage pre-service primary teachers in classroom teaching and learning that effectively connects theory with practice separate to the formal practicum arrangements. The book is a culmination of the research and collaboration of researchers from five Australian universities involved in the Science Teacher Education Partnerships with Schools (STEPS) project, funded by the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching. While the STEPS project focused on partnerships in primary science teacher education, a key strength of the partnership model (the STEPS Interpretive Framework) developed and explored in this book is its applicability for cross-case, national, international, and inter-state analyses of partnership practices. This is shown through a number of case studies where the STEPS Interpretive Framework is applied and evaluated in the context of other school- or learning-related partnerships. These broad-ranging analyses illustrate the relevance of the model to a range of settings, both within and outside of education.

Today's students are faced with the challenge of utilizing technology to support not only their personal lives, but also their academic careers. Technology Implementation and Teacher Education: Reflective Models provides teachers with the resources needed to address this challenge and develop new methodologies for addressing technology in practice. With chapters focusing on online and blended learning, subject-specific teacher education and social and affective issues, this reference provides a comprehensive, international perspective on the role of technology in shaping educational practices.

'The text provides powerful opportunities to challenge thinking and to encourage trainee teachers to articulate and justify their beliefs about the purposes of education, the nature of learning and the impact this has on their own developing practice in the classroom' - Marnie Seymour, Senior Lecturer in Primary Education, University of Winchester 'Through a variety of stimulus questions and a focus on 'what does this mean for you?', this book encourages pre-service teachers to develop habits of reflection that will guide their achievement of an authentic teacher identity' - Linley Cornish, Associate Professor, School of Education, University of New England, Australia An essential aspect of teaching is being able to reflect on your own practice and analyse your professional actions, and use this process to develop as a successful teacher. Reflective Practice for Teachers explores a range of key issues that you will need to engage with during your teacher preparation and early career in the classroom in order to deepen your understanding of teaching practice. Coverage includes: 'What does this mean for you?' boxes in every chapter that directly relate educational theory to the classroom The changing nature of teaching and the role of the teacher, and the importance of making personal evidence-based decisions How contemporary issues such as technology, global perspectives, and the importance of pedagogical practices can support effective teaching Guidance on how to reflect on the richness of diversity in classrooms, and the tensions and challenges that may result from differences. This is essential reading for teacher education students on university-based and school-based courses preparing to teach in primary and secondary education, and early career teachers seeking to continue their professional learning. Maura Sellars is a lecturer in Education at The University of Newcastle, Australia.

This book explores how educators are proactively working to reclaim teacher professionalism by engaging in exemplary practice and promoting quality education for all. It examines voices in contemporary Australian teacher education and how professionalism can contribute to achieving the multiplicity of purposes in education. The work of contemporary teachers and teacher educators, and perceptions about this work, have changed significantly. In recent times, governments have identified key issues linked to the quality of teachers, as presented in multiple inquiries, creating shifts in public policy and increasing regulation. Educators must work towards improving public and policy maker perceptions of teaching as a profession. Teacher educators make an important contribution in engaging in ongoing scholarship and debate that examine research and practice and speak back to managerial discourses on professionalism. It is through this work that educators shape and re-shape understanding of what it means to be a professional.