Making the transition into the first year of teaching: lessons from the Classmates initiative.

Ferfolja, Tania

Based on research into the University of Western Sydney's new secondary teacher education initiative, Classmates, this paper argues that first-year-out teachers placed in disadvantaged schools may be better prepared to deal with the needs of their students if three conditions are met: firstly, their practicum experience is focused on mainly one site, and this experience is continuous and well-supported; that their initial employment as a teacher is undertaken in their practicum school, possibly in a casual capacity; finally, that their inception year of full-time, permanent teaching occurs in a school in which they have undertaken their practicum. This paper purports that these approaches could grow a strong cohort of relatively confident new teachers and potentially reduce their individual stress while providing them the time and space to develop their pedagogical skills and institutional understandings within an economical framework. Additionally, such an approach could provide greater support for school faculties and school communities.

Keywords

teacher education

first-year teacher

teacher preparation

teaching innovation

student teachers

teacher recruitment

Introduction

Teaching is a rewarding occupation but it is simultaneously complex and demanding. This complexity is reflected in the many roles that teachers undertake in addition to that of pedagogue. Furthermore, neo-liberal approaches to education in Australia have resulted in additional burdens being imposed on teachers through an increase in external standards and accountability measures (Apple, 2002; Martinez, 2004; Singh, 2004).

Despite these complexities, beginning teachers are frequently placed in challenging schools where there are high levels of sociocultural disadvantage and inadequate social and material resources, often resulting in a range of issues related to discipline, student welfare, and--either alone or in combination--social, emotional or learning difficulties (Lareau & McNamara Horvat, 1999; Thomson, 2002). Care and support agencies in these communities have often been limited or retracted, and local schools frequently find themselves endeavouring to deal with such voids (Thomson, 2002). These factors add another dimension to the many trials that face teachers.

Notwithstanding such challenges, there is an expectation that beginning teachers will be able to quickly and effectively assume their teaching role, with as little disruption to busy staffrooms as possible. It is interesting to note that teaching is one of the only careers where there is an expectation that a newly appointed individual is ready for the workload and diversity of a new occupation, and where there is little, if any, well-structured on-site training (Manuel, 2003). This is astounding, considering the high level of social and moral responsibility entrusted to teachers.

Although many beginning teachers enter the profession displaying high ideals, it is unsurprising that many also leave early in their careers, particularly those working in disadvantaged or difficult schools (Berry, 2004; Ewing & Smith, 2003; Johnson, 2004; Martinez, 2004; Vinson, 2002). Burn-out has been cited among a range of reasons for resignation (Goddard & Goddard, 2006). Resignation also reflects the contemporary workforce mobility trend, where teaching is one segment of a career portfolio rather than a lifelong vocation (Ewing & Smith, 2003; Johnson, 2004; Kalantzis & Harvey, 2002).These changing patterns in career pathways are apparent internationally (Martinez, 2004).

This staff turnover means that there can be a consistently high concentration of beginning teachers at the one site. This can result in a range of problems in relation to stability; teaching quality; mentoring; the development of professional knowledge; and the maintenance of corporate knowledge (Berg et al., 2005; Darling-Hammond, 2000; Rockoff, 2003). Research suggests that even a salary increase may not necessarily enhance teacher retention rates (Berry, 2004).

Ewing and Smith (2003, p. 16) recently identified a range of problematic issues articulated by Australian teachers early in their careers in relation to their beginning teacher experiences. These included the following:

   adjusting to the demands of teaching fulltime; negotiating
   colleague relationships; understanding classroom, school and
   community cultures; coping with self: finding a niche; and the
   idealism of the pre-service preparation.

Such issues have no simple solution and, when compounded with the general demands of teaching, may make one's desire to remain in teaching less appealing. Ewing and Smith report that there is increasing recognition that 'high quality support for beginning teachers will lower the attrition rates' (2003, p. 16).They also point out that 'one of the important factors in retaining teachers is the preparation they experience in their pre-service education and the degree that this prepares them for their professional work' (2003, p. 23).

