Teacher education: What Australian Christian schools need and what higher education delivers

Abstract

The intersection between schools and the higher education institutions that prepare graduates for teaching in schools is driven by secular agendas. These agendas showcase knowledge transfer as a key indicator of effective learning and teaching. However, the preparation of graduate teachers for service in Christian schooling systems cannot be limited to an exclusive focus that places emphasis on knowledge transfer as a means to an end. Employers of teachers for Christian educational contexts, including Catholic education, desire teachers who are competent in their discipline area(s) and are able to draw confidently upon their Christian beliefs and values in a way that informs their professional work as educators. This article proposes that the intersection between higher education and schools needs to be navigated more effectively in the preparation of teachers for Christian schooling systems who are responsible for approximately one-third of the student population in Australia. The role of the teacher in Christian educational contexts is explored, drawing on practical theological insights into the teacher as Christian witness. Secular perspectives on effective teaching and learning in higher education teacher training courses are considered in the light of teacher preparation for Christian schooling systems. Approaches to teaching and providing opportunities for students to belong to a community in learning, as well as planning time for students to critically reflect on learning, are proposed as possible examples of how to help prepare teachers for service in Christian schooling systems.

Online Instrument of Elementary School Teacher’s Perfomance Assessment

“…Christian teacher must realize that serving as teacher is a gift. Student is God's gift that must be loved and nurtured (Buchanan, 2020;Debora & Han, 2020). Teacher must respect every student's character.…”

“…The problem in SD Kristen 03 Eben Haezer and SD Kristen 04 Eben Haezer was that the assessment of teacher's performance only used the instrument from the government, which covered 4 teacher competencies. As a Christian private school, teachers had specific main job and function in accordance with the mission and vision of the Eben Haezer foundation Christian teacher had role and responsibility to build the character of students through Christian education (Buchanan, 2020;Debora & Han, 2020). An instrument of task-based teacher's performance assessment was made, for the teachers in SD Kristen 03 Eben Haezer and SD Kristen 04 Eben Haezer, to help teachers in doing their job and maximally.…”

“…The core job s and function of teachers in Sekolah Dasar Kristen 03 Eben Haezer and Sekolah Dasar 04 Eben Haezer are as faith servant, spiritual leader, bible role model, academic leader, mentor and character educator. It was in line said that Christian teacher was a calling for those who believed in Christ to know and imitate Him (Buchanan, 2020;Simanjuntak, 2020).…”

Implementation of Content Mastery Services in Overcoming Problems of Student Learning Difficulties

“…It is what causes teachers to be able to pack learning materials well so that students can understand learning materials well. Learning materials occupy a very important position in the entire curriculum, which must be prepared so that the implementation of learning can achieve the target (Buchanan, 2020;Kagema & Irungu, 2018;Tsai et al, 2020;Van Driel et al, 2018). Students must achieve these targets by the Competency Standards and Basic Competencies.…”

Pengembangan E-Module Berbasis Aplikasi Android Mata Kuliah Listrik dan Elektronika

“…In the learning process, the figure that plays an important role is the learner. The teacher's presence is intended to encourage students to be willing and able to learn optimally (Buchanan, 2020;Goodwin et al, 2016).…”