Working Towards ‘Doing it Better’: Seeking the Student Voice in Teacher Education

Abstract

In this article we report on the monitoring of pre-service teachers’ experiences of their course at a regional university in NSW, Australia. The intention of this research project was to engage with pre-service teachers to gauge their perceptions and their awareness of their developing teacher knowledge and skills. Our aim was to gather more comprehensive and meaningful data than that generated by standard, centrally administered, student evaluation surveys. Our research was conducted across four consecutive years to gather third- and final (fourth) year students’ expectations for, and reflections on, their secondary education course. Drawing from the extant literature, and set against a context of shifting political agendas surrounding teacher education, the surveys were designed to capture the student voice. Key findings included the perceived need for increased behaviour management strategies, the inclusion of more ‘practical’ assessment tasks, and improved university-to-school transitions, including sustained professional learning agendas.