Teacher evaluation,curricular autonomy and professional development: trends and tensions in the Portuguese educational policy

A programme of City Academies was announced by the Secretary of State for Education for England in 2000. These schools would be independent of local government control, have voluntary and private sector sponsors, and would break the cycle of failing inner‐city schools. The first three Academies opened in 2002, and this paper considers how they have fared so far in terms of changes to their student intake and improvements in examination outcomes. Using figures from 1997 to 2003–2004 from the annual school census and from the DfES Standards site, the paper shows that there is no evidence that these schools are, in general, performing any better for equivalent students than the schools they replaced. Although the programme is at a very early stage, this finding is important because it contradicts the claims of the DfES and of the Academies themselves and the determination of the government (at time of writing) to expand the programme to 200 schools.     

Making sense and facing tensions: an investigation of core practice complexities

Recently, scholars have called for a practice-based framework for teacher education and some have argued more narrowly for a framework built around ‘core practices of teaching.’ These efforts, in part, are intended to make teacher education practice public and available for collective improvement. The purpose of this paper is to highlight challenges and possibilities that arose during a core practice-oriented course redesign. Despite attention to the literature, the teacher educators faced dozens of inherent tensions and contextual challenges that distinguish their understanding of core practices from other teacher educators operating with common principles. Based on lessons learned, the author argues for greater attention to the details of core practice redesigns, rationales explaining redesign decisions, and empirical investigation of teacher candidate outcomes of such redesigned courses and programs.     

Evaluating student satisfaction - restricting lecturer professionalism: outcomes of using the UK national student survey questionnaire for internal student evaluation of teaching

Abstract

In the neo-liberal context of a UK university, responding to student feedback in order to raise student satisfaction levels is important in improving National Student Survey (NSS) scores. This article focuses on the impact of a UK university’s new student feedback questionnaire - for individual modules - which used the NSS questions. The research draws on survey data (N?=?101) to identify lecturers’ views and three student focus groups. The outcomes raised issues relating to performativity, professionalism and ‘provision’, the latter defined as the university’s contract with each student, including the aspects that affect the student learning experience but are beyond the lecturers’ control, for example, class sizes and timetables. The results indicate that by recognising the impact of provision university managers may be better able to develop systemic improvements to student experience and (in the UK) a corresponding uplift in NSS and Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) results. The article puts forward a model linking performativity, professionalism and provision to the relationships between university managers, academics and students. This model could enrich understandings of professionalism and performativity, extend the range of issues affecting student experience in SETs and support data analysis in future research studies.     

Teachers' environmental education as creating cracks and ruptures in school education: a narrative inquiry and an analysis of teacher rhetoric

This article discusses a narrative inquiry as a methodology for understanding and examining teachers' interpretations of their environment‐related teaching experiences. Focusing on the value of teacher stories for interrogating the discursive practices of schools as institutional contexts, four main rhetorical themes are identified to illustrate how teachers' engagements in practice and thinking with environmental education display ongoing identity work. Five Korean secondary science teachers' stories illustrate the dynamic processes and interplay between multiple discourses, such as the ‘proper’, ‘good’, ‘science’ teacher, and the cultural norms, resources and subject positions available to them, as they take up and explain their own and others' meanings and subject positions in science education and environmental education. The paper discusses the value of narrative inquiry to conceptualising teacher agency in ways that offer alternatives to conventional research perspectives in this field, and in taking account of the possible meanings of environmental education, the possibility of creating cracks and ruptures in the ‘sense‐making’ discourses and ‘sense that is made’ of experiences of environmental education and school education more widely.     

The honourable road and its impact on teacher practice: an analysis of China's national honour system in cultivating professional development

China's national teacher honour system, initiated in 1949, is designed to recognise the academic and pedagogical performance of individual teachers and professional collectives at national, provincial, municipal, and school-based levels. This study employs grounded theory analysis to examine the phenomenon of China's teacher honour system by analysing documents, narrative stories of 11 award recipients and five non-recipients, and interviews with four government officials who manage the system. The paper discusses sociocultural aspects of this honour system by exploring the impact of three types of professional honours on teacher professional development. This system aims to balance government leadership in conferring honour with individual pursuit of professional development in one's local setting. Contextualised in a Confucian culture, the teachers immersed in this honour system benefit from collegial support in engaging in professional growth activities. Challenges with this system include the need to enhance teacher efficacy by engaging teachers in shaping the policy, as well as the possibility of political – rather than professional – criteria determining honour conferral, discouraging rigorous pursuit of professional growth.     

A content analysis of lesbian,gay, bisexual,and transgender topics in multicultural education textbooks

This research examines the treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) topics in 12 popular multicultural education textbooks. Following a line‐by‐line analysis of each textbook, the findings report the extent to which LGBT topics were included in each text and the themes that became apparent in how LGBT topics were treated. The authors conclude with a discussion of the texts’ contents and the suggestion that texts do more to include LGBT topics and provide more complex and complete representations of LGBT identities. This analysis sets a basis for comparison for future studies to gauge how levels of LGBT inclusion have changed both quantitatively and qualitatively.     

