Abstract:
Tertiary supervision of preservice teachers undertaking professional practice no longer assumes the importance it once held. Competing interests (e.g., research and consultancies) mean that fewer university staff commit to this area. Those who do find their promotional opportunites may suffer. Against this background, this pilot study developed, trialled and evaluated the effectiveness on a "Professional Development Schools" approach. In essence, it involved hiring a professional development facilitator for each school whose task was to work with both preservice teachers and supervising teachers in their professional development. Reports indicate a high level of satisfaction with the outcomes. The project in on-going.