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Effective placements depend on purposeful, continuous mentoring by experienced mentor teachers. In Australia, mentor teacher participation is voluntary, requiring teachers to opt in. This study analyzes placement data from 2016 to 2021, revealing a significant decline in mentor teacher participation and engagement, alongside reduced school involvement and an overdependence on a shrinking segment of the teaching workforce.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/changes-in-mentor-teacher-participation-in-postgraduate-secondary-initial-teacher-education-climatic-conditions-preceding-workforce-reform-article-6/594313/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/changes-in-mentor-teacher-participation-in-postgraduate-secondary-initial-teacher-education-climatic-conditions-preceding-workforce-reform-article-6/594313.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Kurz","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-27","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":29},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"Why are professional experience placements important in initial teacher education?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"They help pre-service teachers connect expanding knowledge to teaching practice. When well supported, placements build practical competence through guidance and observation.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What makes mentor teacher participation in Australia different?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Participation and engagement are voluntary. The system depends on mentor teachers opting in to provide mentoring.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What did the five-year placement data reveal about mentor teacher participation?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Across the period to 2021, participation changed significantly, showing a dwindling number of mentor teachers engaged in placement activity, along with declining school and mentor teacher participation rates.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},594313,1792167325,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":29,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145},2336478945635,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8","Australian Journal of Teacher Education  \n\n| Volume 50  Issue 2 | Article 6 |\n| --- | --- |\n| 2025\u003Cbr>Changes in Mentor Teacher Participation in Postgraduate Secondary Initial Teacher Education: Climatic Conditions Preceding Workforce Reform.\u003Cbr>Alison L. Hilton\u003Cbr>Murdoch University, Australia\u003Cbr>Chad Morrison\u003Cbr>Murdoch University, Australia\u003Cbr>Felicity I. McLure\u003Cbr>Charles Darwin University, Alice Springs\u003Cbr>Kathryn G. Dehle\u003Cbr>Murdoch University, Australia\u003Cbr>Sandi Fielder\u003Cbr>Murdoch University, Australia\u003Cbr>Follow this and additional works at: [https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte](https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte)\u003Cbr> Part of the Higher Education and Teaching Commons, Other Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons, Secondary Education Commons, and the Secondary Education and Teaching Commons |  |\n\nRecommended Citation  \nHilton, A. L., Morrison, C., McLure, F. I., Dehle, K. G., & Fielder, S. (2025) . Changes in Mentor Teacher Participation in Postgraduate Secondary Initial Teacher Education: Climatic Conditions Preceding Workforce Reform.. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 50(2) . [https://doi.org/10.14221/](https://doi.org/10.14221/)[ ](https://doi.org/10.14221/)1835-517X.6623  \nThis Journal Article is posted at Research Online.  \n[https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol50/iss2/6](https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol50/iss2/6)  \nChanges in Mentor Teacher Participation in Postgraduate Secondary Initial Teacher Education: Climatic Conditions Preceding Workforce  \nReform  \nAlison L. Hilton  \nChad Morrison  \nMurdoch University  \nFelicity I. McClure  \nCharles Darwin University  \nKathryn Dehle  \nSandi Fielder  \nMurdoch University  \nAbstract: Professional Experience placements provide invaluable  \nopportunities for pre-service teachers to connect their expanding knowledge to teaching practice. When done well, these experiences are underpinned by purposeful and continuous guidance from  \nexperienced mentor teachers. Significantly, the participation and engagement of Australian mentor teachers in this process is voluntary in nature, meaning the system relies on teachers ‘opting-in’ to  \nmentoring. This research examines mentor teacher participation  \nwithin Secondary-level initial teacher education courses and highlights issues relating to overall mentor teacher (and host school) engagement. Analysis ofplacement data over a five-year period to 2021 illustrates a significant change in participation with a dwindling number of mentor teachers participating in placement activity. Other insights include a declining rate of school and mentor teacher  \nparticipation and an over-reliance on a portion ofthe teaching workforce to sustain these preparatory experiences. These findings highlight structural and systematic gaps negatively impacting on the delivery and quality of initial teacher education, which in turn have broad implications for the current national workforce shortage in  \nSecondary teaching.  \nKeywords: initial teacher education; professional experience; work integrated learning; teacher preparation; secondary teaching; mentor teachers  \nIntroduction  \nThe complex relationship between theory and practice within initial teacher education (ITE) receives a great deal of political attention within the Australian context. Successive Federal Government Ministers of Education have emphasised their desire to see graduate teachers become “classroom ready”(Department of Education and Training, 2015) through increased capacity in the practical aspects of teaching. This position has been reflected in the recommendations of the Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group (TEMAG) Review of initial teacher education (Craven et al., 2014) and the Quality Initial Teacher Education  \n(QITE) Review (Department of Education Skills and Employment, 2021) . Inherent within this discourse is the need for pre-service teachers (PSTs) to engage in early, frequent and substantial Professional Experience placements (practicum) throughout their ITE courses. A prac","cbCaifsAVSEK1bWZ","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaifsAVSEK1bWZ","pdf",305490,21,"English","# Introduction\n## Professional experience placements within ITE\n## Mentor teacher participation and engagement\n## Research focus and data overview","[{\"question\":\"Why are professional experience placements important in initial teacher education?\",\"answer\":\"They help pre-service teachers connect expanding knowledge to teaching practice. When well supported, placements build practical competence through guidance and observation.\"},{\"question\":\"What makes mentor teacher participation in Australia different?\",\"answer\":\"Participation and engagement are voluntary. The system depends on mentor teachers opting in to provide mentoring.\"},{\"question\":\"What did the five-year placement data reveal about mentor teacher participation?\",\"answer\":\"Across the period to 2021, participation changed significantly, showing a dwindling number of mentor teachers engaged in placement activity, along with declining school and mentor teacher participation rates.\"}]","Changes in Mentor Teacher Participation in Postgraduate Secondary Initial Teacher Education: Climatic Conditions Preceding Workforce Reform - Article 6 | PDF",1792078925,53]