Education Professional Experience Handbook
This handbook provides guidelines and procedures for University students enrolled in School of Education professional experience courses, and who have been allocated a placement Site (classified as a school or early childhood centre) by the Professional Experience Unit (PEU) via the SONIAOnline platform. This information is available for Teacher Education Students (TES), Supervising Teachers (ST), Site Placement Coordinator (SPC) or Tertiary Supervisor (TS) to gain an understanding of the c Professional Experience placement.
Further resources are available at the following:
- The School of Education, PEU website for further information about professional experience requirements, placement dates, resources, FAQs and links to the SONIA placement system
- The University of Newcastle Student Professional Experience Policy
- The University of Newcastle Code of Ethical Academic Conduct Policy
KEY CONTACT INFORMATION
Professional Experience Convenor
Associate Professor Debra Donnelly
Telephone: 02 4921 6231
Email: debra.donnelly@newcastle.edu.au
Waiver B Coordinator
Dr Tracey Kelty
Telephone: 02 4921 6227
Email: Tracey.Kelty@newcastle.edu.au
Professional Experience
Telephone: 02 4055 5504
Email: peu@newcastle.edu.au
Reporting Documentation
The foundation of the documentation for reporting on students Professional Experience is the National Standards and Guidelines for Initial Teacher Education (February 1998) and Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. Links to these documents can be found on the SONIAOnline Home page.
Teacher education is a life-long process from preservice education through induction and into continuing professional development and learning. As such, teacher education is a responsibility of all educational practitioners. Therefore, the quality of partnerships between the School of Education at The University of Newcastle and schools and services is fundamental to the success of our initial teacher education programs. The School of Education is committed to developing strategies which facilitate these partnerships.
Initial teacher education programs at The University of Newcastle aim to equip TES with the skills and dispositions at graduate teacher level of the Professional Standards, to enable them to teach effectively, to analyse their own teaching and to develop professionally throughout their teacher education programs and in the future. To achieve this aim, TES are supported to become reflective decision-makers as well as skilled practitioners. The best teachers understand that decisions made concerning such processes as instruction and management are made in the complex context of educational settings and that implications of such decisions go far beyond their own setting.
Field experiences must be more than practice without reflection, rules without understanding. They should provide opportunities for TES to inquire, to experiment, and reflect on the subtleties and complexities of the classroom, including the moral as well as technical dimensions of teaching. The learning, both formal and informal, which occurs in schools and other settings will be a central concern in all field experiences. Those things that TES learn through school placement can only be learnt in field contexts.
The professional experience component of the teacher education program represents an important opportunity for the TES to engage in new learning and to develop aspects of the Teaching Standards which are best learnt in the workplace.
Each program will have its own sequence and focus of professional experience units and the courses must be done sequentially. To view program’s professional experience sequence, visit the PEU website.
Student Eligibility for Placement
Each student enrolled in a professional experience course is asked to provide mandatory and other documentation requirements to be eligible to proceed into the community on placement. Students are asked to comply with NSW Department of Education Pre-Service Teacher requisites to be eligible for a placement opportunity. Only students who are fully compliant will be provided an opportunity for placement. Students are required to ensure their compliance is current and valid for the term of the program’s professional experience sequence.
The University of Newcastle acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands within our footprint areas: Awabakal, Darkinjung, Biripai, Worimi, Wonnarua, and Eora Nations. We also pay respect to the wisdom of our Elders past and present.