A new breed of teachers is being produced to handle the flexible education environment proposed to start in 2006.

From that year onwards, students aged between 15-17 will be able to gain their education in a variety of settings, including schools, TAFE colleges, universities and workplaces.

According to Central Queensland University Dean of Education, Professor Jim Mienczakowski, this new flexible environment means that teachers will need to be more adaptable.

He said the first cohort of graduates from CQU's ground-breaking Bachelor of Learning Management (BLM) degree, due to complete their studies in October, would be ideally positioned to coordinate the experiences of their students.

"We are producing graduates able to manage learning in a range of educational settings," he said.

Professor Mienczakowski said CQU was the first university in Queensland to make sweeping changes to its teaching degrees to reflect the future needs of the system. Hallmarks of the BLM included extensive input from current teachers and education officials and classroom experience throughout the degree (not just in short phases).

"With an estimated 10,000 young Queenslanders aged 15 to 17 out of school, out of work and out of training, the new education and training reforms are certainly needed to get students to re-engage with learning ... and our CQU teacher graduates are being prepared to help guide them through what will be a maze of options." Professor Mienczakowski, who is a member of the Queensland Studies Authority and chair of the QSA's interim senior curriculum committee, said the challenge for everyone was to ensure students were equipped for the new knowledge economy.

He said there was still a lot of debate about what sort of skills and knowledge were essential for the future.

Such debate was necessary and would be ongoing. "With the outlook for young people and their realistic lifelong learning needs still a cloudy issue, it is vital that we are preparing our teaching graduates to be as flexible and responsive to the future needs of children as possible," he said. ENDS For details/interview call Prof Mienczakowski via 4930 9715 or 0418 790 902.

Caption: Final-year teacher education student Anita Fitzgerald (pictured right) is getting her day in the sun via an internship at Sunshine Beach State School. She is among 36 students - the first teacher education cohort from Central Queensland University's Noosa Hub (Pomona) - to begin their internship in schools last month (August). These pioneering students have elected to fast-track their four-year Bachelor of Learning Management (BLM) degree in three years. Anita Fitzgerald completed Year 12 at Burnside State High School on the Sunshine Coast in 2000 and is now positioned to take up her chosen career as a teacher in 2004.

Sunshine Beach State School is a designated Noosa Hub ‘teaching school’. Principal Sue Pearce (pictured left) said teaching required an understanding of learning and the learner as well as an in-depth knowledge of curriculum.