What they should have told me: Six beginning teachers'reflections on their pre service education in the lightof their early career experiences

John Buchanan

IntroductionTHE STUDY ON WHICH THIS PAPER IS BASED looks into the needs of earlycareer teachers in order to inform the content and delivery ofpreservice programs. It sought advice from beginning teacherson their views on strengths and weaknesses in their preserviceeducation in preparing them for their current roles. It alsoconsidered whether some information should be deferred untilthe beginning of practice, in order to assist its contextualisation.Finally, the project investigated the relationship betweenpreservice and inservice experiential knowledge, betweenepisteme and phronesis (Kessels & Korthagen, 2001), that is,between theory and practice, or as Kessels and Korthagen prefer,between theory and perception.

This paper reports on the experiences of six early careerteachers as they reflected on the issues they were facing in theclassroom. They were asked to consider their preserviceeducation and the extent to which they now found it relevant.Participating teachers were employed at one of two schools,either primary or secondary, in south-western Sydney. Theyagreed to take part in monthly telephone interviews over athree- or four-month period in 2004. Firstly, the paper will reviewrelevant literature. The second part of the paper outlines themethodology and introduces the participants. The remainingsections report the major findings and offer suggestions aboutthe content and delivery of preservice programs.

Literature reviewTeachers are being faced with increasing expectations in terms otaccountability with regard to student outcomes, record keepingand pastoral care, among others. For beginning teachers, thesedemands take on added difficulty in the context of relativeinexperience and a new workplace. Other complicating profes-sional factors and personal issues may include moving house,living independently of one's parents for the first time, orcommuting. Further complicating this is the reality that manyteachers' first experience is as casual teachers. Here they mayknow little of the school's processes and personnel, of students'names and of procedures. McCormack and Thomas (2002)support widely observed anecdotal evidence that casual teachers

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are often confronted with more complex issues ofmanagement than are their permanent counter-parts.

This affects not only the quality of teachingattained by these new teachers, but also contributesto the high level of attrition among teachers in theearly years of the profession. Ewing and Smith(2002) point out an attrition rate of between 25%and 40% of teachers in their first five years ofteaching, in various developed countries. Teachingis at times a solitary affair, particularly in contrast10 the collaborative experiences of preservice(Corrie, 2000).

In an extensive study, involving the collabo-ration of four Australian teacher education faculties,Schuck, Deer, Barnsley, Brady and Griffin (2002)reported on the needs of beginning teachers. They. 'vestigated themes of induction programs, school.•pport, the special needs of casual teachers

and requirements for initial teacher educationprograms. Their findings included the need forpreservice education to address: class managementand discipline; dealing with ranges in ability; inter-acting with parents; and fulfilling administrationduties. Their findings also generated implicationsand recommendations for schools, includingmore, and more effective, support structures. Moststrident among their recommendations was areduced workload for beginning teachers. In this,they echo the findings of Ewing and Smith (2002).

Schuck et a1.'s (2002) research confirmed earlierfindings and anecdotal evidence that beginningteachers find their preservice education wanting in. -rms of practical application to the workplace

.ntext. Similarly, Ewing and Smith (2002) reportedthat their informants, beginning teachers, describedtheir preservice training as being idealistic; it leftthem unprepared to deal with issues such asclassroom management and a range of studentability. Also identified were matters of programmingand outcome-based assessment.

A more seamless progression from pre- toinservice support for teachers is one commontheme, as outlined by Feiman-Namser (2001).Specifically,she recommended the establishment oflocal networks of educators, and of school!university partnerships to address the difficulties ofbeginning teachers. Similarly, McCulla (2002)reported on the need for mentors in schools tosupport and advise neophyte teachers. Of thoserespondents who did not have a mentor, more than

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WHAT THEY SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME

two-thirds indicated that they needed one. Morebroadly, McCulla reported on the need for inservicesupport from universities for their graduates. In likefashion, Darling-Hammond (1994) asserts thatthese and similar outcomes can be effected by thedevelopment of real partnerships, at a structural andconceptual level, between schools and universities.

One way of constructing this progression isto recognise greater commonality and symbiosis inthe processes of teaching and learning. For teachereducators, such a stance recognises preserviceteachers as the colleagues and co-learners they are.It recognises the learner's capacity to teach, and theteacher's capacity to learn.