Pre-service teacher preparation and transition to teaching has been researched internationally from many perspectives including but not limited to the following:

* implementing programs and methods that aim to develop pre-service teachers' abilities or knowledge base or both (Collins, 2004; Orland-Barak & Yinon, 2005; O'Sullivan, 2002; Page & Hastings, 2006)

* including school--university partnerships (Godinho et al., 2007; Schulz & Hall, 2004)

* providing online learning programs (Yates, 2003)

* changing programs to build particular skills in light of broader government initiatives related to the development of global-based economies (Bekalo & Welford, 1999; Kunje, 2002; Ng et al., 2004).

This paper, recognising the situated nature and limitations of the research studied, seeks to promote discussion about developing structural and system-wide changes to teacher preparation and teacher inception that may 'smooth the way' for beginning teachers by reducing the workload and stress of a new and demanding job. It purports that the transition from pre-service to qualified teacher could be dealt with to provide an increased level of support to both beginning teachers and school faculties. It is not endeavouring to find a single solution to a complex issue but rather to put forward some ideas for consideration to help relieve concerns. The suggestions are based on ongoing qualitative research into a secondary teacher preparation initiative called Classmates at the University of Western Sydney, Australia, which aims to prepare pre-service teachers for disadvantaged schools.

Several key suggestions are explored:

* focusing professional experience mainly (although not necessarily exclusively) on one site;

* implementing a well-supported and continuous professional experience at this site;

* employing student teachers at their practicum school in a supported, casual capacity upon qualification.

As a result of the new accreditation processes for teachers in New South Wales, I also suggest that there may be some merit in ensuring that the inception year of full-time, permanent teaching occurs in the school in which pre-service teachers have undertaken a continuous practicum.

Although further research is required and although the complexities involved in teaching mean that 'even the very best of teacher education programs will only ever be able to prepare graduates to begin teaching' (Martinez, 2004, p. 99), it appears that a combination of these suggestions can develop relatively confident beginning teachers and provide them with the time and space to expand their pedagogical skills and institutional understandings within a relatively financially economical framework. It is surmised that such an approach would also reduce what is sometimes seen as the 'burden' of the beginning teacher on head teachers and staffrooms. Before turning to this discussion, the Classmates initiative requires explanation.

Classmates: A new teacher-preparation initiative

Classmates is a collaboration between the University of Western Sydney and the New South Wales Department of Education and Training (DET), south-western Sydney region. It was initially conceived by DET consultant and teacher, Lynda Pinnington-Wilson then developed by Brian Miller and Margaret Vickers from the University of Western Sydney. Classmates was initiated in 2006, with a small group of secondary-teacher education students preparing to teach in the key learning areas of mathematics, English and science. All students were enrolled in the Bachelor of Teaching at the University of Western Sydney, a one-year teaching degree open to candidates who possess an appropriate undergraduate degree. Classmates is the same degree but has a different mode of delivery.

The key features of Classmates that are important to contextualise both the research and findings reported in this paper are as follows:

a All participating pre-service teachers were allocated to a designated 'host' school that has volunteered to be involved.

b The host school usually supported a critical mass of pre-service teachers that provided a peer support network and visibility in the school.

c Pre-service teachers undertook their first two professional experience placements in their host school over a continuous period and with the same supervisors, resulting in approximately four months of practicum at approximately three days per week. This was equivalent to the mainstream program, which implements two blocks of professional experience at different sites.

d The third practicum was a community-based experience, undertaken at a school site but not necessarily a Classmates host school.

e Formal academic work reflected the mainstream teacher education curriculum but was delivered differently, involving some evening lectures and tutorials, intensives, and day classes. Many of these were conducted at a Classmates host school site.

f Classmates pre-service teachers undertook their academic studies as a group, enhancing peer support.

g Classmates pre-service teachers attended specifically negotiated, regionally based professional development in-services for beginning teachers, enabling them to develop a broader understanding of the region while building professional relationships.

h A university coordinator supported pre-service teachers on practicum and throughout the course and a DET consultant provided support to supervising teachers.

