Professional experience in initial teacher education: Integrating standards, supervisors and mentor teachers

Madlen Griffiths and Mandie Shean
Edith Cowan University, Australia

Professional experience is the training ground for preservice teachers, where they apply what they have learned at university, in the reality of the classroom setting. Our article investigates the contribution of university supervisors to preservice teacher learning, from the perspective of both groups. This qualitative study gathered data from interviews with 28 preservice teachers and supervisors. Findings highlighted the complexity of the task assigned to supervisors, and the distinctive role that they play in the preservice teachers' learning. This study offers a model of supervision drawn from the voices of these two key stakeholders that is underpinned by theory and the national, prescribed standards for teaching, and which articulates the individual tasks of supervision and the interrelated nature of the work with each of these stakeholders.
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Authors: Ms Madlen Griffiths (Edith Cowan University, Australia) is a PhD candidate at Edith Cowan University Western Australia. She worked in professional experience for a number of years, developing a keen interest in initial teacher education professional experience supervision and mentoring. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2712-2767 Email: madlencbgriffiths@gmail.com Dr Mandie Shean (Edith Cowan University, Australia) has completed a BA in Education (Primary), BA with First Class Honours (Psychology), and MA and PhD in Community Psychology at Edith Cowan University, Western Australia. She has worked as a teacher, school psychologist, and lecturer. Her current role is College Psychologist with a focus on creating healthy systems for wellbeing. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2744-9222 Email: m.shean@ecu.edu.au Please cite as: Griffiths, M. & Shean, M. (2025). Professional experience in initial teacher education: Integrating standards, supervisors and mentor teachers. Issues in Educational Research, 35(4), 1529-1548. http://www.iier.org.au/iier35/griffiths.pdf