Teacher Education for the Middle Years of Schooling: Sustaining Quality Middle Level Preparation in Australian Universities

The middle years of schooling (Years 5-9) has emerged as a significant field of educational research in the last two decades but investigation of specialised approaches to middle level teacher education has received little attention. The rationale for specialised programs or units is that middle level teachers require specific preparation to be able to meet the educational needs of young adolescents (10-15 years old). This article draws from a doctoral study in which three outstanding teacher educators, with responsibility for middle level teacher education in their Australian universities, were interviewed about their programs (Shanks, 2010). The article identifies and discusses a number of factors that threaten the viability of quality middle level teacher preparation.