These features, particularly the supported continuous professional experience at one site, all contributed towards the value of this teacher-education initiative (see also Ferfolja, 2007, 2008a; McCarthy, 2007). How these features bore on the transition from pre-service to beginning teacher will be discussed in the remainder of this paper, after an outline of the methodology applied in this research.

Research methodology

As part of a broad study into the initiative, fourteen Classmates pre-service teachers participated in face-to-face qualitative interviews at the conclusion of their involvement in the Classmates initiative in 2006. All of the interviews reported upon in this paper were conducted by Florence McCarthy and Vikki Fraser; this work culminated in a report by McCarthy (2007). To date, six of these same participants have been re-interviewed in relation to their perceptions of Classmates and their readiness for first-year teaching. Of these, two now teach English, two teach mathematics and two are employed as science teachers. All of these participants are in full-time teaching positions working in the same region in which they participated in Classmates.

Both the first and second round of interviews used a semi-structured interview schedule that focused broadly on participants' past schooling experiences; their reasons for deciding to teach; their reasons for undertaking, and perceptions of, Classmates; comparisons with learning in the mainstream; their feelings of becoming a teacher; and their future intentions. The semi-structured nature of the interviews provided opportunities to reorder questions according to the needs and direction of the interview and the respondent (Miles & Huberman, 1994). The interviews aimed to provide an emphasis on lived experiences and the participant's voice. This enabled rich data to be retrieved for review and analysis.

All interviews were audiotaped and transcribed with the participants' consent. The data was thematically coded for largely descriptive themes, using the qualitative software NVivo. This assisted in organising the information and helped to maintain its contextual integrity. It is important to note that this qualitative research applied an interpretativist approach and did not attempt to find a 'right' answer to the questions presented. Additionally, despite historical demands for research 'objectivity', it is also crucial to acknowledge that the researcher's subjectivity has an impact on the interpretation of the data. The analysis broadly applies a feminist, post-structural framework, using, in particular, the complexities and dynamics of subjectivity in relation to teacher development and experience.

The findings reported here are from the second round of interviews, which were undertaken approximately six months after the Classmates graduating students began teaching in full-time positions; that is, participants referred to in this discussion are all beginning teachers.

As this is a small but potentially public research cohort, confidentiality of responses has been paramount. Pseudonyms have been applied and, to further enhance privacy, names have been changed from other publications to blur storylines. Additionally, discontinuous narratives have been used.

The benefits of a continuous professional experience

As indicated above, Classmates has a particular professional experience structure that in effect, runs two professional experience units back-to-back over approximately four months. During this time, pre-service teachers are assigned to mainly one supervisor, although, depending on timetables and access to classes, some pre-service teachers have two. There are arguments against this single-site approach: for example, industrial regulations do not permit the selection of supervisors; instead teachers volunteer as supervisors. Theoretically, pre-service teachers may be allocated a less-skilled teacher (although the vast majority of supervising teachers have been outstanding practitioners). It could be surmised that the learning benefits of such a situation may be limited, depending on the 'luck of the draw'. Martinez (2004, p. 95) argues that

   mentoring of novices by experienced teachers has contradictory
   potential; as a system of positive, assisted professional entry and
   renewal; and as a critical occupational perpetuation of existing
   practices and patterns of inequitable educational outcomes for
   children.

If pre-service teachers rely solely on non-critical observation and imitation of their supervisor for their professional learning, then this may be an issue. But this perspective to some extent also positions pre-service teachers as non-agentic subjects. It is crucial to recognise that all individuals have agency to exercise resistance, to challenge, and to choose within available discourses. Individuals can 'actively engage ... in order to forge particular positions of identity for themselves' (Mills, 1997, p. 91). Weedon (1987, p. 125) highlights that the subject is a

   thinking, feeling subject and social agent, capable of resistance
   and innovations produced out of the clash between contradictory
   subject positions and practices ... able to reflect upon the
   discursive relations which constitute her [sic] and the society in
   which she [sic] lives, and able to choose from the options
   available.

