Thesis
Beginner Teacher Perspectives on Pre-service Education and Transition Through Workplace Learning: A Comparative Study
University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Master of Education, University of the Sunshine Coast
2008
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25907/00338
Abstract
The workplace learning of pre-service teachers remains one of the more significant aspects of initial teacher education courses, yet also one of the more contested. While the supervised teacher practicum remains the most common feature of this experience, a panoply of reports addressing teacher education in the last decade have outlined the need for major reform in the practicum. Such calls for reform occur in the context of increasing concern about the retention and attrition levels of beginner teachers. One alternative or partner to the practicum that has been increasingly employed is the teacher internship. Its value has been affirmed anecdotally by several groups such as employers, principals and early career teachers yet diverse views have been noted in the literature concerning the efficiency of the internship. This interpretivist study seeks to explore, in some depth, beginner teacher perspectives on pre-service education and transition through workplace learning. It takes advantage of the opportunity to study the contrasting experiences of two groups of graduates, now first year teachers, from one university in Queensland. One group completed the practicum only, while the other group opted to do a voluntary internship in addition to the mandatory practicum. This study also identifies the perspectives of the two different cohorts on how their experiences have prepared them for the transition into teaching, particularly with a view to providing new insights into the importance or otherwise of internships in the process of becoming a teacher. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect teachers' perspectives, with the ultimate intention of arriving at a naturalized generalization of experience in individual events, through intensive analysis of each case, recognizing its complexity and context. This pilot study may offer deep insights into the perspectives of this cohort and may provide a research platform for a more comprehensive study in the future.
Details
- Title
- Beginner Teacher Perspectives on Pre-service Education and Transition Through Workplace Learning: A Comparative Study
- Authors
- Haley Whitfield
- Contributors
- Bill Allen (Supervisor)
- Awarding institution
- University of the Sunshine Coast
- Degree awarded
- Master of Education
- Publisher
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
- DOI
- 10.25907/00338
- Organisation Unit
- School of Education - Legacy; School of Education and Tertiary Access; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99449326402621
- Output Type
- Thesis
Metrics
112 File views/ downloads
1087 Record Views