A related issue for teacher educators is that ofgenerating and sequencing meaningful learningexperiences. Korthagen (2001, p. 66) outlines theattendant process as follows: "not by presenting'interesting theory' but by first creating suitableexperiences" (p. 66). Preserviceteachers need to feelthat they are "active participants in the constructionof the content of the teacher education program"(Korthagen, 2001, p. 53). Korthagen, commentingon Stenhouse, goes on to say that

pedagogy is not the technical process of"transmitting" predescribed curriculumcontent, but involves experimentation andinquiry by the teacher. Instead of havingteachers become the executorsof the plans ofinnovators from outside the schools [teachersshould] keepcontrol of their own work. (p. 53)

Grossman, Wineburg and Woolworth (2001) speakof the necessity of 'teacher community', in thecontext of practising teachers. They recommendthe establishment and support of communities ofdiscourse among teachers. Their recommendationscould reasonably be expanded to include discoursesbetween practising and preservice teachers, andbetween universities and schools. The followingsection outlines a study that sets out to open adialogue between beginning teachers and preserviceteacher education.

Methodology and participantsThis research focused on beginning teachers intwo schools, one primary and one secondary. Theschools are in south-western Sydney, an area whichhas been traditionally difficult to staff, and whichrecruits a significant number of new teachers.Despite reasonable levels of material affluence,the area is, compared with other parts of Sydney,

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characterised by lower levels of socio-economiccapital. It has a large non English-speakingpopulation, large numbers of new migrants, and is attimes subjected to negative popular and mediastereotyping.

Beginning teachers at these schools hadrecently undertaken inservice training, providedby the regional subdivision of the state educationdepartment, with regard to issues they were likelyto face in the workforce, administrative issues etc.Discussions with the Principal of one of the primaryschool revealed a perceived gap in preserviceeducation on the part of these beginning teachers.This school Principal suggested a second, secondaryschool for inclusion in the study.

After an initial face-to-face meeting with theprospective participants, telephone conversationstook place with each on a monthly basis at mutuallyagreed times, once these teachers indicated theirwillingness to participate. Each of the six partici-pants (three from each school) took part in up tofive interviews over a four-month period. One of theteachers is an ex-student of mine.

The telephone conversations took the form ofsemi-structured interviews (see Appendix), whereinthe researcher prompted the informant with theme-related questions such as difficulties and joys theteacher may be experiencing in the classroom,and possible reasons for these. The interviews alsosought information on contextual matters suchas support provided by the school. If respondentsidentified deficiencies in their preservice education,they were invited to suggest ways in which it couldbe improved. For the purposes of triangulation,each Principal was invited to nominate the four orfive areas of greatest need in terms of beginningteachers' readiness for teaching.

Field notes from the interviews were scrutinisedand coded for scatter and cluster in terms of issuesraised by the participants. The analysis of eachinterview informed subsequent interview questions.For instance, the challenges raised by informants,such as behaviour management, became prompts insubsequent interviews.

The participants had undertaken a variety ofteacher education courses.

Among the primary school teachers, Elsiecompleted a three-year Bachelorof Arts, followed bya one-year Bachelor of Teaching (Primary).The mainstrength of her preservice education was its deliveryof literacy education. Patricia completed a four-year

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Bachelor of Education degree. For her, the strengthswere practicum, especially the internship, whichprovided experience in the day-to-day runningof a classroom. She also praised three subjects inparticular, which provided practical ideas andmaterials for her teaching. She suggested a two-stageintemship, taking place at the beginning and theend of the year. This would inform the questionsshe had to ask lecturers in the interim. As it was, ittended to be "very abstract at uni". Kim completeda four-year Bachelor of Education (BEd) program.She has also completed a Graduate Certificate inTeaching English as a Second Language (TESL),which she undertook when she noted the highnumbers of non English-speaking backgroundstudents in her classes. She noted that she washighly motivated to undertake this certificatecourse, in response to an observed need. Shecompleted a valuable subject in her BEd on TESL,but noted that this was only an elective, so manystudents would not have had this experience.

Of the secondary school teachers, Alisoncompleted a three-year Fine Artsdegree, followed bya one-year fast-tracked Bachelor of Teaching degree.One of the most positive features of her coursewas being taught by practising teachers. One short-coming was a lack of attention to classroommanagement. She was also disappointed not to betold of the long waiting list for full-time visual artsteaching positions. Erika completed a three-yearBachelor of Science, followed by a one-yearBachelor of Education. She felt that the coursesprepared her adequately for teaching, but her prepa-ration was also enhanced by teaching experienceoverseas. Dave was a carpenter and builder beforeentering the profession as an industrial arts teacher.He undertook an accelerated teacher trainingcourse. The strength of this course was the in-schoolcomponent. Nevertheless, more school-based obser-vation and teaching would have been good, aswould more attention to classroom management.

FindingsOver the duration of this study these beginningteachers' skills and confidence grew markedly.Several factors contributed to this growth. Theseincluded increased knowledge of school systemsand personnel and the development of a widerrange of management strategies, as well as increasedcontent knowledge. Elsie described her practice asbeing "a bit iffy at the start, but I can see it coming

together". Teachers of younger students inparticular also noted the progress their studentswere making. An increasing ability to matchchildren's names, faces and personalities alsoassisted in the efficacy and ease of teaching. In thevery last weeks of the study, it also appeared thatthe teachers became more relaxed as the end of theschool year approached.

