Innovative dialogues : refugee students, pre-service teachers and "Top of the Class"

This paper examines the House of Representatives "Top of the Class" document and its focus on teacher quality through the critical method which is a theoretical endeavour with critical intent at the level of practice. It focuses on the Refugee Action Support Program offered in the School of Education, University of Western Sydney, which speak to community and political concerns about teacher quality. The Refugee Action Support Program as a community engagement practicum not only attends to the university-based measures of quality but also supports innovative dialogue with government based reports like "Top of the Class" which was expected to examine the "scope, suitability, organisation, resourcing and delivery of teacher training courses in Australia's public and private universities and to examine the preparedness of graduates to meet the current and future demands of teaching in Australia's schools" (House of Representatives, 2007, p. xi).