How can placement experience and reflective practice be strengthened in teacher education?
In this session, Julie‑Anne Heise from Avondale University shares how PebblePad is being used to support the Teacher Performance Assessment (TPA) and enhance reflective practice during professional experience placements in teacher education.
Julie‑Anne outlines Avondale’s journey of adopting PebblePad in response to the national TPA requirements, highlighting how the platform provides structure, scaffolding, and flexibility for students to collect evidence of practice, reflect meaningfully, and demonstrate impact on student learning. She also reflects on her own learning curve with PebblePad and the value of starting small, experimenting, and growing confidence over time.
Key themes include:
- Using PebblePad to support the Teacher Performance Assessment (TPA)
- Improving the quality and depth of student reflection on placement
- Supporting reflective practice through structured workbooks and media capture
- Using mobile reflection (PebblePocket) to capture authentic, in‑the‑moment learning
- Mentoring and supporting students remotely during teaching placements
- Building confidence for both students and academics through iterative adoption
This session offers practical insight for teacher educators looking to evolve placement practice, strengthen reflective capability, and support accreditation‑aligned assessment through digital portfolios.
This was filmed at Brisbane 2022 MiniBash.