Author Identifier

Madlen Griffiths: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2712-2767

Date of Award

2026

Keywords

Intial teacher education, supervision, professional experience

Document Type

Thesis

Publisher

Edith Cowan University

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Integrated)

School

School of Business and Law

First Supervisor

Denise Jackson

Second Supervisor

Michelle Striepe

Abstract

Initial Teacher Education professional experience is a valued component of teacher education courses, where preservice teachers can practise applying what they have learned at university in classroom settings. Key to these experiences are supervisors, who are employed by the university and support these aspiring teachers during their professional experiences. This supervisory role is complex, underrated, under-theorised and under researched. Consequently, this research sought to address this shortfall through an investigation into the perspectives of two of the major stakeholders in these experiences: the preservice teachers and the supervisors.

Adopting a social constructivist methodology, this research examined the stakeholders’ perceptions of the ways in which the supervisors contributed to the readiness of preservice teachers for the classroom. The perspectives were drawn from individual interviews with preservice teachers and supervisors to identify the contribution that supervisors make to preservice teacher learning. These interviews culminated in the development of a model of supervision that detailed the major tasks associated with the supervisory work. This model was used to inform focus group discussions with supervisors aimed at determining the factors that facilitated or impeded the effective execution of their work.

The findings highlighted the importance of the relationship, the meaningful application of teaching standards, support, structured feedback, timing and organisation. The findings also highlighted the interconnection between the supervisors and the mentor teachers who host the preservice teachers. The findings from the focus group discussions clarified this interconnectedness and emphasised the need to optimise the management of resource constraints, to better address the theory-practice divide, as well as to devote further research to supervisory pedagogy and the requirements for the professional development of supervisors.

This research offers significant insights into the perspectives of two of the major stakeholders in preservice teacher supervision and to how supervisors contribute to the education of future teachers. As a result, the important role of supervisors and the wide range of associated tasks are now more clearly understood. The study demonstrates a clear need to improve supervisors’ use of the teaching standards, which would enhance consistency in their assessment of preservice teachers. The findings also affirm the value of supervisors’ contribution to professional experience programs. Given the significant early career attrition rates in teaching, these results demonstrate that having well-prepared and well-supported supervisors can contribute to addressing this issue.

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Link to publisher version (DOI)

10.25958/5eh0-1019