In Classmates, the continuous nature of the professional experience enables the pre-service teachers both to critically observe and to work with a variety of staff, including their supervisors, other staff across the faculty and school, academics and pre-service peers. The structure of the initiative encourages theory and practice to be closely aligned, enabling social relations and practices to be discussed, deconstructed and critiqued, and encouraging pre-service teachers to gain a range of perspectives and positions on which to draw to construct their teacher subjectivity and pedagogy.

Indeed, the interviews conducted with all participating pre-service teachers at the conclusion of their teacher-education in Classmates highlighted and reinforced the many benefits to approaching professional experience in this way at the one site. These benefits, reported elsewhere (see Ferfolja, 2007; Ferfolja, 2008a), included but were not limited to the following:

* having time and space to experiment with, be exposed to, participate in, and reflect upon, a considerable range of professional duties, dealing with curriculum, programming, planning, delivery, pedagogy, assessment and examination

* reporting

* classroom management

* parent or community interactions

* extracurricular activities.

Furthermore, the duration on site meant that the participant became informed about their students and their learning needs by participating in committees and the school's life, and had formed meaningful, professional teacher-student relationships. These pre-service teachers claimed that they felt like they were really teachers, were positioned as such by school students and were considered colleague teachers, as opposed to 'prac students', by many of the staff. This accorded them status well beyond that of 'student teacher'.

Six months into their first year of full-time teaching, the Classmates graduates continued to report positively in relation to the impact and impetus that Classmates provided them in their new careers. It seems that for those re-interviewed, the initiative was still considered highly valuable in supporting the transition to teaching. For example, Tammy pointed out how her Classmates experience enabled her to develop meaningful and useful resources. She stated:

   The amount of face-to-face contact with the kids was fantastic. The
   fact that I got to teach whole units of work so when I am teaching
   those units now it is like a second time teaching them so it is
   like a second-year teaching experience, I guess.

Vana reflected similarly upon her experience and its impact on her transition:

   We got to do sports in Classmates, and I do it here. We had to
   write exams and if I hadn't done it in Classmates I would have
   found that very difficult. My [Classmates] supervising teacher also
   helped me a lot to write exams, just making things simple. Reports,
   I still find reporting hard but the first time I wrote reports
   [while in the Classmates initiative] my supervising teacher helped
   me a lot and it helped me to identify what I needed to write.

Undertaking a task for the second time usually makes the activity easier; it also means that there has been opportunity to reflect upon content and pedagogy and to refine it accordingly. For beginning teachers, having assumed these responsibilities as pre-service teachers meant that they were practised in the necessary skills while being closely supported by their supervising teacher. The binary--supervising teacher-pre-service teacher--and the dominant discourses constituting these subjectivities compel the supervisor to provide support: this is seen as their role. Simultaneously, the discourse of 'pre-service teacher' is one of learner; there is limited expectation that one is familiar with or knowledgeable about particular tasks. One is positioned as novice, despite one's life experience. Thus, having the opportunity to be introduced to and actively participate in a range of job-specific skills on practicum in a highly supported context can reduce the amount of new learning that one is required to do in the first year.

The interviewees felt that participation in Classmates had prepared them for the often-frantic pace at which many teachers work. This is interesting in light of the research of Ewing and Smith (2003) who found that adjusting to the demands of teaching was difficult for beginning teachers. Through Classmates, pre-service teachers gained a solid understanding of the load of teaching and good time-management skills--a benefit explained by Malcolm:

   Classmates gave you an opportunity to immerse yourself in the real
   existence of school, and even though the days were long ... you
   know, some of the classes we've had were intensives after school
   [i.e. practicum] ... It teaches you those juggling skills ... I
   still go home now and I prepare for the next day ... but that's
   what I was doing last year anyway [in Classmates], so I was just
   keeping up those good habits.

The continuous practicum enabled the pre-service teachers the time to assume the subject position of teacher. As Weedon (1987) points out, subjectivity is Making the transition into the first year of teaching 249 dynamic, unstable and contextually based, and it is constituted in discourse. As such, there is no single, essential teacher identity to which one aspires. Although the universal teacher identity does not exist per se, it could be argued that self-identification towards an undefinable, multiple 'concept' does. Thus, these pre-service teachers used their continuous practicum to construct a teaching subjectivity that will continue to change over time but that was adopted well before beginning formal teaching.