It was also encouraging to witness the enthusi-astic engagement of these teachers. Elsie, forinstance, came to the phone on one occasion,having been "sewing green pants for a frog" forthe end-of-year school assembly. Such assemblyperformances were also recognised by those teachersinvolved for their team-building capacity, despitetheir attendant distraction from curriculum-based

Irk. Idealism also remained robust with most ofthe teachers most of the time, tempered at timeswith occasional cynicism and disillusionment.However, the enthusiasm wasn't limited to teachersof younger children. Alison took a group of juniorsecondary students on a Duke of Edinburgh campone weekend. While she found the experience tiringat the time and during the following week, sheobserved that it paid dividends in terms of winningstudents' respect and willingness to cooperate inclass. When classes became talkative, she would hearstudents say to their peers, "shut up, she's cool".Certainly, there was no apparent despair either int he accounts or the tone of these beginning teachers,and cynicism was rare, interspersed with enthusi-

tic accounts of achievements. The words of one of...informants, in reference to one of her students

demonstrating "a real into-it-ness", also applies inI-:cneralto these teachers themselves.

Both schools appear to have well-developedsupport mechanisms for their beginning teachers.These include collaborative partnerships withsenior staff. Elsie was "half conscripted, half volun-tvcred" to work with the Principal on the designof reports. Similarly Dave was "roped in" to do aconflict resolution session led by some guestspeakers. Erika acknowledged the benefits of regularmeetings between the group of early career teachers-lind their supervisors. Topics for discussion are opento negotiation by the beginning teachers, and haveoften centred on behaviour management, withparticular students the focus of discussion. Systemicsupport, such as the PSFP(Priority Schools Funding

WHAT THEY SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME

Program, for schools in socioeconomically orotherwise disadvantaged areas) were also noted andpraised by the teachers.

The Principals nominated the following as themain areas of need: curriculum knowledge,including a deep understanding of "what aparticular indicator might look like" in terms ofassessment and evaluation; programming; under-standing school procedures and infrastructure;taking initiatives and exercising leadership; stressmanagement and classroom management,especially in dealing with intercultural issues. Theprincipals noted that teachers who had undertakenan internship program had a much better under-standing than did others, of the everydaypragmatics of running a classroom. They also notedthat there were progressively fewer 'gaps' inbeginning teachers' preparedness over recent years.

The most consistent issues raised by theteachers were classroom management, (confidencein) dealing with parents, intercultural and inter-language issues, children with learning difficulties,and literacy. Some issues were common to teachersat both schools, while others were more specific toone. An example of the latter is literacy teaching,which, not surprisingly, was noted mainly by theprimary school teachers. It is worth keeping inmind, too, that primary school teachers in NewSouth Wales typically undertake four years ofpreservice education, while their secondarycolleagues may enter the service with as little asone year's pre service education, following a degreequalification in their teaching subject/so

Difficulties in classroom management weremore prevalent in, but not exclusive to, thesecondary school. Elsie reported on a usefulhierarchy of sanctions for disobedient students. Sheobserved, however, that "seasoned kids look to getin trouble" and respond to sanctions by saying"I don't give a stuff". Similarly, Dave recounteda conflict resolution session led by guest speakers."My group ended in a brawl", he said with somebitter irony. According to one of his students, "wedid this last year. It was crap". Indeed, getting somestudents to take their work seriously is a significantproblem at times for these teachers. This is particu-larly the case in what may be perceived as 'non-core' subjects, as opposed to maths or English.

Kim felt that some of the preservice mantras,such as 'be consistent' were found wanting inpractice, adding that "you need to learn this on the

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job". In terms of strategies, Elsie observed "I copywhat I see", and found it valuable to observe experi-enced teachers' responses to breaches of discipline.

Patricia commented that she didn't want toregress to distributing worksheets. She added thatthey are accompanied by an assumption that "if thekids are quiet and occupied, they're learning".

On occasion, it is apparently minor issuesthat don't occur to a teacher during pre-practice.One example is getting the lesson started and thencalling the roll, rather than stalling the lesson withroll call at the beginning, as reported by one of theinformants. Indeed, this seems to have been 'newterritory' for many of the teachers entering theservice. They entered the classroom prepared toteach, and found their rhythm disturbed by havingto deal with absence notes, collection of money andthe like. Perhaps not surprisingly, these teacherswere not instructed in such matters during theirpreservice education. When asked if these issueshad been modelled during practicum, Patricia said"you're just looking for teaching when you'reon prac". The routine nature of administrationalso extends more than Patricia had expected tosome aspects of teaching: lilt's so different to uni.You spend so much time saying 'ants in the apple,a, a, a'''.

