TANIA ASPLAND
Professor Tania Aspland is currently Dean and Professor Education Policy and Strategy, at Australian Catholic University. She has been re-elected for a third term as President of the Australian Deans of Education Council 2018-2020. Previously she was Executive Dean of the Faculty of Education and Arts at ACU and before that Professor and Dean of Education at the University of Adelaide. She has been a leader of learning and teaching and curriculum development in higher education and teacher education for many years. Tania Aspland has developed an international reputation for community capacity building in Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Hong Kong, The Philippines, and Vietnam. She has evidenced-based success with action learning as a project-based learning strategy in developing countries. She has also instigated new models of work-integrated learning within schools and universities, to support the process of curriculum development and leadership. The building of a professional portfolio, the centrality of professional attributes, an investigative orientation to learning and a process of student self-auditing are key innovations that are central to the programs.
The centrality of practice wisdom in teacher formation: Leading reform in work integrated learning in universities and educational learning organisations
In the contemporary critique of university graduates in Australia, it has become evident that employers in all disciplines are expecting “work ready” students. As such, the positioning of work integrated learning (WIL) as central to university professional preparation programs is becoming a priority and the scope for WIL experience in university programs is expanding (Garnett, 2012; Billet, 2011). WIL has become an integral part of the many university strategic plans and is increasingly highlighted in national agendas concerning the professions from political, educational and vocational perspectives. It is clear from the literature that WIL policies in particular respond to specific institutional and local needs, specific priorities and operational plans around learning and teaching, community engagement and research and that there is increased institutional involvement in work integrated learning from both a research and practice perspective.
In initial teacher education, WIL is no longer just about placements. It is timely that the historical policies and practices that focus on technical rationalism (practicum placements, practicum payments and assessments, theory practice divide) are challenged and put to bed. New models of WIL need to be conceptualised to value the complex interplay and integration of moral reasoning and cognitive knowledge, the agential nature of teachers’ professional knowledge, the interactive process of knowledge generation and practice wisdom (Cheung 2016) in the teaching profession and the fluid status of professional knowledge and deliberate practices as enacted by expert teachers (Ericsson 2006, Cheung, 2015). This paper will purport that such a new model is vital if university based initial teacher education is to be respected by and with teaching partners and experts in the field.
Research findings will be presented to support a newly conceptualised approach to WIL, based on the integration of practice wisdom, deliberate practice, moral reasoning and knowledge generation, that addresses the long-term problem of the theory practice binary inherent in traditional models of “practicum”. Strategies for moving forward through shared leadership across universities, schools, early learning centres and unions will be offered to the participants for discussion.