Developing as a teacher: The usefulness of continuity

Undertaking casual teaching placements in their host school served to further strengthen the abilities and confidence of the Classmates pre-service teachers. Several of them--at the completion of their degree in the final school term-found themselves, as beginning teachers, returning to classes that they had taught while on practicum. Malcolm, Vana and Rosie moved from casual positions to become temporary full-time appointments at the same site. The impact of this was considerable as it allowed these individuals to continue to build their knowledge in a familiar environment, rather than having to readjust to a different context. Vana's experience epitomised this:

   Being here is so easy because I did my practicum here and I was
   here for [Classmates] and I did casual work [afterwards]. The
   casual work did really set me up because I was given a teacher's
   role but it wasn't a full teacher's load. So I did reports but I
   didn't have to do it for everybody and I didn't have any senior
   classes ... This year has been really easy because I took on a
   larger load but I had already done a lot of it before, even what I
   did in practicum was a repetition ... My head teacher even trusted
   me to move out of the common so another casual can be in the common
   area and be supervised while I don't need to be supervised. My head
   teacher trusts me. I can manage my class.

Vana's comments highlight key issues about the usefulness of continuity from practicum to employment at the same site.

* The continuous Classmates practicum enabled Vana the time to develop and deliver a range of materials and pedagogical practices.

* Having experienced their full implementation, she could reuse and refine these resources and strategies in her casual teaching capacity, an opportunity reinforced by the fact that she had a reduced load during this time.

* By the time she began full-time teaching (and a full load), she had considerable resources and pedagogical experience and was working at the same site in which she had essentially blossomed from novice to beginning teacher.

* Her experience at the school with teaching, and with colleagues, meant that Vana was already deemed autonomous and not in need of close supervision.

In effect, Vana's learning to teach was a process of growth and development initiated during the continuous practicum with expectations and responsibilities progressively increased. By the time she assumed a full-time teaching role, she was familiar with the culture, structure and clientele of the school. She understood the context which is often problematic for beginning teachers. As Ewing and Smith (2003, p. 18) articulate, 'There is a limit to how much induction manuals can communicate about taken-for-granted norms and rituals that have grown up in a school or faculty communities'. For Vana, the transition to teaching was gradual and supported. This progression reduced the need for her to be under surveillance by her head teacher, making fewer demands on the head's time and energy. It also freed the head teacher to work with another novice who was totally new to the context.

Malcolm and Rosie also expressed the benefits of a similar transition situation.

Malcolm: Last year was such a tumultuous year of change ... within a year you go from student to student teacher to teacher, and that is a massive adjustment to make. And admittedly, I was thrown into a casual position here, and being thrown into a casual position full time at [X] can be quite daunting in its own right. And then to take on more responsibility because you are no longer considered a student. You are now considered an active full-time member of staff, that's quite amazing ... The confidence has been incredible.

Rosie: Being there [at the school] for two terms, it really set me up. I've learned about the kids and I've learned where they come from and their backgrounds. With prac, doing it in a school like this, you learn a lot quicker ... And with Classmates it allows you to go beyond the classroom, it allows you to look into things like the backgrounds of kids, where they're coming from, and [their] socio-economic background ... I think if I have to sum it up in a word--invaluable.

Vinka was in a different position from Vana, Malcolm or Rosie. She was happy that she had completed Classmates as her teacher-education preparation--stating that she would 'definitely recommend it', 'definitely do it again', and felt like she was prepared for teaching--but the impact was not as lasting. Vinka was not employed at her host school but took up a casual position at another site. The difference in experience contrasts with those above and highlights that the transition to teaching is more difficult when confronted with a new context.

   The Classmates program--initially being put in [X]--did open my
   eyes to what to expect and in the first couple of weeks I didn't
   think I would last, but being in [X] I was kind of prepared for
   this [Y school]. It just becomes a different feeling when you
   become totally responsible for the class yourself. When I was in
   the Classmates program I had a supervising teacher and the presence
   there would make the situation controllable. Here on your own is
   harder and nothing really prepares you for the reality of having to
   manage on your own a classroom full of students with behavioural
   problems.