Dealing with parents whose worldview orlanguage may be very different to their ownemerged as a difficulty for several of these teachers.Kim reported that some families appear to provtdeno support for doing homework, and no place forit to be done. While ESL (English as a secondlanguage) teaching was offered as an elective in herpreservice course, Kim felt that this provision wasinadequate.

Both schools appear to have strong communi-cation strategies with parents, and parental supportlargely determines student responsiveness todiscipline measures. Alison reported that withone exception, her encounters with parents ofstudents who had misbehaved were positive; inmost instances, parents "feel bad" when they learnthat their child has misbehaved. In some instances,though, interpretations of subsequent studentconduct were based on the inference that improvedbehaviour was a result of parental intervention andsupport at home. Similarly, unchanged behaviouron the part of students was attributed to anassumption of parental indifference to thebehaviour, to school or to learning. Several of the

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informants, however, acknowledged difficultiesfor parents, confronted with long hours of workand commuting, language difficulties etc. Atwenty-something aged teacher may be closer chronologi-cally and culturally to their students than to theirstudents' parents, and might be still living undertheir own parents' roof. For such teachers, dealingwith parents of their students may well be adaunting proposition, particularly when the newsto be conveyed is less than pleasant.

The influence of parents and families alsoimpacts what could be called "experiential capital".Some children appear to have very few extracur-ricular experiences to draw on. According to Dave,some children don't know what a hammer is for,and have never seen one used. Patricia commentedthat the low socio-economic status of some familiespresents very real problems. She said that whenshown a picture of the Sydney's Olympic stadium,one student asked, "is that the Harbour Bridge?"Sheadded that some children have no books at home.Patricia tries to weave into her lessons experiencesshe has on the weekends, but some children havevery little to relate on that matter; "going to Maccas[McDonald's]is a big deal". Patricia commented thatthis limitation makes creative writing a difficultundertaking for these children.

Language and cultural differences emerged asanother issue for these teachers. The area in whichthese schools are located is characterised by largenumbers of newly-arrived migrants. There arerelatively high proportions of students who donot speak English as their first language. Patricia,for example, made reference to 11 languages repre-sented in her classroom. Kim undertook a TESOL(Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages)course while she was teaching at a nearby detentioncentre for illegal immigrants and asylum-seekers.This attendance was in response to a direct need shesaw in teaching newly-arrived children. She foundthat her motivation to learn and her ability to makesense of and critically analyse the content of thecourse were enhanced by having a correspondingwork situation. In her words, "you learn and thenyou can teach it for yourself". She added, however,that her preservice practicums had also been usefulin that regard. Erika found that having learntEnglish as a second language provided her withinsights into associated difficulties, and with thenature of language. She was also a model and anexample of success for students from non-English

speaking backgrounds. Teachers who speak Englishas a second language, apart from LOTE(Languagesother than English) teachers, however, are in theminority in Australia.

Patricia commented that some Muslim childrenhave negative attitudes to women. In similar vein,Erika spoke of a student who was talkative duringan Anzac Day ceremony at school, including duringthe minute's silence to remember Australian andallied soldiers killed in wars. When she reprimandedthe boy for this, he swore at her in Arabic. He wassubsequently required to apologise to Erika, and wassuspended. This anecdote highlights just some ofthe complexities in working for a multiculturalschool body. Erika was unable to say whetherAhmed's apparent disrespect was inadvertent,compulsive or wilful. Given the current geopoliticalontext of Australia's intervention in the Middle-

East, it could be a combination. Arguably,the conse-quences imposed in response to such behaviourneed to discern this and take it into account.

The wide range of abilities emerged as a compli-cating factor, particularly at the secondary school,perhaps because of the increased conceptualcomplexity of teaching/learning material. Erikasaidthat she has had to modify her lessons considerablyto cater for a wide range of abilities. Even so, shenow makes provision for those students with diffi-culties to see her during recess or lunch periods, forsupplementary tutoring. Somewhat to her surprise,she found that students, particularly those in moresenior grades, were willing to participate in thisprocess without seeing it as punitive, or shameful inie eyes of their peers. Nevertheless, this constitutes

a considerable time imposition on the teacher, andmay be difficult to sustain.

Patricia said that six of the 22 children in herclass were identified as having learning difficulties.Ilaving started out to program for the whole class,she is now responding to the need for one-to-oneprograms. She works most intensively with thosehaving most difficulty. She mused, however, "thetop kids don't suffer. It's the middle kids who missout".

Difficulties in teaching literacy and engenderinga love of reading were most problematic for NESB(non English-speaking background) children, andthose with learning difficulties. Patricia felt thatthere had not been sufficient attention to literacyteaching at university; when she began classroompractice, she "didn't know how to teach reading".

