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Specialisation in the primary education community
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Specialisation in the primary education community

Kevin Sulllivan, Susan Main, Joseph J. Scott, Kin Eng Chin, Jason Boron, Matthew Byrne, Eibhlish O'Hara, Elisabeth Taylor, Rozita Dass, Kuki Singh, …
Issues in Educational Research, Vol.35(2), pp.779-797
2025
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CC BY-NC-ND V4.0,  Open Access
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Abstract

Australian students' results in international assessments have led to considerable attention on teacher quality and, more specifically, on how well pre-service teachers (PSTs) are being prepared to teach. Acting on one of the recommendations in the Action Now, Classroom Ready Teachers Report (TEMAG, 2014), the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership updated Accreditation Standards and Procedures for Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programs to include primary specialisation into ITE courses (AITSL, 2017). The Australian Government's Next Steps report (2022) also identified the need to obtain data on the specialisation of ITE graduates to assist with issues of supply and demand. Our study was designed to increase knowledge of primary PSTs' perceptions of the primary specialisation program and explore reasons informing PSTs' specialisation choice. Data for this research project were gathered from PSTs undertaking ITE in a primary teaching course at an Australian University. A mixed methods approach, involving a questionnaire and small follow-up research focus group, was undertaken late in 2022. The data identify the perceptions of primary PSTs relating to their specialisation choices and the dominant factors that impact on these choices.

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