Vinka, who was commended by her supervising teacher while on practicum as highly capable, was experiencing some difficulties in her first year at this new school. She could not use her practicum experience to cushion her transition to full-time employment. Although knowing what to expect of teaching, she was also required to negotiate the impact of a new job, including new students, program, structures, colleagues and context. She had to become accustomed to the unfamiliar, rather than concentrate on the object of teaching and growing her pedagogical skills. She expressed this frustration:

   The school has [discipline] strategies in place ... but it doesn't
   always work because there is so much [challenging behaviour] that
   it stops working ... You don't get the support personally ... I
   don't get any support from the head teacher. I don't think anyone
   here has the time to support you. The little free time they get
   they want to sit and have a coffee ... so basically it is up to you
   to deal with it. So I have taken it as a challenge ... I try many
   things and if I see a teacher disciplining someone and I think it
   works I try it myself. That is how I am learning. I don't think the
   head teacher has time to support you or any of the staff. If
   someone has got time aside they will help you but no-one has that
   time. You don't feel like asking. If you do ask you feel like you
   shouldn't. You can see they are busy and in the end you are
   expected to manage and sort it out yourself ... what I get here is
   that you are seen as a good teacher if the class is sitting down,
   no matter what they are doing but they are quiet.

Several issues arise from Vinka's experience. First, the support available to those participants who undertook their practicum in the same school in which they started teaching was not available in her situation. Vinka was largely left to her own devices in a very challenging environment. She also identified and experienced firsthand the discourse that pervades teaching: that is, that the 'good teacher' is someone who can 'control' the class despite the value of the learning (Robinson & Ferfolja, 2001). The dominance of this discourse and her recognition of it has discouraged her from seeking support, despite the importance of making beginning teachers feel like they 'belong' in a staffroom, where 'a spirit of collegiality and collaboration needs to be fostered' (Ewing & Smith, 2003, p. 18). Being employed as a beginning teacher, she has no history or rapport with the longer-term teachers on staff; neither have they the history of developing and nurturing her learning about teaching, making her location as a newly appointed and officially inexperienced teacher almost inconsequential. Recognition of her relative inexperience by her new colleagues, as well as their awareness to be patient and supportive, is not as pronounced as it may be for the likes of Malcolm, Vana and Rosie, who undertook their teacher preparation in the very staffroom in which they were beginning teachers. Although more research is required into this phenomenon, it is purported that there may be greater awareness and sense of responsibility and tolerance towards the beginning teacher who was known to the faculty as a pre-service teacher, and that, for beginning teachers newly appointed to a school, expectations and relationships may be different. Ewing and Smith (2003, p. 24) found that, despite the mandating of induction programs in New South Wales,' informal support ... was the most important form of induction for the large majority' of their respondents. To a large extent, this seems to be lacking in Vinka's situation.

In addition, beginning teachers have to negotiate their own subjective locations with those around them, a never-ending exercise. One cannot ignore the impact that gender, race, class, sexuality or ability and the various sociocultural discourses constituting them have on classroom dynamics and management. For instance, Robinson (2000) writes of the difficulties experienced by female teachers in relation to sexual harassment, and how masculine bodies and voices constitute dominant understandings of power and authority in schools, resulting in vastly different gendered workplace experiences. Ferfolja (2008b) illustrates how perceptions of gender and sexuality that transcend dominant understandings of 'acceptability' can result in harassment resulting in teacher stress or even resignation. One's subjectivity and how it is read and positioned by others cannot be divorced from the actions or experiences of the self. Moreover, if one is perceived to be different from the dominant sociocultural construction of 'normal', then there may be greater scrutiny on the individual, requiring considerable negotiations around identity, and having an impact on one's experience of being, and subjective location as, a teacher.

