A university executive says some claims in an Education Review Office report stating two-thirds of principals reported teachers coming into their roles unprepared are "difficult to accept".
The ERO report found new teachers are not being set up to succeed and need more support. More than a quarter said their initial teacher education was ineffective.
According to Education Minister Erica Stanford the issue lay within inconsistent teacher training.
"I can walk into any school and they'll tell me where all the best graduates came from. They know," she told Newstalk ZB this morning.
"I don't place huge blame on those ITE [initial teacher education] providers - they are working in a system that is letting them down. The moderation of what they are to do, the teaching guidelines you need to get registered, all of the pieces of the puzzle that go together to tell what teacher education should be doing isn't as strong as it could be."
University of Canterbury (UC) executive dean of education, Professor Joce Nuttall told ZB Plus the sample size for the ERO report was so small, "it’s difficult to accept claims about the level of variation across the country".
"Just like schools, teacher education programmes differ according to size, the level of expertise of staff, the diversity of students and other important characteristics [which] affect the outcomes," said Nuttall.
The executive dean explained that initial teacher education, which includes the first two years of teaching, has well over 90% of beginning teachers recommended by their school for a full practising certificate at the end of the two-year period.
"This suggests the system is generally working well, with teacher education providers and schools each playing their part in supporting beginning teachers to become fully qualified," she said.
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Nuttall also pointed out that teacher graduates may not feel ready to teach but are very capable, meanwhile other graduates may feel capable but need considerable support.
She said this explained the 11% gap between 49% of beginning teachers feeling prepared and 60% of principals saying they are not prepared.
In her university's case, Nuttall said, all teacher education programmes are accredited by the Teaching Council under the same set of standards and regularly monitored and reviewed for quality assurance, including surveys of our graduates.
The courses include the number of in-school classroom days required by the Teaching Council to prepare graduates for the profession - a factor that ERO's Ruth Shinoda told Newstalk ZB may need to be evaluated.
Shinoda told NewstalkZB’s Mike Hosking Breakfast that in-classroom experience made a big difference to teachers feeling prepared. The more time spent in that classroom, the more likely the teacher felt prepared when they started in their new roles.
"We want to see more of that," said Shinoda.
Meanwhile, Nuttall said time in schools is half of the course for UC’s one-year graduate programmes.
"Judgments about whether teacher education students are successful on these placements are made collaboratively between UC and school personnel," said Nuttall.
The ERO report mirrors one published in 2017, when the Labour Government was first elected under Jacinda Ardern. Stanford said she had read the 2017 report and spoken with principals up and down the country.
"If you think about it, it says in this report the teachers don't have the skills or knowledge. Well, what are you supposed to be teaching? There is no [school] curriculum basically, so how do ITE providers know how to prepare teachers for a curriculum that doesn't exist?" she told Hosking.
Nuttall, however, pointed to the fact that ERO's findings are consistent "with decades of research" in teacher education, which shows beginning teachers experience transition shock in the move to full-time teaching.
She said research highlighted the need for beginning teachers to receive support and development around things like classroom behaviour management.
"This is to be expected since few schools allow student teachers to manage complex behavioural needs in placement classrooms," she said.
"At this stage there are no new teaching standards being proposed but, should they be introduced, UC will look forward to contributing to consultation and implementation of any changes to the Standards for the Teaching Profession."
Stanford said the Government would be focused on ITE preparedness standards this year - working with the Teacher Council and the providers to make sure they are strengthened.
The following year, things will be in place for moderating the providers.
"[We want to ensure] there is a consistent approach to what is being taught in teacher education, what's happening on placement and in their first two years on the job," said Stanford.
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