Redesigning academic essays to promote teacher reflection on selected issues of learning and teaching related to the current educational reform in Hong Kong

Teachers in Hong Kong have faced constant demand for practice renewal due to successive waves of educational reforms in the past decade. This paper describes the design of an assignment structure that promotes teacher reflection on important issues related to a major education reform in Hong Kong. This particular assignment structure includes three components – self-reflection, understanding alternative perspectives and situated analysis. Teachers are expected to complete these components in a sequence. The design addresses teachers’ teaching experiences, engages them in learning alternative perspectives, and assists them to juxtapose self-reflection and alternative perspectives in analysing commonly encountered teaching situations. An evaluation of teachers’ levels of reflection in these assignments showed that both high- and low-scored teachers improved their reflection. Based on the findings of an interview study, this paper reported a grounded model explaining how this innovative assignment structure promotes reflection. The model situated the reflective assignments within the local teaching context in Hong Kong and highlighted the importance of different forms of assistance and guidance in facilitating teachers’ reflective engagement in completing these cognitively demanding assignments.     

Addressing the complexities of literacy and urban teaching in the USA: strategic professional development as intervention

This study was undertaken in order to get some sense of the role of life experiences in preservice and inservice teachers' conceptions of the purpose(s) and practices of education. Content analysis of narratives written by graduate students in education at one college was utilized to ascertain how they view the field and their (current or prospective) role as teachers. We found that the majority of students saw teaching as an opportunity to make a difference, and as reflective of who they were rather than as "just a job". This finding provided the opportunity to address the strengths and vulnerabilities of such an idealistic conception of teaching, and the corresponding possibilities vis-à-vis teacher educators' roles. We conclude by noting the study's limitations and making several recommendations for future action and research based on our findings.     

Engaging with commonality and difference: Theoretical tensions in the analysis of working-class women's educational discourses

In this article the authors contribute to ongoing theoretical debates concerning the conceptualisation of multiple social identities and oppressions. The article begins by briefly tracing the path towards current critical/feminist/sociological positions 'between modernism and postmodernism', in which identities ('race', class, gender, etc.) are conceptualised as socially constructed, fluid, shifting and yet grounded in 'real' inequalities and oppressions. The article then builds upon, and contributes to, current theoretical dialogue by highlighting ongoing tensions and unresolved problematics within the theoretical approach, drawing out the particular implications of these for educational research. Issues are discussed with specific reference to recent work by Brah (1999) and illustrations are provided using examples from the authors' research with inner city, working-class women.     

专业化:教师教育的理念与策略

20世纪80年代以来,教师专业化成为世界各国广泛关注的热点之一。在这一背景下,明确教师职业的专业性,进行以"专业化"为核心理念和策略的改革,成为教师教育发展的潮流与趋势。本文拟从教师专业化理论的演进过程及教师专业化的核心与内涵,反思当前我国教师教育发展的现状和问题,探讨我国教师教育改革的宏观应然走向。     

Engendering a culture of thinking in a culture of performativity: the challenge of mediating tensions in the Singaporean educational system

Among the major policies that have been implemented to ensure its continued success, Thinking Schools, Learning Nation (TSLN) has been described as the ‘big bang of educational reforms’ in Singapore. However, while the policy aims to develop critical thinkers in school leavers, the corporatisation of education in the shape of structures such as the school excellence model seems to be at odds with TSLN. This paper argues that these structures unwittingly engender a culture of performativity among schools, marginalising the central outcome of its initiative that entails developing a culture of thinking and thinkers. The tension is further exacerbated by the larger rationalities that have shaped Singapore and the pragmatic and instrumental philosophy which underpins its educational system. The tensions generated by the clash between intended (culture of thinking) and engendered culture (culture of performativity) present the challenge of mediation for the system on its path to realising TSLN.     

评价是如何影响高校青年教师专业性的?——以S大学为例

良好的考核评价政策有助于调动教师工作积极性、主动性,对提升高等教育质量具有显著影响。目前,绩效评价已成为我国高校教师评价制度的主流,对教师专业发展影响深远。探究当前教师绩效评价制度如何影响高校青年教师的专业性,具有重要的理论价值与现实意义。通过对S大学的实地调研发现,教师评价制度有赖于建立“层级管理-量化的相对指标-外部裁决”的管理技术,施予青年教师结构性压力,使其产生“适应顺从”的惯习,影响其专业知识、专业自主、专业伦理和专业情意。基于布迪厄的实践理论,研究发现:评价制度与场域内的资源配置机制在形塑青年教师自我认知与行为选择方面具有一致性;应采取优化资本配置、调整学术人员惯习、关注学术场域内发展性评价等策略提升高校青年教师专业性。     

农村幼儿教师专业化发展探析——以课例研修为例

在农村幼儿教师专业化发展过程中,课例研修对教师教育观念的转变、教学设计与组织能力的提升起着至关重要的作用。本文以农村幼儿教师在国培"影子园"进行"一课三研"课例研修为例,分析教师如何在教学目标确定、教学方案设计、教学活动组织诸方面进行群体反思、研讨修正,以此促进他们专业化发展。     