Benefiting from continuity: Teacher accreditation

As of 2006, all beginning teachers, or more correctly termed, new scheme teachers have been mandated to seek accreditation formally through the New South Wales Institute of Teachers, 'a statutory authority for the regulation and promotion of the teaching profession in NSW established under the Institute of Teachers Act 2004' (New South Wales Institute of Teachers, 2007).Amongst other measures, this requires the development of a teaching portfolio that provides evidence of a young teacher's acquisition of a series of professional teaching standards, accredited through the Teacher Accreditation Authority.

As a result of this new requirement, several of the Classmates graduates made the conscious decision to forgo offers of permanent placements in unknown schools and accepted temporary teaching jobs in their practicum schools. Vana chose this option because she wanted to complete her accreditation in a familiar context in which she felt comfortable, realising that the demands would be fewer than if starting her teaching career in a totally new environment. This enabled her to concentrate on her teaching.

   [Y school] put me in a temporary position this year. I actually got
   a permanent placing. I was offered a job at [X school] but [Y] had
   already asked me to fill in the position so I had a choice to make.
   I decided to stay in [Y] ... It was my first year. I wanted to
   get accreditation and get that out of the way so I decided to stay
   in [Y] for that reason.

The benefit of completing one's accreditation in a familiar context may well reduce the stress on the beginning teacher. As pointed out earlier, much of the teaching undertaken by the Classmates participants in their first year of teaching was based on their continuous practicum experience, meaning that in their first year of teaching they potentially had a reduction in lesson preparation times, opportunity for the further refinement and development of content, pedagogy and management, as well as working with students and colleagues with whom they had an established rapport. Indeed, further research is required that examines the learning and formal outputs of such new scheme teachers compared to those teaching for the first time in a new and alien context.

Conclusion: Considerations for smoothing the way

The current attrition rate of early career teachers is highly problematic, considering the impending teacher shortage, the wastage of teacher-education resources and the financial impact on young teachers who resign. This paper illustrates, although it can only partially do so, how a different conception of teacher education, such as Classmates, could assist the transition to beginning teacher. Classmates may provide a relatively cost-effective model that smoothes transition, particularly when coupled with a particular recruitment pathway: the provision of a well-supported, continuous practicum at the one school that operates in conjunction with academic studies is ideally followed by either casual employment or temporary or permanent full-time employment at this same site. It appears that this may tackle at least some of the issues faced by beginning teachers, although larger scale research is required. Such a pathway can assist in the adjustment to full-time teaching and its demands, builds peer and collegial networks, enhances pre-service teachers' understandings of the school culture and community, and provides beginning teachers with an understanding of the realities of teaching within a supportive and familiar environment. This recruitment pathway also has benefits for faculty staff, as the transition from pre-service teacher to beginning teacher has been developmental, starting at the inception of the student teacher's professional experience and effectively bridging the acquisition of teacher knowledge and the adoption of teacher subjectivity.

It is crucial to examine the long-term retention rates of teachers who have made the transition to teaching in this way, as well as the speed and success with which they adapt to the classroom and schooling environment. Undoubtedly, such research may point to critical lessons for recruitment policy and retention. Furthermore, the important but additional burden of accreditation for new scheme teachers in New South Wales also has implications for recruitment. For instance, is there merit in developing systems that recruit teachers in their inception year in the schools in which they have experience via a (preferably continuous) practicum so that they can undertake accreditation in a less stressful and meaningful way? These teachers could then receive a permanent public-sector placement once accredited.

Whatever the response, change that supports new teachers needs to be implemented on both the macro- and micro-level, with the provision of adequate government funding for the support of both pre-service and in-service teacher education, the development and maintenance of initiatives between universities and schools, and the expansion of mandated school-based beginning teacher programs. Moreover, site-based training needs to extend beyond beginning teachers; current school staffs need to be reminded about the difficulties and stresses experienced by many beginning teachers, while acknowledging the positive, invigorating impact that new recruits can have on a staffroom. Their commitment can be infectious.

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Tania Ferfolja

University of Western Sydney

Dr Tania Ferfolja is a Senior Lecturer in Social and Cultural Diversity in the School of Education at the University of Western Sydney. She is interested in a range of social justice issues pertaining to equity and education, including how pre-service teacher education prepares new teachers for diverse schools environments.

Email: ta.ferfolja@uws.edu.au