WHAT THEY SHOULD HAVE TOLD

She commented that some cultures have strongeroral than written traditions, citing Pacific Islandersas an example. She was surprised to find a resistanceto reading among some Arabic children, despite astrong tradition of Qur'anic recitation.

Developing expertise in assessment isproblematic for a number of these teachers. Someof the secondary teachers were teaching in morethan one subject area, and consequently had toadopt a variety of assessment and reportingmethods. They found that exposure to a numberof methods was good for their professional devel-opment, and that support was available from theschool. Still, the knowledge needed to understandand administer such a range of methods wasdemanding. As Elsie said, "If someone is stanine X,what do I do with this?"

In response to the above issues, the teachersmade a number of recommendations for preserviceeducation. Patricia wished she had observed morelessons, particularly in literacy. She recommendedmore observation lessons and more practisingteachers lecturing at university. She conceded thatshe had become better at watching lessons andmodelling her teaching on them now. Elsiesuggested more time devoted to viewing anddiscussion of videos of 'natural' classroom practice.Similarly, Alison noted that during the year, herposition as Support Teacher Learning Assistance,allowed her to observe a range of teaching andmanagement strategies. Those who had undertakeninternships, involving longer periods of teaching,recommended such programs and extolled theirvirtues.

Teachers discerned the theory/practicedichotomy. Elsiecommented, "The theories stick inmy head, but I don't refer to them as much as Iwould've thought. You don't say 'today I'll useCambourne'; you think on your feet". Patricia,on the other hand, reported drawing on a range ofapproaches in reading, including sight words andwhole language approaches.

None of the teachers was enthusiastic aboutthe inclusion of more assessment tasks duringpracticum, claiming that it was already too busya time. Also, while they invariably viewed theirpracticums as a most valuable time, they talked ofthem being a beneficial 'learning time'. On furtherquestioning, they generally described practicum interms of learning practicalities, "learning the ropes"according to Elsie, rather than as an opportunity

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to test theories. It may be that the demands ofpracticum play a role in preventing them fromfurther theorising their practice, or consciouslypractising their theories. Kim suggested a three-week practicum at the conclusion of the degreeas a chance to "put theory into practice". Anotherconstraining factor for Kim is that duringpracticum, "you're in someone else's classroom".A number of the teachers also mentioned thatthey didn't get to see report writing or rehearsalsfor end-of-year performances in process while onpracticum, because of the time of year practicumtakes place. This issue probably assumed signifi-cance during the conduct of the research becausesome were writing their own reports for the firsttime. Kim also suggested opportunities forcritiquing the school's systems for behaviourmanagement and the like during practicum.

It appears that there is a cultural divide formany of these teachers as they begin their careers.At times the teachers need to understand andbridge cultural or intellectual barriers in theirteaching. This is highlighted by, among others,polarised attitudes to Anzac Day, and the differ-ences between some teachers' and students'weekend experiences. Patricia commented, "uniwas excellent if you're going to teach on the northshore [a relatively affluent area of Sydney]".Similarly, Kim observed that more preserviceattention to teaching English as a second languageis needed "especially if you're going to teach inwestern Sydney". The differences are highlightedby another comment from Patricia. "At universityyou do philosophy and sociology of education etc.Here, the real issues are this child hasn't broughtany lunch to school".

Discussion, conclusionsand further questionsThese findings underscore the differences betweentertiary and school classrooms, particularly withregard to matters such as management, adminis-tration and delivery of pedagogy. While the tertiaryclassroom experience offers valuable support forteachers, it does not simulate a typical schoolclassroom. It may be that for the majority of teachereducators, matters of administration are not spokenof in class because they are assumed to be self-evident. These matters may therefore escape theattention of at least some preservice teachersbecause they remain unspoken.

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These differences highlight the need forstudent-teachers to look at their professionalexperience/ practicum in new ways. They can beassisted in observing the previously-unnoticedduring such experiences. During practicum,preservice teachers may be watching their inservicccolleagues primarily if not solely for innovativeand interesting teaching techniques. Classroomteachers' attention to administrative issues suchas maintaining the attendance roll may escapepreservice teachers' notice; preventive classmanagement techniques and their rationale maynot be immediately apparent, and what theyprevent will rarely be obvious. Some of the continuaalong which school and university classroomsfind themselves mutually remote will be discussedhereunder; continua such as those of theory-practice, socio-economic class and dis/advantage,and educational, social and English languagecapital, as well as areas in which the beginningteachers found their preservice preparationwanting. The tension between theory and practice(Kessels & Korthagen's (2001) episteme andphronesis) in tertiary education has often beencommented upon by students and others. Butthis may be only one of several dichotomies orcontinua that need further examination in terms ofdifferences between tertiary and primary/secondaryteaching contexts. Moreover, the theory-practicedichotomy may have served to mask other dispar-ities between the university and school classroom,as outlined below.

