An evolving intercultural partnership model : A collaborative Australian and Vanuatu initial case study

This article reports on the contributions of a new model of intercultural partnership involving Australian pre-service primary educators teaching under the supervision of local teachers and university staff members in a rural school in the Pacific nation of Vanuatu. The model sought to operate within a broad postcolonial framework that positioned teachers from the South (Vanuatu) as experts and pre-service teachers from the North (Australia) as learners. It also disrupts, rather than reinforces, stereotypes of ‘the Other.’ This initial case study research is based on the first of three student cohorts to be involved in this partnership project and describes implications for pre-service teachers’ future practice as Graduate Teachers as outlined in Australian Institute of Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) Standards and potentially contributes to the ongoing evolution of models for intercultural teaching partnerships.