Country practice
by Kelly Stone
Student teachers from the city are being given a first-hand insight into a teaching career in the country, thanks to UniSA’s School of Education Professional Experience program.
For two weeks in June, 55 education students are spending two weeks in country schools in Whyalla, Mount Gambier and Ernabella.
Professional Experience Coordinator Briony Carter said due to the overwhelming support of country communities, the initiative is being offered for the second year in a row.
"It’s all about helping to take students who wouldn’t normally do a regional placement, and giving them the ability to experience what it’s like to live and work in a country community," she said.
"Professional Experience placements are developed in partnership with the regional communities. We work with stakeholders in the public schools sector, the Catholic sector, and with councils, economic development boards and clubs like Rotary.
"We hope that providing an early placement for these pre-service teachers will help them make an informed decision about future employment."
The Professional Experience program was run in Whyalla for the first time in 2008. Twenty-six students spent two weeks working in Whyalla schools and living in accommodation at UniSA’s Centre for Regional Engagement.
Associate Dean of Teaching and Learning, Dr Faye McCallum, said a wellbeing framework supported the student teachers during the Whyalla experience to ensure they had strategies to help them settle into regional SA.
"It can be very challenging for the city pre-service teachers to go on a regional placement," she said. "We hope the framework – which covers physical and mental health and wellbeing - becomes embedded in their overall lifestyle and life choices as they head into the teaching profession. This will enable them to cope better with the demands of their teaching career."
Dr McCallum said living in shared flats on campus helped students’ emotional wellbeing because they could share their experiences each night.
The success of the initiative has seen it continued in 2009 and extended to include Mount Gambier and Ernabella.
Dr McCallum said it was pleasing for UniSA as well as the regional communities involved, to be introducing a new group of professionals to the country.
"We’re letting them look at employment options and lifestyle choices that will help them to live, work and relocate if they choose," she said.
Briony Carter said the country communities welcomed Professional Experience.
"They’re getting new blood to their school and the community," she said. "You still get teachers who grow up in the country doing their training in the city and then returning and we support that, but they’d have that regardless…we’re actually introducing a new group of professionals to these communities."
Nicole Brown and Edward Simpson are two students undertaking a postgraduate degree in primary/middle education who went to Whyalla in 2008.
Simpson said he had no intention of teaching in the country before going to Whyalla last year.
"I had assumed that doing a practical in the country would set you up for a tough run, but in terms of easing you into teaching, the Whyalla experience couldn’t have been better," he said.
Meanwhile Brown enjoyed the Whyalla experience so much she is currently completing her final practicum placement at Harvest Christian School in Kadina.
"I really enjoyed my experience in Whyalla," she said. "I was given the opportunity to observe and teach a variety of subjects across grades four to seven.
"I also believe that sharing my experience with 20 fellow student teachers gave me the opportunity to reflect and evaluate more effectively because we were all experiencing the same things and could support each other," she said.
"The Whyalla professional experience reaffirmed my intentions of one day teaching in a regional area and has prepared me for my final placement."
During her final placement she has been teaching across grades three to ten and in her area of specialisation – health and physical education.
"I’d encourage other students specialising in physical education to experi-ence at least one practicum in a regional setting because the students are very active and love their sport, so there is plenty of opportunity to use those skills."