Atertiary education context presumes an abilityon the part of students instinctively (or at leastwith some prompting that 'this is the gametoday') to engage in higher-order thinking.The ability to do this cannot be assumed inevery school circumstance. In my teaching ofsocial and environmental education, discussionand opinion-sharing feature prominently. Asubstantial proportion of primary classroomteaching in particular, however, entails (whatmay appear to us as adults as) the mundane orthe routine.Linked to the above, the processes of teachingmay be, or at least appear, less didactic atuniversity than in a school context. If contentmaterial is to be memorised, it is less likely to bedrilled in class in a tertiary setting. This apparentregression may strike a beginning teacher asintellectually and professionally unfulfilling.

The tertiary educator is not acting in locoparentis. Regimes such as hand-raising toanswer a question or to leave the room are likelyto be relaxed or absent. The responsibility ofdocumenting absences is a moral rather thana legal one. This is not to suggest a lack of dutyof care in the tertiary context, but a significantdifference in nature and practice, comparedwith the compulsory years of education.Perhaps further complicating this, manyprimary teacher educators are ex-secondaryschool teachers, having been chosen for, amongother aptitudes, their expertise in a certaincurricular subject area. In many secondaryschools, roll-call and related informationsharing takes place in a discrete session,removed from teaching and learning episodes.As a result, at least some teacher educators mayhave little experience in orchestrating roll-calland pedagogy.The culture of tertiary education classroomstends to dictate quite a different set ofbehavioural expectations and taboos than doesits primary or, particularly, its secondarycounterpart. In my classes, asking students toself-select groups to discuss an issue is rarelyproblematic; assuming this approach may beless realistic in many school contexts. Thereappears to be quite a different set of unwrittenbut apparently mutually agreed upon percep-tions as to what constitutes an incivility in atertiary and in at least some school contexts.It may also be that the value attributed tocreative teaching by students and staff atuniversity confounds other issues, and distortsstudents' constructs of school learning. It is tobe hoped that teacher educators model andaffirm creative, engaging and innovativeteaching strategies. Creative techniques energiseboth teacher and learner. One of the principalsin the study, however, observed that "beginningteachers have magnificent, creative lessons thatare so time-consuming that they can't besustained when you're teaching all day. Andthey overlook other things like note collection".There is real and perceived pressure on teachereducators to prove themselves as good andauthentic (read: entertaining?) teachers.Ironically, it may be that this pressure drivesthem to construct an inaccurate representationof the school classroom.

WHAT THEY SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME

Utilising a multi-layered approach to methodology,the research team attempted to provide a nationaloverview as well as focused local perspective inves-tigations.

The above dichotomies are perhaps best broughtinto focus by the 'student presentation' at university,where students conduct a teaching/learningexperience for their peers. In my experience, theother students are 'on their best behaviour' whenpeer presentations are taking place. This extra effortmight be for a number of reasons: the other studentsknow that their turn to be out the front will (or has)come; the presenter's nervousness may also attractempathy. Students seem to invariably comply withtheir peers' requests to form groups, role playeight year olds etc. Student presenters do not needto concern themselves with their peers slapping orpinching each other, borrowing-without-asking apencil, or with the distractions of wobbly teeth.All the while, the teacher educator and studentsmay see this as an authentic off-site representationof the school classroom.

Suffice to say that the tertiary and schoolteaching/learning environments are substantiallydifferent. Further research may shed light onwhether education students are more compliantthan their counterparts in other faculties. Anecdotalevidence suggests that such may be the case. Onthe other hand, the difficult-to-staff schools wheremany of these students are most likely to beginteaching are arguably at the other end of thiscontinuum. That the two teaching contexts aredifferent is probably inevitable, and not necessarilyundesirable. Neither the school nor the universityteaching/learning context is ideal, and it may bethat compliance tempered with questioning onthe part of education students is as healthy as anincrease in the capacity of some school students forcollaboration. To describe the differences betweenschool and tertiary classrooms as a disparity or amismatch is probably inaccurate, in that it suggeststhat the two need to be similar. It is valuable for theteacher educator not to hold in contempt the robustand frank nature of exchanges in the schoolclassroom. Similarly, it is valuable for the beginningteacher not to disdain aspects such as the idealismand creative fertility of the tertiary classroom.

Perhaps most importantly, the potentialcultural and structural differences between thetwo settings need to be made visible to preserviceteachers, in supporting them to adapt to their new

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environments. Again, practicum may be the bestsetting in which to do this, and to develop aframework for doing so. Inattention to these differ-ences in the past may have contributed to adismissal by beginning teachers of their preserviceexperiences, realities and 'wisdoms'.

