Pinnacle: evaluation of the graduate teacher training program at the ANU

Pinnacle is the ANU's teacher training programme for full time PhD students. The Pinnacle Teacher Training Program provides a mentoring system that aims to equip postgraduate students with the skills and theoretical background that they will need to become high quality lecturers. This article describes Pinnacle, and discusses the assessment of its effectiveness by past Pinnacle participants, using quantitative and qualitative feedback. There were differences in the perceived effectiveness of Pinnacle related to participants' sex and their academic discipline. Overall, the participants found that the opportunity to deliver lectures, to work closely with their mentor, and to reflect on their own teaching philosophy and practice gave them a sense of being confident and competent teachers by the end of the programme. Pinnacle provides an opportunity to reflect on the practice of teaching before habit and academic pressures permanently shape teaching practices.