Teaching degrees are not up to the job of meeting the demands of a modern classroomCredit:Simon Schluter
Mr Alegounaris gave evidence on Wednesday to an inquiry into the changing nature of teaching chaired by former West Australian premier Geoff Gallop and commissioned by the NSW Teachers Federation.
He told the panel that educators’ jobs were virtually unrecognisable from last century,when only 30 per cent of students finished year 12,schools were regarded as unassailable institutions and students'needs were less diverse.
"That's what teacher training was about,that world,"Mr Alegounarias said."And it hasn’t changed much."Far more was now required of teachers,and"it isn’t possible to be done in those three years,"he said.
"All you can do in the three or four years is introduce key concepts and have some knowledge of those concepts. You can’t do a first-year statistics course while doing a first-year teaching course.
"Training and preparation has to be longer and based in practice. We could reasonably draw on the medical models,and recognise that you are not a full teacher for two or three years of practice."