As stated earlier, teachers, by definition, havesuccessfully negotiated the school system. If theyhave been in graded classes, and in any case insenior years of schooling, they may rarely haverubbed shoulders with students seriously strugglingwith school, nor might they have witnessedteachers' strategic responses to such needs. Theythen became part of an academic elite at university.What is needed on their part is an increased abilityto experience the world of the struggler, be it abehavioural, academic, experiential, linguistic orother struggler, and recognise and respond tohis or her needs, needs potentially so differentto their own. Darling-Hammond (1992) speaks of"the capacity to connect with learners, rather thansimply covering the curriculum" (p. 9). This isperhaps more easily said than done, given that thecurriculum can be an efficient and impassivecoloniser of time. Teacher educators, also bydefinition success stories in the education game,need to connect with their learners, and to connectthem to their eventual teaching situations. In eachinstance, it is valuable to ask how the student, andthe teacher (educator) sees - and at times fails tosee - their teaching-learning world.

AcknowledgmentsI would like to thank the six teachers involved inthis project, for the time they spent talking withme. I would also like to thank the two schoolprincipals, and the Department of Education andTraining NSW,for allowing the research to proceed.

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Kessels, j. & Korthagen, F. (2001). The relation between theoryand practice: Back to the classics. In F. Korthagen (Ed.)Linking practice and theory, (pp. 17-22). Mahwah, NJ.:Lawrence Earlbaum Associates.

Korthagen, F. (2001) A reflection on reflection. In F.Korthagen (Ed.) Linking practice and theory, (pp. 51-68).Mahwah, NJ.: Lawrence Earlbaum Associates.

McCormack, A. & Thomas, K. (2002, 1-5 December). Thereality of uncertainty: The plight of casual beginning teachers.Paper presented at the Australian Association forResearch in Education, University of Queensland,Brisbane.

McCulla, N. (2002, 1-5 December) Creating graduate, universityand employer links through research in supporting the profes-sional work and learning of new qualified teachers: Keepingtrack of our new teachers - some personal thoughts. Paperpresented at the Australian Association for Research inEducation, University of Queensland, Brisbane.

Schuck, S., Deer, c., Barnsley, G., Brady, L. & Griffin, j. (2002,February). Teacher preparation, induction and professionaldevelopment study. Paper presented to the TPIPD (TeacherPreparation, Induction and Professional Development)Consortium, UTS Kuring-gai, Lindfield, NSW.

WHAT THEY SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME

Appendix. Conversation protocol forbeginning teacher research project

What is it like being in the teaching workforce?/How has the last week/month been?[Prompts: joys and frustrations]What support mechanisms do you draw onwhen issues arise?[Prompts: internal or external (e.g. schoolbased) mechanisms, adequacy or inadequacy ofthese, if mechanisms are identified]Reflecting on your preservice education, howwell did it prepare you for your current circum-stances?[Prompts: highlights and deficiencies](If the respondent identifies gaps in his/herpreservice education) are there elements ofteacher education that need to be left untilteachers begin their service? In other words, arethere issues that you would have found difficultto make sense of before being in the classroom?Based on your current experiences, what advicewould you give to providers of preserviceteacher education programs?

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Notes for intending contributors

Curriculum Perspectives, a refereed journal, has estab-lished a national and international reputation in thefield of curriculum. The peer reviewprocess involvespapers being assessed 'blind' by two members ofthe editorial board. Each paper is assessed bytwo different assessors. The turn-around time isnormally eight to ten weeks.

Contributions may take the form of:General papers that make an original contri-bution of an empirical or theoretical nature.Papers of a more practical or applied nature andwhich are case studies about classroom research,curriculum development and evaluation.Brief reports about on-going research and devel-opment activities and examples of on-goingclassroom practices.Papers are included in this section under thetitle of 'Instances'.Correspondence (letters and short notes)addressed to the Editor.Book reviews.

ContributionsTypescripts should be sent to the Editor on A4paper, typed in double spacing on one side only,with margins of at least 2.5cm on all four sides.Papers for the Articles section should usuallybe no longer than 8000 words. Instances papersshould be 1000-3000 words in length. It isessential that the Bibliographyis double spaced.The master copy and two duplicates should besubmitted for publication. At least one copyshould be retained for personal reference.

The contributor's name and status shouldappear on a separate page to ensure anonymityin reviewing.Tabular and statistical materials, graphs, figuresand charts should be kept to a minimum.Graphs, figures and charts should be submittedin camera-ready standard. Any text should bein Times New Roman font, 11 point size orsmaller.Notes and bibliography details should be givenat the end of the article. Footnotes are not tobe used - any relevant information should beincorporated into the text.References in the text should be listed at the endof the article. Footnotes are not to be used.Refer to the Publication Manual of the AmericanPsychological Association for referencing format.For example:Walker, D.E (2003). Fundamentals of Curriculum,2nd edition. Mahwah, New Jersey: LawrenceErlbaum.Zevenbergen, R. (2004). Reconceptualisingnumeracy for new times. Curriculum Perspectives,24(3), 1-7.The final, revised version of an accepted papermust be sent as a typed copy, in doublespacing, and on a computer disk. This diskettemust be in IBM format, and the document inMicrosoft Word 6 for Windows or a compatibleformat, otherwise Rich Text Format.Contributions should be sent to:Professor Colin Marsh24 Metz WayWembley Downs WA6019

Articles published in Curriculum Perspectives express the view of their authors only and not necessarily thoseof the Editorial Board or the Editor.

