'More than Marking and Moderation': A Self-Study of Teacher Educator Learning through Engaging with Graduate Teaching Performance Assessment

Global attention continues to focus on the quality of teaching, teacher quality, teacher education programs and the preparation of graduates who are ready to teach. This self-study research focuses on one aspect of the preparation and assessment of graduates for teaching: the marking and moderation of a Teaching Assessment Performance (TPA), a mandated assessment tool implemented in Australian universities and education institutions that is used as one key determinant to assess graduate readiness for the profession. While there is a developing field of research related to the implementation and effectiveness of TPAs, less is known about the teacher educator expertise required to mark and moderate these assessments. The purpose of this self-study, conducted at Federation University, a regional university in Australia, aimed to identify and examine teacher educator marker and moderator experience and expertise through the establishment of a professional learning community (PLC). Using audio-recorded transcripts of team meetings and teacher educator vignettes, the data were analysed using NVivo and were individually and collectively categorised and coded. Reflecting in and on our practice, we focused on critical moments, interactions, and experiences to interrogate the data. The key themes included: 1) collaboration through marking and moderation; 2) reflection through critical engagement; 3) growth as a teacher educator and 4) enactment in teacher educator practice. This self-study of practice, using a PLC, enabled us to make our often-tacit knowledge, understanding and expertise explicit, and provided frameworks and structures for enacting this new knowledge in practice.