For Mentors

Background documents

• Key contacts to help you support your PST - Quick Contacts
• The shorthand - Terms and Acronyms
• Who is who  - Roles and Responsibilities in Professional Experience
• Intervention and Support - for PSTs and for Mentors

TQI Accredited Professional Learning

Mentoring a preservice teacher attracts up to 5 hours of TQI teacher identified professional learning. Please note this when you register your professional learning with TQI each and every time you mentor a UC preservice teacher.

Professional Experience (Placement) Reports

UC requires Mentors to complete reports for every Professional Experience Placement – an Interim Report is required for placements that are longer than 10 days and a Final Report is required for all placements– regardless of the level of placement (ie. Beginning, Intermediate or Final).

The Interim Report serves as a progress report allowing you, the PST and the Professional Experience Team at UC to understand the trajectory of the current placement and allows for remedial actions if necessary. The Final Report records the outcome of the placement.

Professional Experience (Placement) Reports are legal documents that exist for two reasons:

1. To provide a detailed and accurate representation of the preservice teacher’s placement.
2. Act as evidence of practicum days completed by the preservice teacher.

We are aware that there is a possibility for confusion to arise with the use of the term ‘Final’ to describe both a ‘Level of Placement’ and a ‘Type of Report’. We may change the nomenclature to avoid this in the future. In the meantime please note:

• Placement Levels: Beginning, Intermediate, Final
• Placement Reports: Interim, Final.

We provide the following examples to guide you in the completion of the Professional Experience (Placement) Reports.

• An Interim Report
• A Final Report - for an Intermediate Secondary Placement
• A Final Report - for a Final Primary Placement.

We have created a guide to the completion of the form you need to use to submit a report (whether an Interim or Final Report) and are always happy to help if there are any issues. Please click on the links below for the guide and the form itself. Contact us via email or phone to discuss (See Quick Contacts list above). Please note that the Report requires the use of a digital signature. This can be achieved, and the report completed, using the free Adobe Reader.

• Instructions for completing the 'Professional Experience Report'
• Professional Experience Report Template (Interactive PDF)

Mentor Teacher Payments

UC coordinates payments through the following payroll systems:

• ACT public schools - the ACT Shared Services payroll system
• NSW public schools - the EDConnect payroll system
• Catholic schools belonging to the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn - the Catholic Education Office payroll system
• Independent schools – the school’s finance and payroll team.

UC will provide reports to the School Professional Experience Coordinator (SPEC) at your school at the beginning of each term, for the previous term’s professional placements. It is important, to ensure timely payment of your mentor payments each term, that final reports and confirmation of the payment reports are provided to UC by the specified due dates. If a student has not submitted a final report, payment to you can still be made following the submission of a “Mentor teacher claim form”. Please do email peoffice@canberra.edu.au if you have any questions regarding this process.

• Mentor Teacher Claim form (Word doc)
• Mentor Teacher Claim form (PDF doc)

Providing feedback

Classroom observation is an essential element of PST mentoring. It is important for you as a Mentor to know what to observe, how to observe and how to record your observations. It is also an important technique that your PST will need to skillfully develop.

AITSL recognises this - AITSL introducing classroom observation (pdf)

Equally important is the skill of engaging in productive and professional conversation.

AITSL recognises this as well - AITSL_Ways of providing feedback (Word)

Recording your Observations

Below are 2 templates (Word Documents) that we believe provide a good basis for recording your observations. Other samples are provided in recognition that ‘one size does not fit all’.

• Template_Classroom Observation (Word doc)
• Template_Classroom Observation (pdf)
• Template_PCK Lesson observation (Word doc)
• Template_PCK Lesson observation(pdf)
• Sample_Observation template_Hunter’s lesson elements (pdf)
• Sample_Observation template_PCK (pdf)
• Sample_Observation template_Standards matrix (pdf)
• Sample_Lesson observation template_Learning in Action (pdf)
• Sample_Peer Observation template_Mt Stromlo High (pdf)
• Sample_Lesson Observation and T chart_courtesy of Mark Shiels (pdf)

Professional conversations

• Template_TQI UC_Professional Conversations (Word)
• Sample_CDU_preservice-teacher-feedback (pdf)

Lesson Plans

PSTs are expected to use the Lesson Plan Template linked here. The Lesson Plan can be modified by the PST to align with the requirements of the school, but should include certain elements including a reflection section. You can expect your PST to submit a conforming Lesson Plan to you. To help you anticipate what that is, we have annotated example Lessons Plans for:

• Primary Teachers
• Secondary Teachers.

