Regional Partnerships: Building a Future Regional Workforce in Western Australia

Abstract

Following the success of a pre-service teacher hub in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, a decision was made to establish a second hub within the same region in another town. The second hub will be a collaboration between the Pilbara Universities Centre (PUC) and the Western Australian Department of Education. Although the PUC does not currently train teachers, it does, however, provide administrative, academic and pastoral support to a range of local education students studying at both bachelor and post-graduate levels in the field of education. The PUC also has students from many other disciplines who can add to the depth of the pre-service teacher hub. The PUC has the potential to grow, and it makes sense for the Department of Education’s pre-service teacher hub to work in collaboration with the PUC to develop regional employees. The hub provides a way to connect and upskill not just pre-service teachers, but also students from other disciplines.