‘We All Went in With an Open Mind’: Possibilities of Professional Experience as a Catalyst for Engaging with Graduate Standards - Strategies and outcomes

Oct 15, 2026

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Evolving educational discussions in Australia increasingly emphasize teachers’ capacity to engage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, driven by policy attention to achievement gaps and curriculum priorities. The paper examines how a pilot placement in an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander school community supports preservice teachers’ engagement with the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers graduate standards. Findings reveal the complexity of challenging existing social practices and developing critical dispositions through purposeful professional experience. Results also emphasize the value of decision-making capital and professional efficacy for building and refining professional knowledge.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages15

Reading Time38 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Literature Review

‘We All Went in With an Open Mind’: Possibilities of Professional Experience as a Catalyst for Engaging with Graduate Standards 1.4 & 2.4. Peta Salter James Cook University Abstract: Evolving discourses in Australia have resulted in an increasing focus on teachers’ abilities to engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. Political concerns with achievement gaps and national education policy that require teachers to engage with curriculum priorities and professional standards that focus on strategies for teaching and understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students have contributed to this move. This paper reports on efforts to develop preservice teachers’ engagement with the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers during professional experience in an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander school community. These findings highlight the complexity ofchallenging pre-existing social practices and the development of critical dispositions in preservice teachers, and the importance ofpurposeful professional experience as an opportunity for preservice teachers to construct and refine their professional knowledge through application and experience. Introduction Evolving discourses in Australia have resulted in an increasing focus on teachers’abilities to engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 1 students. Political concerns with achievement gaps and national education policy that require teachers to engage with curriculum priorities and professional standards that focus on strategies for teaching and understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students have contributed to this move. In Initial Teacher Education (ITE), there is a need to assure preservice teachers (PSTs) achievement of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) graduate standards; 1.4 Strategies for teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, and 2.4 Understand and respect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to promote reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. This sits in tension with the complex terrain of deficit positioning of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and cultures in education policy and systems. As Moreton-Robinson, Singh, Kolopenuk and Robinson (2012) note, there is often a separation and imbalance between Indigenous content and the transfer of effective teaching skills in ITE, and a paucity of literature analysing the impact of racism on Indigenous educational outcomes. There are consistent calls for a‘circuit breaker’ in ITE to realise the full potential of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education (Ma Rhea, Anderson & Atkinson, 2012; McLaughlin et al., 2013; Moreton- 1 Drawing from AIATSIS, I acknowledge that while there is a growing preference for the term First Nations Australians, in this context, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is the grouping of terms commonly associated with the graduate standards and two very distinct groups, though does not differentiate the different nations and diversity that broadly align which each group. The term Indigenous is included in the case study in verbatim from participants. Robinson et al., 2012) . In support of shifting discourses, Ma Rhea, Anderson and Atkinson (2012) found that affirming of PST agency through successful teaching practicum experiences supports development of Indigenous knowledges and perspectives in curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment. This paper reports on a study that facilitated and supported PSTs to undertake professional experience in a partner school that identified high numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student enrolments and strong links to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. These placements were offered in response to findings from previous research at the institution and which resonate elsewhere (Hudson et al., 2016, O’Keefe, Paige & Osborne, 2019), that while PSTs are often confident wi

FAQs

What central policy and educational concerns motivate the study?

Political concerns over achievement gaps and national education policy require teachers to engage curriculum priorities and professional standards focused on teaching and understanding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.

How does the paper connect professional experience with the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers?

The study supports preservice teachers to undertake professional experience in an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander school community, examining how experiences relate to graduate standards—specifically 1.4 and 2.4.

What do the findings highlight about preservice teachers and placements?

The findings emphasize the complexity of challenging pre-existing social practices and the development of critical dispositions, showing that purposeful professional experience helps preservice teachers construct and refine professional knowledge through application and experience.

Oct 15, 2026

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