Trialling the QTPA in Kindergarten: Making Visible the Professional Work of Teachers in ECEC

In Australia, preservice teachers are required to complete a capstone Teaching Performance Assessment (TPA) to graduate. A TPA a nationally endorsed assessment, requires preservice teachers to demonstrate their practice (planning, teaching, assessing and evaluation) against the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST – Graduate Level). To date, in most states including Queensland, this assessment is completed in a school and not a prior-to-school early childhood education and care (ECEC) setting. This fails to recognise the professional nature of ECEC teaching and is a barrier to increasing the number of qualified teachers in prior-to-school education. This paper shares insights from a pilot study that investigated the implementation of a TPA in kindergarten settings. Drawing on views and experiences of preservice early childhood teachers, supervising early childhood teachers, approved providers and university staff, we explore the benefits and challenges of implementing a TPA in ECEC settings.