Specialisation in the primary education community

Kevin Sullivan, Susan Main
Edith Cowan University, Australia
Joseph J. Scott
University of Sunshine Coast, Australia, and Edith Cowan University, Australia
Kin Eng Chin
Murdoch University, Australia
Jason Boron, Matthew Byrne, Eibhlish O'Hara
Edith Cowan University, Australia
Elisabeth Taylor
The University of Notre Dame Australia, Australia
Rozita Dass, Kuki Singh, Helen Adam and Gail Berman
Edith Cowan University, Australia

Australian students' results in international assessments have led to considerable attention on teacher quality and, more specifically, on how well pre-service teachers (PSTs) are being prepared to teach. Acting on one of the recommendations in the Action Now, Classroom Ready Teachers Report (TEMAG, 2014), the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership updated Accreditation Standards and Procedures for Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programs to include primary specialisation into ITE courses (AITSL, 2017). The Australian Government's Next Steps report (2022) also identified the need to obtain data on the specialisation of ITE graduates to assist with issues of supply and demand. Our study was designed to increase knowledge of primary PSTs' perceptions of the primary specialisation program and explore reasons informing PSTs' specialisation choice. Data for this research project were gathered from PSTs undertaking ITE in a primary teaching course at an Australian University. A mixed methods approach, involving a questionnaire and small follow-up research focus group, was undertaken late in 2022. The data identify the perceptions of primary PSTs relating to their specialisation choices and the dominant factors that impact on these choices.
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Authors: Dr Kevin Sullivan (corresponding author), School of Education, Edith Cowan University, Western Australia, Australia. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4559-5170 Email: k.sullivan@ecu.edu.au Dr Susan Main, School of Education, Edith Cowan University, Western Australia, Australia. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5955-4222 Email: s.main@ecu.edu.au Dr Joseph J. Scott, School of Education and Tertiary Access, University of Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia; (Adjunct, School of Education, Edith Cowan University, Western Australia, Australia) ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5238-7460 Email: jscott4@usc.edu.au Dr Kin Eng Chin, School of Education, Murdoch University, Western Australia, Australia. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4947-2055 Email: kineng.chin@murdoch.edu.au Mr Jason Boron, School of Education, Edith Cowan University, Western Australia, Australia. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1069-4515 Email: j.boron@ecu.edu.au Dr Matthew Byrne, Edith Cowan University, School of Education, Western Australia, Australia. ORCID: https://orcid.org//0000-0001-7335-8001 Email: m.byrne@ecu.edu.au Dr Eibhlish O'Hara, Edith Cowan University, School of Education, Western Australia, Australia. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9093-2746 Email: e.ohara@ecu.edu.au Ms Elisabeth Taylor, School of Education, The University of Notre Dame Australia, Western Australia, Australia. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0328-0733 Email: elisabeth.taylor@nd.edu.au Dr Rozita Dass, School of Education, Edith Cowan University, Western Australia, Australia. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4693-0214 Email: r.dass@ecu.edu.au Dr Kuki Singh, Edith Cowan University, School of Education, Western Australia, Australia. ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0745-7041 Email: k.singh@ecu.edu.au Dr Helen Adam, School of Education, Edith Cowan University, Western Australia, Australia. ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3005-7142 Email: h.adam@ecu.edu.au Ms Gail Berman, School of Education, Edith Cowan University, Western Australia, Australia. ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3976-3219 Email: g.berman@ecu.edu.au Please cite as: Sullivan, K., Main, S., Scott, J., Chin, K., Boron, J., Byrne, M., O'Hara, E., Taylor, E., Dass, R., Singh, K., Adam, H. & Berman, G. (2025). Specialisation in the primary education community. Issues in Educational Research, 35(2), 779-797. http://www.iier.org.au/iier35/sullivan.pdf