Teacher policy and practice in Australia has evolved substantially from the development of the first colony in 1788 to the present. This book traces the history of teacher preparation through five inter-related phases; the unregulated phase, the apprenticeship phase, the ascendancy of the Teachers Colleges, the ascendancy of the Colleges of Advanced Education, and the university dominated phase from 1989 to the present day.  While the focus is primarily on preparation to teach in primary and secondary schools, this important text also sheds light on teacher preparation for vocational education and at kindergarten level. The rich historical overview explores both the state and private sector together with that of the Christian Churches. Furthermore, research is not merely restricted just to initial teacher preparation; continuing professional development is also considered.With its comparative outlook, this book will prove an invaluable resource for not only Australian educational leaders, historians and policy makers, but also their counterparts internationally. The authors provide an exposition which will be used by teacher educators in many parts of the world to sharpen their perceptions of their own situations through comparison and contrast, to provoke ideas for critical discussion, and to stimulate them to come to an understanding of the importance of considering contemporary developments within their wider historical contexts.

Thomas O' Donoghue is Professor of Education in the Graduate School of Education, the University of Western Australia. He is also an elected fellow of both the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and of the Royal Historical Society (UK). He specialises in the history of education in the English-speaking world, with particular reference to the history of teachers and the process of education in faith-based schools. Another strand in his work is concerned with examining the historical antecedents of various contemporary educational issues. He is a former President of the Australian and New Zealand History of Education Society. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the Australian Catholic University. He has published 25 books with international publishing houses, along with approximately 100 papers in internationally refereed journals. Keith Moore is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Teacher Education and Leadership, Faculty of Education, Queensland University of Technology and is a former President of the Australian and New Zealand History of Education Society. His primary research area is History of Education in Australia. In December 2013 at QUT's Gardens Point campus he convened an ANZHES Conference with the theme: Education for all? Access, Equity and Exclusivity in the History of Education and in 2014, he was Editor of a special conference issue of History of Education Review arising from papers delivered at this conference.