The Teacher Education Industry Advisory Group (TEIAG) was established at the Gold Coast campus of Griffith University in 1993 and includes members from higher education, from all school education sectors, from government and from the Teachers' Union. The TEIAG partnership is an early exemplary model of peer-to-peer knowledge generating process with the specific aim of producing collaborative knowledge to address a real-world problem: quality teaching to improve student learning outcomes. This enduring productive partnership has led to a range of significant educational innovations including: a distinctive internship model of professional experience for pre-service teachers; successful, high quality teacher education programs for international students; and renewal, redesign and reformulation of teacher education programs.
The TEIAG Group's vision is to grow collaborative productive university/industry partnerships to enhance learning. This is achieved through five strategic priorities
- Create research dialogue among partner organisations.
- Enhance pre-service teacher education.
- Enhance continuing professional teacher development (CPD).
- Support, promote and celebrate the teaching profession.
- Harness technology to improve learning.
Crucially, the TEIAG partnership does more than bridge the theory-practice divide in teacher education programs. This group builds capacity and capability in all partners involved in the teacher education enterprise, not only in pre-service teachers, but also in teacher educators working in the university and school sectors. The term capability refers,
"to an integration of knowledge, skills, personal qualities and understanding used appropriately and effectively - not just in familiar and highly focused specialist contexts but in response to new and changing circumstances." Stephenson, J. (1999). Corporate capability: Implications for the style and direction of work-based learning, (p1).
The group "acted as a sounding board and evaluative panel and undertook mentoring training to generate capability by equipping its members to operate as liaison officers, supervisors and adjuncts of the Faculty to assist and support critical programs". (C. Alderson, personal communication, 6 June, 1997).
Similarly, Lynne Walsh on the basis of her experience as former Chair of TEIAG, Principal of Bellevue State School, and now Director for Queensland Curriculum Assessment and Reporting (QCAR) Implementation, Curriculum Division, Queensland, suggests that it
"is a true two way partnership where educational professionals are able to engage in quality professional discussions for the enhancement of education in its entirety - professionals, pre-service teachers and children". (L. Walsh, personal communication, 26 June 2008).
Through the Establishing Teacher Network project, TEIAG continues to provide essential mentoring for beginning teachers by focusing on learning support and development that is crucial to the retention of quality teachers in the schooling sector.