Success in Professional Experience Building Relationships

Success in Professional Experience has been specifically designed to assist pre-service teachers on their journey to become successful learners and teachers during the practicum component of their degree. The authors present ideas on how to develop fundamental knowledge, skills and competencies, which help to build meaningful and sustainable relationships within educational communities. Each chapter explores a different area of professional experience, including observations, expectations, mentoring, reflective practice and portfolios. There are specific chapters on areas that students often find the most challenging such as: classroom management, ethics and working with diverse student populations, as well as a chapter catering for pre-service teachers coming from a non-English speaking background. Success in Professional Experience is suitable for early childhood, primary and secondary contexts and addresses the learning needs of on-campus and distance education students. It is also a useful guide for the university liaison staff and school based mentors of pre-service teachers.

1. Introduction; 2. Ethical considerations; 3. Expectations; 4. Observations; 5. Classroom management; 6. Mentoring and reflective practice; 7. Portfolios and reflective practice; 8. Building relationships for working with Indigenous students; 9. Building relationships for working with highly able/gifted students; 10. Pre-service teachers from a non-English speaking background; 11. Conclusion.

Michael Dyson is a Senior Lecturer and the Deputy Head of School in the Faculty of Education and Arts at Federation University.
Margaret Plunkett is an Associate Professor and Associate Dean (Learning and Teaching) in the Faculty of Education and Arts, Federation University.
Kerryn McCluskey is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Education, The University of Queensland.