PE Manual for PSTs

PSTs are provided a manual to guide them through the Professional Experience Placement process. It is updated every year. Here is a link to the latest - Professional Experience Manual.

Conflict of Interest for PSTs

When undertaking their Final Placement, PSTs are bound by UC’s Conflict of Interest Policy - Conflict of Interest Policy (pdf opens in a new tab).

In certain circumstances PSTs may apply for an Exemption to that Policy so that they can undertake their preferred Placement. The details and criteria are on the COI Exemption Request form (linked below). To apply for an Exemption, PSTs will need to complete the form and submit it a minimum of 10 weeks prior to the placement starting. The Form needs to be co-signed by the PST and either the School Principal or the School SPEC.

• Conflict of Interest Exemption Request form (pdf opens in a new tab)

Placement Locations for PSTs

The vast majority of Professional Experience placements for PSTs occur in the ACT and surrounding region. However, opportunities do arise for PSTs to undertake Placements further afield. To take advantage of this opportunity a PST preparing to undertake an Intermediate or Final level placement will need to complete the Online Form linked below. The details and criteria are on the form. The PST may need the help of the School Principal or Professional Experience co-ordinator for some aspects of the Form, particularly if there are specific pre-placement requirements at the school. The Form is provided for your reference and easy access by a PST.

• Professional Experience Outside of Canberra Region - Online form (Opens in a new tab)

PST Standards

Professional Engagement and Learning

PSTs:

• Attend meetings, duties, school activities and any opportunities for engagement with the broader school community
• Conduct themselves in a professional and ethical manner whilst in schools including seeking and using feedback on their performance
• Interact with teachers, students and the school community in an appropriate manner and comply with all relevant ethical and legal requirements
• Collect evidence of curriculum ideas, strategies, timetables, school policy documents, teaching resources, lesson plans, units of work and other relevant documentation to help them demonstrate their knowledge of the Australian Graduate Teaching Standards.

General Expectations

• It is expected that every teaching episode at all Placement levels has a lesson plan which we recommend is provided to the mentor 24 hours prior to the lesson taking place. We do understand this may not always be realistic, so we leave this up to the mentor to determine what they deem appropriate eg. the morning of. The bottom line for us is, no lesson plan = no teach. This would include if the lesson plan presented is not of an acceptable standard or if it has not been presented to the mentor within the timeframe required
• PSTs are involved in lesson planning and programming at UC. Our standard lesson plan template can be modified by the PST to align with the requirements of the school but a reflection section is expected
• On completing each lesson, we expect the PST to reflect on the lesson (plan and delivery) with their mentor and document their reflections so they can refer to them for future planning
• We expect the PST to be involved in regular debriefs with their mentor (verbal and/or written).
• At the midway point of a placement we ask that the mentor uses the placement report form to provide feedback against the Graduate Teacher Standards for their PST's level of placement. This is an opportunity for the mentor to more formally link current progress to these standards (can be done in dot points). This gives the PST a clear understanding of areas of strength at that point in time and areas which need further development.

Placements at many stages

Our PSTs undertake placements throughout their degree. The tasks required of their mentor vary depending on the unit the PST is doing. The relationship between PST and Mentor is critical to the success of the placement at every stage. To foster that relationship, it is important not only for the PST to understand the class, school and system they are working in but equally that Mentors understand the context of their PST’s placement.

Below, you will find information relating to each of the Units that have a Placement component. PSTs under your mentorship will be undertaking one of these units.

Please click on each of the headings below to learn more about:

• the knowledge the PSTs have
• previous units of study they may have completed
• and key areas of focus for the PSTs in each of the units.