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Curriculum PerspectivesAustralian Curriculum Studies AssociationEditorColin J. Marsh24 Metz WayWembley DownsWA 6019

Assistant EditorKerry KennedyDean, Faculty of Professionaland Early Childhood EducationHong Kong Institute of Education

Editorial BoardProfessor Marie BrennanUniversity of South AustraliaSouth Australia

Dr Catherine HarrisDeakin UniversityVictoria

Professor Christine DeerUniversity of Technology SydneyNew South Wales

Professor Phillip HughesAustralian Principals CentreVictoria

Professor Barry FraserCurtin University of TechnologyWestern Australia

Dr Amanda KeddieUniversity of QueenslandQueensland

Professor Bill GreenCharles Sturt UniversityNew South Wales

Professor Jane KenwayMonash UniversityVictoria

Professor Shirley GrundyDeakin UniversityVictoria

Susan Mann, CEOCurriculum CorporationVictoria

Consulting EditorsProfessor Michael ConnellyOntario Institute for Studies in EducationCanada

Professor Elliot EisnerStanford UniversityCalifornia, USA

Curriculum Perspectives welcomes contributions on all matters relating tocurriculum development, evaluation and theory. Correspondence, manuscriptsand books for review should be sent to Professor Colin Marsh, 24 Metz Way,Wcmblcy Downs WA 6019.

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Professor Paul MorrisPresident, Hong Kong Instituteof Education, Hong Kong

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Contributors

Sabrina Hambel is a postgraduate researchstudent in the School of Education, University ofQueensland. She is currently completing a PhDthesis that examines diversity eduction and issuesof whiteness.

Jane Skalicky's area of interest is the positioningand assessment of quantitative literacy in thereform-based environment of the EssentialLearnings in Tasmania. She is working with teachersin schools who are implementing transdisciplinaryunits of work with their students.

Jacqueline Kin-sang Chan is a lecturer in theDepartment of Curriculum and Instruction ofThe Hong Kong Institute of Education. She hasdeveloped her research interest in the area ofcurriculum implementation, in particular, teacher'sbeliefs and their influence on curriculum practice atthe classroom level.

John Buchanan is a lecturer in social andenvironmental education at the University ofTechnology, Sydney. His teaching and researchinterests include intercultural education, globaleducation, studies of Asia and teacher professionaldevelopment.

Wilf Savage is a Lecturer and PracticumCoordinator in the School of Education, La TrobeUniversity, Bendigo. His research interests areschool-university partnerships, and the integrationof theory and practice in pre-service teachereducation.

LynTaylor is a Lecturer in the School of Education,La Trobe University, Bendigo, Her research interestsare student wellbeing, school-university partner-ships and pre-service education.

Lisa Hayman is the Professional DevelopmentCoordinator at Bendigo Senior Secondary College.

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Vaughan Prain is Head of the School ofEducation, La Trobe University, Bendigo. Hisresearch interests are writing for learning in scienceand the use of computers for learning and literacydevelopment.

Rosie Rosengren is a PhD student and researchassistant in the School of Education, La TrobeUniversity, Bendigo. Her research interests are post-compulsory education and training, employmentand marginalised young people.

Kay Whitehead is Associate Dean (Research)in the School of Education, Flinders University.Her current research interests encompass middleschooling and social difference in contemporaryeducation, along with histories of 19th and early20th century teachers in Australia and Canada, postsuffrage feminism and women who worked for thestate.

Nan Bahr is Director of Teacher Education in theSchool of Education, the University of Queensland.Primarily an educational psychologist, her researchinterests encompass theories of learning, adoles-cence and schooling, and the Middle Years ofSchooling with a particular focus on the devel-opment of resilience.

Donna Pendergast is Program Director formiddle years teacher education programs at theUniversity of Queensland. She has played a pivotalrole in key projects investigating middle schoolreforms around Australia, including the federally-funded MCEETYA"Middle Yearsof Schooling andLife Long Learning" Project and the DEST-funded"Beyond the Middle Project".

Jennifer Nayler is a Senior Lecturer in Educationat the University of the Sunshine Coast. Her profes-sional interests include socially-just pedagogies,gender studies and middle phase of learning reform.Her program saMY (Scaffolding Action in theMiddle Years) is available for implementationthroughout Australia.