Strong Beginnings: Report of the Teacher Education Expert Panel (2023)
The recently released Report of the Teacher Education Expert Panel (2023, the Scott Report) makes a number of recommendations that look set to have a significant impact on the design, purpose and provision of initial teacher education.
AARE emphasises the need for a robust and comprehensive research base to inform the direction of initial teacher education programs. This must take account of the breadth of expertise available across the community of educational researchers and the deep knowledge of expert teacher educators.
The Report acknowledges the complex ecosystem of initial teacher education. Extensive research has shown us that navigating this terrain and ensuring high quality education for all requires collaboration between teachers and education leaders; education researchers; and children and young people, their families and communities.
AARE will be hosting an online forum on 9th August to consider the recommendations to reform teacher education as presented in the Strong Beginnings report. More details on the forum will be announced shortly.
For initial responses to this Report from AARE members, see Professor Deb Hayes (University of Sydney) in the Sydney Morning Herald, Political incursion into teaching the teachers is a hard lesson, and Professor Jenny Gore (University of Newcastle) in The Conversation, Teaching degrees are set for a major overhaul, but this is not what the profession needs.
The AARE EduResearch Matters Blog features responses from:
Professor Donna Pendergast (Griffith University) The way teachers work must change now. The Scott report doesn’t even try to fix the real challenge
Professor Andrew J. Martin (University of New South Wales) It’s a No-Brainer: Beginning Teachers Should Learn About the Brain