Masterly preparation: embedding clinical practice in a graduate pre-service teacher education programme

Abstract

This paper describes the implementation of the Master of Teaching degree which was introduced at the University of Melbourne in 2008. The programme aims to produce a new generation of teachers (early years, primary and secondary) who are interventionist practitioners, with high-level analytic skills and capable of using data and evidence to identify and address the learning needs of individual learners. The programme marks a fundamental change to the way in which teachers have traditionally been prepared in the University of Melbourne and builds a strong link between theory and practice. This linking occurs within a new partnership model with selected schools. The model was influenced by the Teachers for a New Era programme in the USA and by the clinical background of senior faculty. The programme sees teaching as a clinical-practice profession such as is found in many allied health professions; this understanding is also embraced by the university’s partnership schools. These schools are used as clinical sites, actively involving their best teachers in the clinical training component. These teachers are recognised as members of the university and are highly skilled professionals who are capable of interventionist teaching and who use appropriate assessment tools to inform their teaching of individual children.

Keywords:

• Master of Teaching
• clinical profession
• interventionist practice
• partnership
• theory/practice links

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge the contributions of the following people and organisations who played vital roles in the early development of the Master of Teaching programme: Professors Christine Ure and Kaye Stacey for their early developmental work in course design; Professor John Hattie for his helpful comments in the preparation of this manuscript; the Commonwealth Department of Education Employment and Workplace Relations, the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development and the Catholic Education Office Melbourne for the initial seeding grant in 2008; and the Department of Education Employment and Workplace Relations for financial support through the Diversity and Structural Adjustment Fund for financial support 2009–2011.

Notes

1. A paper based on this research is in preparation.