scholarly journals Doing Things Differently: Responding to the 'policy problem' of Teacher Education in Wales

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-112
Author(s):  
Trevor Mutton ◽  
Katharine Burn
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Policy Analysis ◽  
Teacher Learning ◽  
Student Teacher ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Policy Problem ◽  
Collaborative Models ◽  
Text Production

Responding to a clear justification for the reform of initial teacher education (ITE) in Wales (Furlong, 2015) the Welsh government has committed itself to strengthening provision through 'a truly collaborative system, where universities and schools work in robust partnership, supported by the consortia, recognising the importance of research' (Williams, 2017: 1). The publication of the national criteria for the accreditation of ITE programmes in Wales (Welsh Government, 2017) set out the requirements for all ITE programmes, emphasising the need for an integrated approach to student teacher learning within collaborative models which are research-informed at all levels. Using Vidovich's (2007) dynamic model of policy analysis, which takes into account influences on policy text production at the macro, intermediate and micro levels, the paper examines the process by which these particular reforms (covering a six-year period from 2013 to 2019) have been proposed and set in motion and the ways in which recently-accredited providers in Wales have begun to respond to the challenging agenda that they represent. The paper concludes by offering a view as to what the opportunities and challenges for ITE providers in Wales might be in terms of further developing models of research-informed clinical practice.

Global Orientations, Local Challenges, and Promises in Initial Teacher Education

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lily Orland-Barak ◽  
Evgenia Lavrenteva
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Learning ◽  
Student Teaching ◽  
Student Teacher ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Education Programs ◽  
University Partnerships ◽  
Community Stakeholders ◽  
Pupil Learning

The global move toward advanced strategic, constructivist, and sociocultural orientations to student teacher learning is reflected in the stated vision, mission, and curricula of local teacher education contexts worldwide. Six major themes in teacher education programs worldwide are integral to this vision: the establishment of school–community–university partnerships; bringing more of school practice focused on pupil learning into the preparation of future teachers; a shift from a focus on teaching and curriculum to a focus on learning and learners; the inclusion of activities that promote reflective practice and the development of the teacher-as-researcher; the design of academic and school spaces for fostering teacher learning that attends to social justice and inclusion; and the preparation of teacher educators and the provision of mentoring frameworks to support student teacher learning. Among the challenges shared across contexts is the need to strengthen partnerships in education, structure stable mentoring frameworks, adopt a more focused approach to student teacher placement, and better articulate expectations for student teaching. Notwithstanding these challenges, promising directions include the establishment of more meaningful links between universities, schools, and communities; developing programs that deal with authentic teacher preparation through injury- and-research-informed clinical practice, and providing mentoring models that involve different community stakeholders.

scholarly journals Designing an Integrated Programme of Initial Teacher Education: Progress, Considerations and Reflections

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 142-163
Author(s):  
Alma Harris ◽  
Michelle Jones ◽  
Helen Lewis ◽  
Neil Lucas ◽  
Joanna Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Construction Process ◽  
Practice Approach ◽  
Reflective Practitioners ◽  
Partnership Approach

This article explores the development of an integrated programme of initial teacher education premised upon a clinical practice approach that aims to develop student teachers as research-informed, reflective practitioners. The article outlines key decisions in developing an integrated approach to a new programme of initial teacher education that is both research-infused and research-informed. It highlights the centrality of a Partnership approach to the design of the programme and outlines the co-construction process that underpinned it. The article also explains how University subject experts are integral to the ITE programme providing both subject and research expertise. The main features of this integrated programme of ITE are outlined, and the article concludes by offering some reflections and considerations about an approach to initial teacher education that is genuinely research informed and grounded in teacher enquiry.

Mentors and student-teachers “lesson studying” in initial teacher education

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 84-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wasyl Cajkler ◽  
Phil Wood
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Teacher Learning ◽  
Student Teacher ◽  
Prospective Teachers ◽  
Lesson Study ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Uk

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study an adapted version of lesson used with mentors and student-teachers in a one-year initial teacher education (ITE) programme for prospective teachers of geography and modern languages. In partnership with eight secondary schools, the effectiveness of the lesson study cycle was evaluated as a vehicle for exploration of approaches to aid student-teacher learning during school placements. Design/methodology/approach – In total, 12 lesson study case studies were completed and analysed. Findings – Three principal findings emerged: first, most collaborating mentors and student-teachers reported that they engaged in a reflexive process, exploring the complexity of teaching, each learning more about the characteristics of teaching; second, in cases where collaboration allowed student-teachers a degree of autonomy, lesson study provided a collaborative scaffold for understanding the complexity of teaching, contributing to professional development along a continuum which the authors tentatively term “pedagogic literacy”; third and less positively, some mentors struggled to shed the shackles of traditional roles, dominating the discourse as advice-givers so that a traditional “parallel” approach to mentoring continued. Originality/value – The work expands the experiential base of lesson study efforts in ITE in the UK and elaborates a view of teacher learning that challenges reductive approaches to the preparation of new teachers. For the first time, it presents student-teacher and mentor perspectives on the use of lesson study in teaching practice in England.

scholarly journals Mathematics teacher learning to notice: a systematic review of studies of video-based programs

ZDM ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rossella Santagata ◽  
Johannes König ◽  
Thorsten Scheiner ◽  
Ha Nguyen ◽  
Ann-Kristin Adleff ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Learning ◽  
Mathematics Teacher ◽  
Professional Competence ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Fundamental Aspect ◽  
Teacher Noticing ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Supporting Tool

