ATEA SymposiumRe-positioning ‘place’ and professional learning: An

examination of teachers’ and teacher educators’ work in and for rural communities

Paper 2: Inter-university partnerships to support the rural and

regional practicum

Josephine Ryan & Mellita Jones - ACUCaroline Walta - La Trobe

Overview of presentation

• Project aims• Research context• Project activities• Methodology• Findings• Discussion

Aims of the project

The project aims to create a sustainable, supportive model of practicum in rural and regional locations through:

• inter-university cooperation (enabled other things and was a ‘think-tank”)• supportive technology;• creating improved partnerships

with rural and regional supervisors.

Inter-university cooperation

• Generally competitive relationships between universities in teacher education

• Differing requirements documentation from university to university

House of Representatives Standing Committee on Education and Vocational Training (2007).Top of the class. Report on the inquiry into teacher education. [Electronic version]. House of Representatives

Ure, C. (2009). Practicum partnerships: exploring models of practicum organisation in teacher education for a standards-based profession. Parkville, Vic: University of Melbourne.

Rural and regional teacher education

• Difficulties of attracting and retaining teachers• Absence of rural and regional in teacher education

Green, B. & Reid, J. (2004). Teacher education for rural–regional sustainability: changing agendas, challenging futures, chasing chimeras? Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 32 (3), pp. 255-273.

Lyons, T., Choi, J., & McPhan, G. (Eds.). (2009). Innovation for equity in rural education: Symposium proceedings international symposium for innovation in rural education, 11-14 February, UNE: Armidale, 137-145. Electronic version retrieved January, 2010 from www.une.edu.au/simerr

White, S. (2008). Placing teachers? Sustaining rural schooling through place-consciousness in teacher education. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 23(7). http://jrre.psu.edu/articles/23-7.pdf

Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEW), (2010). Regional participation: The role of socioeconomic status and access. [Electronic version] accessed May 26, 2010. http://www.deewr.gov.au/HigherEducation/Programs/Equity/Documents/RegionalParticipation_report.pdf.

Information communication technology

• Incessant change• Education at a distance• Teaching principles must prevail

Bangert, A. (2004). The seven principles of good practice: A framework for evaluating on-line teaching, The Internet and Higher Education, 7(3): 217-232.Fitzgerald, R., & Steele, J. (2008). Digital learning communities (DLC): Investigating the application of social software to support networked learning. ALTC project. [Electronic version http://www.mashedlc.edu.au/

Fitzgerald, R. & Steele, J. (2008). Digital Learning Communities (DLC): Investigating the Application of Social Software to Support Networked Learning. ALTC project. [Electronic version http://www.mashedlc.edu.au/]

Herrington, J., Herrington, A., Mantei, J., Olney, I., & Ferry, B. (2009). (Eds.), New technologies, new pedagogies: Mobile learning in higher education. Faculty of Education, University of Wollongong

Saba, F. (2005). Critical issues in distance education: A report from the United States. Distance Education, 26 (2), p. 255-272.

Project activities1.Inter-university cooperation-shared supervision of each other’s PSTs-shared ICT platform to support learning during

the practicum -inter-university regional clusters of PSTs for

peer support in person and online learning

Supportive technology Investigation of options such as Skype to

improve communication during practicum Direct communication with supervisors

through email Supervisor access to shared website

Creating improved partnerships with rural and regional supervisors

Consultation about what creates strong practicum partnerships

Evaluation of communication options Perceptions about recognition and rewards

such as VIT/Master’s creditRyan, J.,Jones. M., Buchanan, M., Morris, P. Nuttall, M & Smith, C.,(2011). Effective

preservice teacher education ‘at a distance’: an investigation of the multimodal delivery of a secondary preservice teacher education program- perceptions of preservice teachers, teachers and university lecturers. In Mac Teer, C. Distance education. Ch. 6.New York: Nova Publishers

Project design2010 Semester 2

Shared LMS (ACU & La Trobe)

2 regional clusters of PSTs from ACU and La Trobe

Supervision for each other in 2 areas of rural Victoria

2011Shared LMS

All students in ACU and La Trobe cohort in regional clusters (one purely online group)

Shared supervision based on location

Methodology

Mixed mode study which aims to understand- Perceptions of participants of initiatives though

interview; survey and focus group; lecturer reflections

- Quality of the support and learning in regional clusters through discourse analysis of online discussions

Bernard, H., & Ryan, G. (2010). Analyzing qualitative data: Systematic approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications

King, N., & Horrocks, C. (2010). Interviews in quantitative research. London: Sage Publications.

Richards, L. (2009). Handling qualitative data: A practical guide (2nd ed). London: Sage publications.

FindingsInter-university supervision

• shared supervision presented few difficulties for lecturers (used each other’s documents)

• PSTs and supervisors were happy to see an ‘experienced ’ person; where from mattered less.

“I just saw it as...someone with experience and knowledge just gave me some advice and some guidance.” (PST)

Shared ICT platform

Needs to be accessible/owned by all (Pebble Pad for main study)

Supportive technology

1. Inter-university on-line discussion for support and sharing resources flourished;

2. Inter-university reflection more difficult to foster; hence structured discussions through PebblePad (called Professional learning teams);

3. Inter-university peer assessment explored in main study

Supportive technology (continued)

• Use of Skype as a supervision tool-supervisors open to it -needs to be set up by PST

• Main study trialling various options (Skype & visit; Skype only; other ICT options-Facetime)

• Supervisor-PST-lecturer discussion room on Pebble Pad

Creating improved partnerships with rural and regional supervisors

1. Supervisors divided as to what they want except direct email to supervisors is effective;

2. Recognition is complex:- Desirability of mentoring training;- Compulsory accreditation.

For investigation

- Supervisor access to PebblePad (e.g. pod casts on mentoring)

- Elluminate as PD tool for supervisors;

- VIT module on mentoring.

Questions and discussion

Contact detailsALTC project: Pre-service Teacher Education Partnerships:

Creating an effective practicum model for rural and regional pre-service teachers

Josephine RyanJo.ryan@acu.edu.auMellita JonesMellita.jones@acu.edu.auCaroline Waltac.walta@latrobe.edu.auAlan McleanAlan.mclean@latrobe.edu.au