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The VIT office will be closed Friday 29 March and Monday 1 April for the Easter public holidays.

Regulatory measures extended for pre-service teachers and ITE providers

VIT has chosen to revise and extend the application of the regulatory measures published in May 2020 due to the ongoing impacts of the COVID 19 pandemic.

VIT has chosen to revise and extend the application of the regulatory measures published in May 2020 due to the ongoing impacts of the COVID 19 pandemic. These measures will continue to assist initial teacher education (ITE) providers during and help ensure pre-service teachers (PSTs) are not disadvantaged.

Professional experience placements for pre-service teachers 

  • The minimum number of professional experience days to be successfully completed by any PST enrolled in an accredited ITE program and due to complete in 2020 or 2021 will be reduced to 45 days. This may include professional experience undertaken in an online learning environment.

    If the placement days have been undertaken in a remote learning context, ITE providers must provide support to the PST and an outline to VIT regarding how the supervised teaching practice realises the expectations outlined in the definition of supervised teaching practice through an online / remote learning context. 
     
FYI

Supervised teaching practice (STP) means the required component of an ITE program during which time a pre-service teacher (PST) is engaged in the teaching and learning process with students in either a

  • primary and / or secondary school setting under the supervision of a registered teacher or a person able to be registered as a teacher; or
  • non-school setting under the supervision of an educator employed by that institution who will preferably be a registered teacher or a person able to be registered as a teacher.

The supervised teaching practice must be formally assessed. While it is desirable for supervised teaching practice to take place in a variety of learning environments, the majority of the supervised teaching practice must occur in Australian primary and / or secondary school settings for VIT approved ITE programs.

  • The temporary regulatory measures also apply to PSTs completing combined early childhood / primary ITE programs in 2020 and 2021. To meet the minimum requirements for teacher registration, on completion of a combined program, the majority of 45 placement days must have been completed in a school setting (primary context). These programs must also meet ACECQA’s minimum requirements of supervised professional experience in early childhood settings.
     
  • The ITE provider will need to attest that it is sufficiently assured that PSTs have met all of the Graduate Teacher Standards and are adequately prepared to enter the teaching profession. 

    Please note: VIT considers successful completion of the ITE program requirements and graduation attests to the provider's satisfaction of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST) being met by the pre-service teacher at the Graduate Teacher level. 
     
  • It is expected that PSTs will also successfully complete
    • their most recent prior professional experience;
    • the Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Teacher Education Students (LANTITE) – subject to satisfactory Commonwealth provision of remote or other suitably flexible delivery options; and
    • a final year teaching performance assessment (TPA), as required by Program Standard 1.2. The TPA can be completed in a remote and / or online learning context / environment.


These regulatory measures are temporary and have been applied as a result of matters arising from the COVID 19 pandemic. Wherever possible, ITE providers should enable a flexible range of options for PSTs to meet the Graduate Teacher Standards. ITE providers are able to implement the above regulatory measures according to their context and the needs of their PSTs on a case-by-case basis.

Where possible, VIT encourages ITE providers to support PSTs to exceed the revised baseline of 45 days of professional experience, noting that the requisite professional experience days as outlined for accreditation is 80 days for undergraduate ITE programs and 60 days for postgraduate ITE programs.

Providers are encouraged to contact VIT should they have any questions. VIT is mindful of the extenuating nature of the current situation and will endeavour to deal with matters in a fair, reasonable and proportionate manner.

ITE accreditation

ITE programs due to be submitted for accreditation in 2020, have been extended by a period of six months from the current expiry date.

This regulatory approach does not preclude a provider from submitting an ITE program for accreditation within their originally planned time frame. However, the ability to convene a panel is impacted by COVID 19 and therefore the approval process may require additional time.

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