AbstractTeacher noticing has become increasingly acknowledged as a fundamental aspect of teacher professional competence. Teacher education scholars have examined how the development of noticing might be supported both in initial teacher education and in professional development. In mathematics teacher education, several studies have explored the use of video as a supporting tool for teacher noticing. It remains unclear how this body of work builds on the various theoretical perspectives of noticing prevalent in the literature, thus broadening our understanding of noticing. Furthermore, the field has not examined systematically the extent to which research has leveraged the affordances of digital video technologies, and whether scholars have employed different research methods to answer questions that are critical to teacher educators. This survey paper reviews studies published in the last two decades on programs centered on mathematics teacher noticing that used video as a supporting tool for teacher learning. Thirty-five peer-reviewed papers written in English were identified and coded along three dimensions: (1) theoretical perspectives; (2) use of video technologies; and (3) research questions and methods. This review summarizes important findings and highlights several directions for future research. Most studies involved pre-service teachers, and only a few centered on in-service teachers. Developers of the large majority of programs took a cognitive psychological perspective and focused on the attending/perceiving and interpreting/reasoning facets of noticing. Few studies used video-based software and few studies used grouping, and even fewer used randomized grouping. Evidence of program effects on responding and decision making, and on instructional practice, is limited and should be extended in the future.

Teacher Education in Australia

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane Mayer ◽  
Wayne Cotton ◽  
Alyson Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Sufficient Evidence ◽  
Teacher Education Programs ◽  
Current Policy ◽  
Education Programs ◽  
Policy Problem ◽  
Federal Intervention

The past decade has seen increasing federal intervention in teacher education in Australia, and like many other countries, more attention on teacher education as a policy problem. The current policy context calls for graduates from initial teacher education programs to be classroom ready and for teacher education programs to provide evidence of their effectiveness and their impact on student learning. It is suggested that teacher educators currently lack sufficient evidence and response to criticisms of effectiveness and impact. However, examination of the relevant literature and analysis of the discourses informing current policy demonstrate that it is the issue of how effectiveness is understood and framed, and what constitutes evidence of effectiveness, that needs closer examination by both teacher educators and policymakers before evidence of impact can be usefully claimed—or not.

scholarly journals Enhancing student teacher self-efficacy beliefs to teach priority learners in New Zealand

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
pp. 36
Author(s):  
Sally Hansen ◽  
Alison Sewell ◽  
Sarojinie Fernando ◽  
Abdelhamid Safa
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Teacher Efficacy ◽  
Student Teacher ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Education Programme ◽  
Efficacy Beliefs ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Education Programme ◽  
Teacher Efficacy Beliefs

The aim of this study was to explore the changes in student teacher efficacy beliefs for teaching priority learners over the course of a one-year postgraduate initial teacher education programme. The sample comprised 23 participants enrolled in the 2015 cohort in a pilot initial teacher education programme specifically tailored to enhance student teacher expertise to teach priority learners. Participants completed a specially designed and refined self-efficacy scale – Self-Efficacy with Diverse Learners: Student Teacher Scale – that targeted their efficacy beliefs about successfully promoting learning for priority learners at the start and at the end of their programme. Changes in efficacy beliefs were statistically measured and the findings indicated that student teacher efficacy beliefs for teaching priority learners had improved significantly over the course of their teacher education programme. In particular, the findings showed that their reported efficacy beliefs for implementing strategies for teaching English speakers of other languages, students with low socioeconomic status, and Māori learners had nearly doubled. Such findings have significant implications for teacher education reforms that aim to enhance student teacher adaptive expertise and in so doing, assist with the long-term goal of achieving more equitable educational outcomes in New Zealand.  

scholarly journals The Journey towards a Teacher’s Ecological Self: A Case Study of a Student Teacher

2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rea Raus ◽  
Thomas Falkenberg
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Student Teacher ◽  
Critical Dimension ◽  
Education Programme ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Pedagogical Practice ◽  
Holistic View ◽  
Ecological Self

Abstract Transforming our educational systems to support sustainable development is a challenge that involves all levels of education – policy, curriculum and pedagogical practice. One critical dimension to look at is a teacher’s identity as it influences a teacher’s decision-making, behaviour and action. The ecological self is the concept that is used in the context of sustainability. This paper discusses the emerging ecological self of one student teacher during her initial teacher education programme. The concepts of the teacher’s self and the ecological self form a lens through which the story of this student teacher is examined. The paper focuses on one part of a broader, longitudinal study of student teachers and their understanding of pedagogy and connectedness with nature in the context of the need for reorienting teacher education towards sustainability. Sterling’s (2001) conceptual framework of ecological view on education is taken as a tool to analyse the collected data. The results indicate that deep connectedness to nature and empathy are framing the holistic view on learning, teaching and a teacher’s self.

scholarly journals Asking the right questions

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 163-181
Author(s):  
Karen Blackmore
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Student Teacher ◽  
Science Teacher Education ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Primary Teacher ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
The Right

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore whether aspects of co-coaching could support primary science teacher education in a university–school initial teacher education (ITE) partnership program in England. Design/methodology/approach A mixed methodological approach was taken, comprising of student teachers responding to a coaching questionnaire blended with a qualitative exploration of audio-recorded student teacher co-coaching conversations. Informal student teacher discussion groups were used as a means to discern their attitudes and beliefs pertaining to co-coaching within taught university sessions. Findings Analysis and subsequent integration of data showed that many aspects of co-coaching supported student teacher pedagogical knowledge acquisition and professional development. Additionally, questionnaire responses and small-group discussions revealed that student teachers developed positive attitudes to this mode of learning. Originality/value This study evaluates the innovative use of co-coaching techniques during primary teacher science education, and the outcomes have clear implications for the design of ITE programs in England and potentially further afield.

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