A box is very useful - It can hold things – can provide protection – reveal surprises. Boxes are used to transport food. Children use them as cubby houses. They come in all sizes, shapes, colours, textures. Boxes have been the focus of stories – a particularly beautiful one by Stephen Michael King, The Man Who Loved Boxes, was a favourite with my children.  ​

No one would probably argue with any of this, plus add many more uses for a box. That is because we all have a firm shared understanding of what is possible with a box… or do we? 

The importance of developing shared language and challenging assumptions is a key focus in the NECSTEP research. A lack of shared language inhibits broader understanding of school embedded models and is reflected across what is primarily small-scale research. We need to break through disconnected terminologies so we can elevate and apply research findings in different contexts with confidence.  ​

​Identifying the key active ingredients in school embedded models and framing them within a shared definition will lead to a greater cohesiveness of understanding across future research. In addition, it will help to provide a common foundation for partnerships in new and existing initiatives. This approach is important for enabling stronger advocacy and the long-term sustainability of school embedded models of initial teacher education.  

Have you ever baked a cake? A strange question in regards to researching Teaching School Hubs - but is it?
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A cake requires five core active ingredients – butter, sugar, flour, milk and eggs. That’s it. It will be a plain one, but when mixed in correct proportions, through the right process, a cake is born. Once this basic recipe is mastered, personalisation of the cake can evolve with flavour and decoration. It depends on who you are baking for, of course.

So how does this relate to initial teacher education (ITE) pathways and the NECSTEP (National Embedded Cross Sector Teaching Education Program) research currently underway?

To do so, the NECSTEP research has four key aims:

1. Identify the core active ingredients unique to a school-embedded teacher education pathway (such as the Alphacrucis University College Teaching School Hubs program).
2. Explore the influence of these unique active ingredients on the preparedness/school readiness of initial teacher education students.
3. Understand who is best placed to support and guide initial teacher education students in relation to each of these active ingredients.
4. Develop a framework to track and measure the development of initial teacher education students in relation to these active ingredients.

Rob Loe set the tone for the conference by speaking on The Power of Partnership. The task was then given to all present to creatively reimagine the potential of co-design within a supportive and refining partnership of school, teaching school and tertiary space.

The conference included a wide variety of voices including students still in ITE training, well-seasoned educators, tertiary professors as well as teacher mentors from both the private and public sectors.