Learning to teach: An internship

This study examined "internships", in order to foster and facilitate their development in schools in an Australian context. Specifically, it explored an introductory program of internship called practernship, generated at the Queensland University of Technology. Practernship is the name applied to the particular period of ten weeks that the participants spent at one Brisbane school, in the final year of their undergraduate preparation.

Essentially, -there were two levels of research. First, the narrative of the university-based teacher educator's facilitation of the practemship; and second, the case studies of the partnership of the preservice teachers and school-based teacher educators.

In the first instance, the research explored and refined the model proposed for practernship by reviewing the literature on internship, professional development, learning to teach, and supervision. It ascertained the partnership arrangements that facilitate effective micro-level development and made recommendations to foster the ongoing professional development of the preservice teachers, the school-based teacher educators and the university-based teacher educators.

In the second instance, the research focussed on the implementation and exploration of the professional partnership between the six preservice teachers and their respective school-based teacher educators during the practemship; it evaluated the practemship in terms of, (I) the learning outcomes of the preservice teachers that emerged during the practemship and, (ii) its impact on the participating school-based teacher educators; and, it identified the key issues that contribute to, or hinder, the achievement of the desired outcomes for both preservice teachers and school-based teacher educators so that recommendations could be made for the future.

In doing this the study tested, through the practernship, the validity of the posited principles of internship in an Australian context. These principles, which should be regarded as linked to the each other, are collaboration rather than separation, horizontal partnership rather than hierarchical supervision, critical reflectivity rather than self evaluation, professional development rather than preservice teachers' development, tripartite focus rather than a singular class focus, and holistic experience rather than fragmented experiences.

The principles were tested, within the framework of the practemship, to detect if they provided a basis for investigating how to achieve the goals and outcomes. The significance of the attainment of these goals/outcomes meant that the implementation of the practernship was monitored so that teachers' professional development could be interpreted through the lenses ofleaming to teach and supervision.

VI In doing this, the study clarified theories of practice regarding professional development, learning to teach and supervision, within the context of professional collaboration and school-based development sessions.

The practernship provided parameters of partnership arrangements to be made by both schools and universities. It detailed the extent of the collaboration, not only between system interests but also at the preservice teacher/school-based teacher educator/university-based teacher educator level.

The study adds to an emerging literature on internships and the working relationships in the participating dyads in the classroom.