Australia is in the grip of a national teacher workforce crisis, and it doesn’t help that around half of all students who start an education degree don’t finish it.
New research led by Dr Kylie Murphy, Senior Lecturer in Educational Psychology and Pedagogy at La Trobe University, suggests part of the solution lies in improving how student teachers experience placements.
Her team’s study found that placing pre-service teachers in group placements can significantly reduce stress and enhance their professional learning.
“Stressful student placement experiences are a major factor in preservice teacher attrition,” she explains. “High student stress levels are concerning not just because it can mean we lose potentially great future teachers due to course drop-out, but because we know that stress and learning don't mix.”
“Our research found that when placements involve opportunities for preservice teachers to exchange practical and emotional support, to learn vicariously from each other, and to teach and reflect collaboratively, their professional learning is optimised.”
She adds that the findings strengthen the School of Education’s determination to keep growing its Cohort Professional Experience Model, in which students are placed with other pre-service teachers in one school simultaneously.
“More importantly, our study put a spotlight on key mechanisms that need to be operating during group placements in order to yield the fullest possible benefits for professional learning.”
