In Europe, as in many countries, the transition from Initial Teacher Education (ITE) to the first year of teaching remains problematic. In particular, the time spent in schools has been described as a ‘wicked problem’ (Southgate, Reynolds, & Howley, 2013) at a time when much policy internationally advocates that ITE students spend increased time in schools (Hagger & McIntyre, 2006; Hennissen, Crasborn, Brouwer, Korthagen, & Bergen, 2011; Korthagen, 2004; OECD, Co-operation, & Development, 2005). Researchers note a lack of clarity about the roles of mentor teachers (Hamel & Jaasko-Fisher, 2011), and report there are lost opportunities for learning, particularly with regard to pedagogy (Valencia, Martin, Place, & Grossman, 2009). Teachers generally appear to interpret their role as nurturers (Hennissen et al., 2011) providing emotional support rather than focus on pedagogy. For some time it has been noted that teachers often do not see themselves as school-based teacher educators (Feiman-Nemser, 1998; Yendol-Hoppey, 2007). The views of the teachers themselves on how ITE time in schools might be used to more intentionally support the transition of ITE students into full time teaching is noted as a gap in the literature (Cochran-Smith & Zeichner, 2010; Feiman-Nemser, 1998; Hagger & McIntyre, 2006; Yendol-Hoppey, 2007; Zeichner, 2010), and is addressed by this research.

This paper investigates how school-based ITE student mentors perceive ‘intention’ in their role in the preparation of beginning teachers in order to facilitate an effective transition into their first year of teaching. The context for the investigation is a partnership between an Australian Department of Education and a University that focused on an intensive school placement program from 2009 to 2013. Teachers in the placement schools were supported to reflect on and interrogate their roles as school based teacher educators, also known as ‘mentors’ or ‘colleague teachers’, and encouraged to learn to be intentional about the use of the additional time in schools facilitated by this partnership.

The Partnerships in Teaching Excellence (PiTE) program – a specially designed program co-created within a partnership between a Faculty of Education and a Department of Education focused on the placement of selected ITE students in high Education Needs Index (ENI) schools on a weekly basis for a year giving them additional mentoring and experience on top of their scheduled block practicum sessions. This program provided an opportunity to investigate, from the in-school mentors’ viewpoints, what was involved in teaching about teaching in school settings and in particular what it meant to be more intentional about supporting the transition of ITE students into full time teaching. Our investigation furthers the growing talk of the need for a ‘clinical curriculum’ – “an intentional set of experiences and learning” in the school placement aspect of teacher education (Darling-Hammond & Lieberman, 2012, p. 162).

The broad aims of the research were to:

• Inform an understanding of what it means to be intentional about the use of school based learning for ITE students in order to better prepare ITE students for their transition into full time teaching
• Inform the professional learning provided to teachers taking on mentoring roles for ITE students and early career teachers

To meet these aims and address the gaps in the literature the broader research question of this investigation asks: How do the teachers, who took on the mentor and colleague teacher roles in the five year PiTE program, understand teaching ITE students to teach?

This paper draws on the expertise of 30 school based teacher educators uncovering the layers of thoughtfulness about what it means to be intentional with ITE students in ways that are supportive of the transition into full-time teaching. 

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