What happens when high school students who aspire to become teachers learn side-by-side with preservice teachers at university?
On Friday, the 28th of April, such an opportunity unfolded as talented students from Years 10, 11 and 12 from Macquarie Fields High School Future Teachers Club visited UTS for an introduction to university life workshop. They also participated in a Professional Learning tutorial with UTS preservice teachers, as a part of their Master of Teaching in Secondary Education course.
Image credit Joanne Yoo
The day started with an academic workshop hosted by Dr Joanne Yoo and Dr Pauline Kohlhoff, where students were introduced to life at university and academic writing. Students learned to source academic references and evidence. They reflected on their skillset as they began considering what university courses were right for them. Mr Anthony Kallegeros, a preservice teacher in the first year of his MTeach, spoke about his experience at UTS. He emphasised that the university experience is drastically different from high school as there is a greater need for self-sufficiency. He shared his experiences in his previous career and his motivation to become a secondary school teacher.
After this first workshop, the students met UTS pre-service teachers in an interactive Professional Learning tutorial. The highly motivated Future Teachers Club members became the ‘Principal’ for the day and performed a mock job interview of the pre-service teachers. Their carefully designed questions helped our preservice teachers think critically about the future educators needed for their school.
Image credit to Joanne Yoo
The UTS preservice teachers could also act as social scientists and develop greater insight into the challenges, joys and questions facing current adolescents by interviewing the high school students.
This was my favourite because me and my partner got to ask the pre-service teachers why they chose teaching and some of the answers were really inspirational.
This mutually beneficial day gave our pre-service teachers insights into the life of an adolescent learner and the qualities they would like to see in future teachers. Macquarie Fields High School students could also get a glimpse of post-high school life and university expectations!
So, what happens when future teachers from both high school and university come together to learn? Learning is abundantly enriched as it is based on authentic and practical experience.
We hope to create many more such collaborations in the future, and to see some familiar faces on our campus in 2024 and beyond!