National Graduate teacher standards: implications for professional experience policy and practice

In 2009, Australian teacher education finally sees a series of graduate teacher standards that is
designed as national benchmarking for those completing initial teacher education. The draft
standards represent considerable negotiation and discourse by the various jurisdictions. They are
being fine tuned in readiness for adoption across Australia as statements of quality and
professionalism in teacher preparation course outcomes. Graduate teacher standards are integral
components of a national system and form a basis for the accreditation judgments about teacher
education to be made by local jurisdictional teacher regulatory authorities.
This paper positions the development of national graduate teacher standards into the overall
framework of teacher preparation in Australia, placing emphasis on what constitutes benefit for
effective pre-service and graduate teacher learning. At the same time it acknowledges the tension
that exists when the requirements of independent education authorities strive to agree on common
ground to determine such ends. The paper seeks specific understanding of the impact that the
implementation of national graduate teacher standards has on the policies and practices surrounding
preservice teacher learning and university-school partnerships evident in the professional
experience component of teacher education.
To obtain this understanding, a review of the relevant literature surrounding national standards was
undertaken with an emphasis on professional experience. Representatives of stakeholder groups
were then consulted in focus group and individual interviews. Stakeholders were asked to consider
how the adoption of the national graduate teacher standards would affect their particular
relationship with the professional experience program. In summary, a range of modifications to
professional experience policy, curriculum links, administrative and learning practices, resources
and professional learning in partnerships were disclosed as priorities dependent on the stakeholder
needs. While action in different jurisdictions would vary depending on what was currently in place,
the adoption of the standards necessitates considerable modifications in order to ensure
developmental continuity within courses, alignment with local requirements, and the informing of
those in the teacher education partnership who would use the standards as learning and assessment
markers of progress. Common to all of these modifications is the need for shared understandings of
what constitutes evidence to demonstrate the achievement of graduate standards.
The adoption of national graduate standards as shared benchmarks is as a catalyst to reviewing
current practice. There is a renewed opportunity to work collaboratively as a profession to enhance
learning outcomes and the quality of the teaching profession.