Professional Voices: Building Professional Teacher Identity in an Initial Teacher Education Programme

Very few professional areas in Australia attract as much political, media and community attention as teaching, and by association, few areas of professional training attract as much attention as initial teacher education. Recently, the Next Steps: Report of the Quality Teacher Education Review (Department of Education, Skills and Employment, 2022) has drawn attention to the need for preservice teachers to develop professional skills as a way to ensure 'classroom readiness' before graduating. Research in the higher education sector and within initial teacher courses indicates that nascent professional identities can support the transition from university to profession. Using a thematic analysis approach, this study investigated secondary preservice teachers' perspectives on n informal curriculum, such as involvement in preservice teacher organisations and focus groups in an initial teacher education course. Findings indicate that opportunities for teacher identity formation emerged from focus groups and collaborative course feedback, professional learning developed by preservice teachers for preservice teachers and a preservice teacher led social and professional community.