We offer a variety of partnerships through our networks to equip the next generation of teachers. At Alphacrucis University College, we not only work with schools who are interested in providing teaching assistant roles, but also want to offer support and training needed to equip the next generation of Christian Educators.
The Alphacrucis School of Education partners with individual teaching schools and teaching school hubs based on their needs and cohort size. We have a dedicated team to support our partner schools and their students.
Our commitment is to develop profession-ready teachers in partnership with schools. This includes supporting and developing school-based mentors and providing opportunities for appropriately qualified teachers to tutor in our curriculum subjects.
This immersive program allows students to get hands-on experience in the classroom from the very beginning of their program. It also allows them to gain a Biblical perspective and approach to teaching.
“It has been a joy to watch the teacher trainees at the Teaching School hubs exhibit confidence and passion during their experience in the embedded Initial Teacher Education model.
They embrace the parallel of tertiary study through immersion in their Christian School so successfully and the result is highly competent, engaged teachers who have a deep knowledge of not only their teaching discipline, but an enhanced understanding of embedding a Christian worldview in their practice.
– Tracey Deal
AC’s research for Teaching School Hubs came under the NECSTEP grant, awarded by the NSW Department of Education. The National Embedded Cross-Sector Teacher Education Pilot (NECSTEP) is an innovative initial teacher education pilot led by AC, in collaboration with researchers at UNSW and ACU, and in partnership with NSW Department of Education and St Philip’s Teaching School.
‘Creating shared spaces: A collaborative partnership model that prepares initial teacher education students for effective practice.’ in Green. C & Eady,M, (eds) ‘Creating and Sustaining Purposeful School-University Partnerships: Building Connections across Diverse Educational Settings’.
– Westraad, S., Mathews, J., & Munday, C. (2023)
“A Teaching School is envisaged as a school that prepares Pre-Service Teachers (PST) for their vocation through on-site demonstration, teaching and modelling; analogous to the role of a teaching hospital or university hospital in medical education. This dual function grounds PST education within a live school environment, so that theoretical and practical learning occur concurrently. Originating in Australia, the concept was first articulated by Turner and Lynch (2006), who advocated it as a sustained university–school partnership intended to embody a meaningful community of practice.
– Turner, C., & Lynch, D. (2006). Towards a teaching school: Re-thinking initial teacher education. Southern Cross University Press.
“Teaching School Hub (TSH) extends the concept of the Teaching School from an individual school site to a new construct which includes a partnership between a group of schools. This TSH embodies the concept of the “third space” (Zeichner, 2010, p. 89) where tertiary educators and schools combine theory and practice to prepare PSTs for their vocation.
– Luetz, J., Westraad, S., Rayner, C., Perry, R., Pendlebury, C., Shea, E. & Dowden, T. (in press). Innovating Initial Teacher Education – A Case Study from Australia.
At Alphacrucis, our mission is to support the next generation of teachers with a faith-based approach to Education. Our Teaching School Regional Directors, along with Teaching Schools offer students a wealth of support available to help them to flourish and grow.
Students can pursue internship opportunities through our Teaching School Networks to step into classroom roles right at the start of their degree.
This format allows students to have a hands-on, practical experience in partner schools, whilst gaining faith-based wisdom and perspectives throughout their studies. From academics to practice, everything is based on Christian mission and values.
“The craft of teaching was long ago described as a “discipleship model.” The Hub model for ITE training that we teach through relationship, therefore we are training teachers through relationship.”
– Andrew Beitsch, Hub Director
“Being in the classroom from the very beginning with a mentor allows a trainee to take smaller but more frequent steps.”
– Brittany Shapcott Graduate, Master of Teaching (Secondary)
“If I am teaching a topic in my classroom, it should be different to the same topic being taught in the state school down the road, because we have a mission as Christian teachers to share the goodness of Jesus Christ.”
– Jackson Steele Student, Bachelor of Education (Secondary)
“The Hub model is about including schools in the shaping and training of teachers, which is paramount for partnership and localised ethos-based teacher training.”
– Samantha Van de Mortel, Hub Director