scholarly journals Research capacity building in and on teacher education: developing practice and learning

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 114-129
Author(s):  
Jean Murray ◽  
Eline Vanassche

Research is widely acknowledged as a key element of professional learning for intending and serving teachers, as well as for their teacher educators. And yet, despite this centrality, research in teacher education is often subjected to critique and contestation. Internationally, the quality of such research has been questioned, and there are on-going issues about when, how and why teacher educators and teachers (can) engage in research. Initiatives to build research capacity in teacher education thus remain of crucial importance. Here we focus on this issue, aiming to analyse how to strengthen the field of teacher education locally and internationally. We first set out a conceptual framework for considering capacity building, and then analyse three international examples of practice in teacher education research: the Norwegian Doctoral School (NAFOL); the use of self-study research in Belgium (Flanders); and the Teacher Education Research Network (TERN), a social practices initiative in England. The contextualised analysis of these local capacity-building initiatives exemplifies what factors influence their enactments and outcomes and, in so doing, also inform a more ‘glocal’ understanding of how to build research capacity in and on teacher education. From this follows our overall question: what can be learned from these cases about how to build research capacity in and on teacher education?

2008 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 459-474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Murray ◽  
Anne Campbell ◽  
Ian Hextall ◽  
Moira Hulme ◽  
Marion Jones ◽  
...  

This article discusses the first stages of the work of the Teacher Education Group (TEG) in building research capacity in teacher education research and identifies the potential of the model adopted for future European initiatives in the field. The TEG work is part of the second phase of the Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP), based on an embedded social practices model of research capacity building. The article opens by outlining the broad context of research capacity building initiatives and identifying general factors which create concerns about the sustainability of teacher education research in the United Kingdom. It then describes the initial impetus, within the TEG, for the creation of an up-to-date annotated mapping of current research in teacher education and outlines the practices used to generate the model used for the mapping. In conclusion, the article discusses some of the methodological, ethical and epistemological issues raised by the mapping exercise and the challenges ahead in disseminating and embedding the initiative.


Author(s):  
Ian Menter

Although teacher education has been recognized as a key aspect of educational policy and practice, especially over the past few decades, the research undertaken to inform policy is in many respects inadequate. Drawing on reviews of such research as has been undertaken in Europe, the United States, Australasia as well as other parts of the world, we can identify the key questions for teacher education researchers. These include such topics as the relationship between theory and practice in professional learning, the significance of partnerships between schools and higher education institutions, the relationship between preservice teacher education and ongoing professional learning and the nature of the assessment of beginning teachers. Three approaches to teacher education research may be defined, and all of them are important in the quest for better understanding of the field. These three approaches are research in teacher education—mainly carried out by teacher education practitioners; research on teacher education—mainly carried out by education policy scholars; and research about teacher education—carried out by scholars in a range of disciplines and seeking to explore the wider social significance of teacher education. An exploration of each of these three approaches reveals that there is a serious dearth of large-scale and/or longitudinal studies that may be seen as genuinely independent and critical. This suggests that there is a large agenda for future teacher education research.


2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 345-349
Author(s):  
Jo-Anne Reid ◽  
Sharon McDonough ◽  
Kathryn Bown ◽  
Ninetta Santoro ◽  
Diane Mayer ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 5459
Author(s):  
Diana Soares ◽  
Betina Lopes ◽  
Isabel Abrantes ◽  
Mike Watts

This study presents a systematic literature review (SLR) on the initial training of science teachers in Africa based on selected research articles, in the period 2000–2020, that emphasize the importance of surveying knowledge that goes beyond those that historically have a longer path in the building of scientific knowledge, such as that of European or North American countries. The analysis included a total of 31 articles from the Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases. The findings indicate a lack of knowledge, or at least visibility, considering the initial training of African teachers, particularly in developing countries. South Africa leads the number of publications. Within the five African countries implied in the SLR the following outputs were identified: (i) a division between teacher education research that is ‘place-based’ and one that uses (only) ‘universal theories’ (such as Vygotsky and Bandura); (ii) a tension between the application of student-centered learning and teaching models and more traditional classroom practices. Finally, the majority of articles highlight the importance of investing in further research around teacher education. Based on these outputs the importance of international cooperation in teacher education research articulating theory and practice to ensure a global and local perspective towards sustainable development is reinforced.


1976 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 244-252 ◽  

Thirty special educators, some of whom have worked in the field for over 50 years, were interviewed by telephone. Each was asked to identify milestone events and pioneers in special education and to describe the development and role of teacher education, research, and The Council for Exceptional Children over the years. Crucial issues and needs in the field today were identified by the group and their responses were synthesized into the first of a series of articles celebrating the Bicentennial.


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