Context matters: SETE mapping of teacher education in diverse contexts

The Studying the Effectiveness of Teacher Education (SETE) project (2010- ) investigates, as a priority, how well equipped teacher education graduates are to meet the requirements of diverse school settings. This paper outlines notions of diversity as reflected in large-scale longitudinal data sets including quantitative teacher and principal surveys (n=5,000+), national audit of teacher education programs (n=500+), and analysis of data from intensive case studies which track 170 graduate teachers through the first three years of their teaching career.<div><br />The storylines that emerge highlight the significance of context for teacher education and illustrate the diversity and complexity of contexts in which Graduate teachers find themselves employed.<br /> <br />Diversity is mapped firstly in terms of geography and location (rural/urban/remote), school size, sector, and student demographics including SES; secondly we track the variety of pathways into teaching; and finally, we examine the diversity of ways in which graduates are employed and the impact of said employment status on the way in which they are able to enact the learnings from their initial teacher education program.</div>