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Trialling the QTPA in Kindergarten: Making Visible the Professional Work of Teachers in ECEC
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

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

Lesley Friend, Sally Savage, Susan Irvine, Christine Yates, Marie White, Bessie Stone, Julia Mascadri, Michelle Mukherjee, Stacey Campbell and Mallihai Tambyah
Australasian Journal of Early Childhood, Vol.First online
26/03/2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/18369391261435298
Appears in  Recent Faculty of Education Publications
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Published (Version of record)CC BY V4.0,  Open

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Abstract

teacher performance assessment early childhood education and care professionalisation
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.

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