Transitions into teaching for career-change professionals

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Deborah Kember
Faculty of Education, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane QLD

PP: 48 - 57

Abstract

This paper reports on a study that brings together two current issues in Australia. Firstly, the ongoing failure of information and communication technology (ICT) to bring about widespread pedagogical change, and secondly, the impact of record numbers of mature-aged professionals, seeking a career change into school teaching through one year graduate courses. In building on existing research that highlights the value of skills and experiences career-change teachers bring to the profession, this paper focuses on the ICT skills and perceptions of learning that career-change preservice teachers (N=64), undertaking a one year graduate diploma course, bring to the profession. The preliminary findings reported in this paper are part of research that examines the perceived barriers and enablers to transforming ICT skills, developed in the workplace, into digital pedagogies, considered in relation to the influence of the past professional experiences, present challenges and the uncertainty of the future. Survey data highlights the erroneous perception that operational ICT skills are all that is required to create contemporary ICT enhanced learning environments with students. The potential for further research into how skilled new entrants into the profession best work with current staff to develop teacher professional practices is also highlighted.

Keywords

ICT, career-change pre-service teachers, digital pedagogies

Article Text

The presence of ICT in schools has not resulted in any discernable change in learning experiences and pedagogy (Peck, Cuban & Kirkpatrick, 2002). However, rather than wonder how ICT should be impacting on pedagogy and learning Siemens (2002) invites us to consider how learning can influence the use of ICT. For teachers prepared to explore how the rapid evolution of information and communication technology (ICT) is changing what is learned and the way it is learned, learning is the focus not the tools. For some others, the rapid pace of change is testing what was previously a career long way of working, and is challenging long held beliefs about teaching and learning (Mishra & Koehler, 2006). Developing meaningful pedagogies that enable high quality learning outcomes through the integral use ICT is also an 49 issue recognised widely at policy level (see for example MCEETYA, 2005; DETA, 2006).

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