Australian Teacher Education : Although Reviewed to the Eyeball is there Evidence of Significant Change and Where to now?

Teacher Education within Australia is once again on the cusp of further reviews at both State and Federal levels. This is in spite of frequent and invasive reviews and inquiries over the last 150 years of formal teacher education. Since the 1980s many reviews have been conducted with the intent of improving the quality of teacher education – in order to improve the learning outcomes for the pupils in the nation’s schools. This paper examines some of the reviews and the emergent patterns as it follows the journey of teacher education from the 1850s to the present day. It highlights many of the recurring dilemmas and the frustrations of the educational community, which includes the following: Education versus Training; Theory versus Practice; Supply versus Demand and Profession versus skilled & competent practitioners. Perhaps it is now time to recognise the binaries that have continued to cause division and move beyond them into a new era based on mutual collaboration, acceptance of diversity, effective dialogue and resource sharing. The establishment of a common foundation of essential knowledge/learning and the development of core non-negotiable elements, including a blend theory and practice, within Australian teacher education, has the potential to lead to substantial benefits for the nations children.