New PEPA finalised
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 127 No 1, 11 February 2022, page no.23
A new Professional Experience Partnership Agreement (PEPA) has been finalised supporting the hosting of preservice teacher placements across education sectors.
Agreed by the Department of Education and other key stakeholders, including universities and the Queensland College of Teachers (QCT), the PEPA reflects national requirements for initial teacher education, represents the mutual responsibilities of the higher education institutions (HEI) and the Queensland schooling sectors, and makes explicit that supervising teacher payments are made directly to the teacher.
The department has also developed PEPA guidelines for state schools, which are available on Oneportal.
Supervising teachers deserve to be paid
Please be aware that traditional pre-service teacher professional experience models are being altered in a variety of ways, with most universities developing new preservice experiences. These include asking schools to take preservice teachers for “work-experience” or “immersion”-type programs or asking them to host student volunteers in school sites, without payment to teachers and site-coordinators.
The QTU and IEU-QNT are currently working on capturing these new practicum experiences within an agreement with the university sector. In particular, we are seeking recognition of the work that teachers undertake in these new “placements” via remuneration and other means.