Making a Difference to Professional Experience: Giving and Getting Back

The paper reports on professional experience opportunities experienced by school leaver preservice primary teachers. It will emphasise the experience of one pre-service teacher (PST) in particular, Anna. Recommendations highlighted could contribute to university preparation of pre-service primary school teachers particularly during professional experience programs. In this research study narrative inquiry a personal knowledge based approach to research was used as a method for understanding the experiences of PSTs. This paper will discuss Anna and her supervising teacher’s development of a reciprocal relationship reflecting Noddings notion of Ethics of Care in a classroom where the NSW Quality Teaching Framework was utilised to inform practice. Findings from this study suggest that PSTs approaches to social and professional life opportunities are a consequence of growing up and being schooled during a time of rapid change and this is influencing their approach to developing teacher identity. The paper argues that the hierarchical Expert Model could be altered during professional experience to include what Wenger describes as a Communities of Practice approach. Combining both approaches might better support the professional development of the supervising teacher and PSTs. It has been concluded that current pre-service primary professional experience programs can be improved through recommendations made.