Reflecting on Improving our Practice: Using Collaboration as an Approach to Enhance First Year Transition in Higher Education

Abstract

This paper is concerned with teacher collaboration in Higher Education. Specifically, it focuses on how a ‘community of practice’ emerged and developed during the process of enhancing first year transition for pre-service teachers. It is written from the perspective of five teacher educators and is situated within the literature of the first year in higher education and teacher collaboration. In this paper we describe how the process of conceptualising an innovative first year teacher education program, designed to facilitate student retention and engagement, increased our own engagement, motivation and teaching practice. Our experiences suggest that collaboration in Higher Education is not only beneficial to those involved in a community of practice, but also enhances student engagement and transition.