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The pedagogical approaches of the university staff was the third theme that emerged as developing preservice teacher confidence. The compilation and coding of the data revealed that the modelling of teaching suitable to middle years students increased preservice teachers’ confidence as they could see the “practices and strategies in action”. According to the preservice teachers, “university staff that modelled strategies for teaching in the middle years of schooling” increased confidence as they “provided them with practices required for their own teaching”. Modelling by university staff as a vehicle for developing preservice teacher confidence was supported by over one-third of the cohort who

completed the questionnaires. As well as the modelling of teaching strategies, preservice teachers noted that modelling “integrated curriculum”, “constructivist approaches to teaching”, “questioning techniques using Bloom’s taxonomy”, and “planning units of work using backward mapping” provided them with “hands-on experiences that they could use in the classroom and as part of their own teaching”.

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The way the university staff designed the assessment for particular subjects was also valued as developing preservice teacher confidence. Preservice teachers noted that the selection of “real-world assessment used by some of the staff” helped them to understand “how this could be applied to middle years learners and why it was appropriate and engaging”. It seems a number of the preservice teachers also appreciated opportunities to undertake the design of assessment in class. A typical response was, “we experienced hands-on activities in tutorials that included devising assessment, the construction of task sheets and assessment criteria”. Hence, the modelling of assessment by lecturers and opportunities to experience assessment design assisted preservice teacher confidence development.

As well as modelling teaching strategies and assessment, the ways in which university staff incorporated Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) into lectures and tutorials increased their confidence for teaching in the middle school. Specifically, the preservice teachers noted that undertaking ICT activities “as part of tutorials and assessment tasks gave them opportunities to see how ICTs could be applied in class”. Preservice teachers noted that the use of “smart boards as part of teaching” provided an interactive environment that they knew would be engaging for middle years learners. Furthermore, tasks such as “blogs, WIKIs and online forums” were thought to be

“transferable tools that could be used in middle years classrooms”. The preservice teachers also commented that some lecturers used “mobile phones creatively in the classroom to provide feedback and interact with students”. The use of “lap tops in the tutorials meant that they had information at their finger tips” which was seen as useful for “teaching middle years students about undertaking on-line research”. Preservice teachers claimed

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that the use of ICTs in the classroom by university staff “gave first-hand experience of how this could be used effectively in the middle years classroom context”.

These preservice teachers noted the importance of the personal attributes of the university teaching staff, claiming that university staff who were “approachable and friendly”, “willing to answer questions” and “make time to discuss any queries about middle schooling” contributed to preservice teacher confidence. It was purported by over one- third of the preservice teachers that having approachable university staff developed confidence that any “misconceptions or preconceptions about middle school teaching could be overcome, discussed and possibly rectified”, which gave them a sense that they “were on the right track to becoming a middle years teacher”. As well as being

approachable, they appreciated university staff that “made them feel comfortable in tutorials” and promoted “discussion about middle years issues where everyone’s

perspective was valued”. From the preservice teachers’ perspective, this aided confidence development by allowing them to “articulate their points of view in a non-threatening environment and confirm their own views about middle schooling philosophy”.

Finally, preservice teachers regarded their university lecturers’ pedagogical practice of incorporating “guest lecturers as part of lectures and tutorials promoted confidence development”. Preservice teachers claimed that “hearing from visiting lecturers such as teachers from middle schools” and “experts from various fields of teaching” provided them with further information and “confirmed what they were learning at university was preparing them for the real world of the classroom”. They valued that the visitors had “recent teaching experience” and that they were “succeeding in teaching early

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adolescents”. It was also suggested that these sessions provided the preservice teachers with a “greater range of strategies and ideas”, and in some cases “a whole school approach for engaging middle years learners” and working towards “seamless transitions between classrooms including primary and secondary school contexts”. Hence, these sessions were perceived by preservice teachers as “providing a broader perspective about middle

schooling practice” and “how it might work in the school and classroom”, as well as assisting preservice teachers to “link what they had learned from university classes with what these teachers (guest lecturers) were doing in schools”. It seems for many of these preservice teachers gaining “knowledge from a variety of expertise assists to develop confidence”.