Contextualizing Teacher Autonomy in time and space: a model for comparing various forms of governing the teaching profession

This study aims to develop a model for comparing different forms of teacher autonomy in various national contexts and at different times. Understanding and explaining local differences and global similarities in the teaching profession in a globalized world require conceptions that contribute to further theorization of comparative and international education. Drawing on a governance perspective and building on considerations of curriculum evaluation, the study argues that teacher autonomy is a crucial factor that has to be conceptualized in its national and historical contexts. It presents an examination of the teaching profession from both an institutional and service perspective. In both perspectives, teacher autonomy, framed by curriculum evaluation, can be regarded as both extended and restricted, but not necessarily at the same time. This point of view enables us to discuss different forms of autonomy in relation to each other. To support this idea, the study discusses cases of teachers in various contexts of time and space.     

近十年来美英日三国学前教师教育改革初探

近十年来,美英日三国注重改革学前教师教育,以促进幼儿教师的专业发展,提高幼儿教育的质量。尽管三国的学前教师教育改革存在着一些差异,但都具有如下共同特征:在职前培养改革方面,着力培养学生的实践能力;在入职培训改革方面,强调培养新教师胜任教学的能力;在在职培训改革方面,注重提高教师的专业化水平。这些经验对当前我国学前教师教育改革具有重要的借鉴意义。     

Collaborative teacher professional development in schools in England (UK) and Shanghai (China): cultures,contexts and tensions

ABSTRACT

This mixed method research explores the contexts, purposes, forms, practices, and effects of school provided collaborative professional development (PD) as experienced by teachers working in primary and secondary schools in England and Shanghai. The research is part of a larger partnership pilot study by the University of Nottingham and Shanghai Normal University, which focused on opportunities for and experiences of participation in formally organized professional development, using as a point of departure the findings of the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2013 report of teachers’ perceptions of their professional development. Given the differences between the two jurisdictions in their PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) rankings, and between national cultures, teacher expectations and conditions of work, professional development purposes, forms and practices in schools might be expected to differ. The research found that there was a similar emphasis in both jurisdictions upon ‘functional’ rather than ‘attitudinal’ oriented professional development, but that teachers in Shanghai schools experienced more of the latter than those in the English schools studied. Such differences in the relative emphasis between the two jurisdictions upon the ‘attitudinal’, challenge the benefits of focusing collaborative professional development primarily upon the ‘functional’ in English schools.     

Adapting the boundaries in primary physical education: an account of my learning,my educational influence and improved practice

In this paper I explore how I have come to theorise my work as a critical emancipatory practice as a lecturer in primary physical education (PE). I give an account of what I understand to be the epistemological foundations and practices of practitioner research and my potential educational influence in my own and other practitioner-researchers’ learning. I explain how I have generated my living educational theory of practice and discuss the changes in my learning from a propositional approach towards a dynamic epistemology of practice that is grounded in inclusional and dialogical ways of knowing. Within my paper I position myself as a professional educator and researcher, and share the exciting and transformational experiences of teaching and learning in evolving action research cycles of practice. I view my learning to date as an active act, working with the novice teachers I support to offer improvement and change in our future practice. I celebrate my reconceptualised view of education as a learner from within my practice and explain my move from knowledge transfer to knowledge co-creation. I make an original contribution to educational knowledge by explaining how I try to inspire others to research their practice and contribute to a new scholarship of educational enquiry.     

The educational aims of the OECD in its TALIS insight and lesson reports: exploring societal orientations

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to explore the societal orientations (individualist vs. collectivist) of educational aims, in constructions of teacher professionalism framed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) insight and lesson reports. The critical discourse analysis of OECD TALIS documents suggests that the OECD discourse on teacher professionalism attested to a dual orientation: individualist and anti-collectivist. Our results contribute to the theoretical understanding of the educational aims of the OECD, which lead the global discourse in education, and of the cultural orientation that is part of its conceptualization of new professional teaching. The article discusses the implications of its findings.     

Tool-mediated authentic learning in an educational technology course: a designed-based innovation

This design-based research project is concerned with the design, development and deployment of interactive technological learning environments to support contemporary education. The use of technologies in education often replicates instructivist positions and practices. However, the use of Cultural Historical Activity Theory (C), authentic learning (A), and educational technologies as tools (T) to mediate learning provides an integrated CAT framework to design and use learning experiences that transform not only individuals but also their world view. The work reports on the design, redesign, and evaluation of an honors course on the use of information communication technologies in teaching and learning. Analyses identified a number of design principles useful in conceiving learning tasks to support the theoretical framework. The CAT framework fosters the use of learning mediation through the use of educational tools that support collective knowledge construction of individuals and their communities, rather than replicate the use of technology for instruction.     

东南亚地区教师地位与教师专业发展的形势与策略——对联合国教科文组织报告的解读

为应对社会经济和技术飞速发展对教育质量提出的新要求,实现全民教育目标,东南亚地区各国注重教师地位的提高和教师专业性的提升,提升教师专业性也成为切实提高教师地位的重要途径。为此,东南亚地区各国应根据本地区形势采取有效的行动策略。