Innovative Uses of Visual Technologies in Initial Teacher Education: Changing Policy to Support Practice during covid-19

Megan Adams,Angela Fitzgerald,Tim Brooks,Sindu George,Rebecca Cooper

doi:10.1163/23644583-bja10016

Abstract

Abstract In Australia, schools and faculties of education are mandated to abide by a policy requiring preservice teachers (pst s), to complete supervised professional placement (pe) in schools. The pe are drawn upon to meet the assessment criteria for degree completion. Two strategies are reported that supported individuals and education institutions to meet policy requirements while in lockdown. First, technology was used to overcome the challenge of providing pe for hundreds of pst s by supporting online learning experiences. In the second, visual technologies were used to support pst s to meet the needs of an assessment criterion. Findings indicate that innovative solutions to challenges with pe and related assessments at the university can be mobilized in a short time frame using visual technologies. Further findings indicate that, in unprecedented times, policies developed for use in different contexts can be met with innovative collaborative efforts with a focused goal that transcend seemingly insurmountable challenges.

Highlights

A core objective of Initial Teacher Education programmes is to ensure preservice teachers graduate with the capabilities to work and educate in a globalized world
Professional placement is at the heart of ite programmes, providing pst s with structured opportunities to practise and engage in authentic and active approaches to teaching and to relate practice to the knowledge and understanding they develop through their programme. ite in Australia, the context for this study, is required to offer sixty to eighty days of supervised professional placement experience in which pst s observe and undertake a wide range of teaching and non-teaching activities in situ, developing an appreciation for the complexity of teaching and the roles of teachers
The model is transferable across contexts, and in the current study, we extend the model to examine the use of various forms of visual technology to support pst s in meeting course requirements when face-to-face contact was limited because of covid-19

Summary

Introduction

A core objective of Initial Teacher Education (ite) programmes is to ensure preservice teachers (pst s) graduate with the capabilities to work and educate in a globalized world. Professional placement is at the heart of ite programmes, providing pst s with structured opportunities to practise and engage in authentic and active approaches to teaching and to relate practice to the knowledge and understanding they develop through their programme. As a response to the global pandemic, a policy decision was made by most of the state and territory teaching regulatory authorities in Australia to reduce the required professional experience days to forty-five days for pst s graduating in 2020. The mentor teachers at the placement schools and teacher educators moderate these reciprocal learning opportunities through which the pst s realize the consonance between theory and practice. In other words, these institutional practices contribute to the pst s’ professional learning and development.

Objectives

Discussion

Conclusion