Globalisation, Education and Policy Research: Workforce Demands and the Struggle for Qualified Teachers

Perhaps it is time to consider a new direction for teacher preparation programs and for universities to qualify teachers capable of teaching across educational divisions This chapter presents data from a study that tracked graduates with a F—12 post-graduate teacher qualification from an Australian university into their first year of teaching. The results indicate that these graduates are teaching in a range of school contexts, are teaching various stages of schooling, represent flexibility in employment, modelling the diversity of opportunity this type of qualification offers. Graduates were considered well prepared for the classroom context in which they were employed. Foundation to Year 12 qualifications have existed for some time, even though the total offered across the tertiary sector is small in number (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, 2023). This approach to teacher preparation could be a positive step towards addressing the issues associated with out-of-field teaching.