A fair game or no contest? Contested identities in teacher education

The narrative of one ethnic minority early childhood student teacher tells of her journey as she (re)constructs her identities as a Cook Island woman and as a pre-service teacher, during a teacher education course in New Zealand. This story conveys her experiences of learning across different pedagogical paradigms. Findings show that teacher education lecturers can significantly enhance the learning experience for ethnic minority pre-service teachers by incorporating existing knowledges and understandings in course content and delivery.     

Boffin and geek identities: abject or privileged?

High achievement, and in particular, the role of the academically diligent and successful ‘boffin’ or ‘geek’, are notably under-researched areas in the sociology of education. Issues around gender and other aspects of identity in relation to such pupils are particularly under-researched. In this Viewpoint article we draw on evidence from our recent research projects including young people interpolated to, or identifying with, the subject position of ‘boffin/geek’ and media representations of such positions. We debate some tensions between our work, drawing out shared findings. The article considers issues around capital, experience, and the extent of exclusion/inclusion for boffins/geeks, discussing to what extent such young people can be considered marginalised and abjected or agentic and privileged. We argue that structural factors such as gender, social class, ‘race’, age, and institutional location impact on these constructions and outcomes.     

Accountability or authenticity? The alignment of professional development and teacher evaluation

The alignment of professional development and teacher evaluation has been a growing concern in teacher professional development practices. The issue of how teacher evaluation can help authentic professional development is important in that teachers only learn what is real, useful and valuable to them. Based on our reflections on current professional development in Taiwan, this article challenges the dominant evaluation-led approach to professional development, in which much attention and energy of policy-makers and educators is devoted to establishing extensive programmes and standards that might not be relevant to teachers’ concerns. We draw upon Habermas’ notion of system and lifeworld to sense-make and to theorise why it can be difficult for teachers to engage the entirety of their personhood with a policy agenda of pursuing system integration and efficiency whereby teachers’ learning actions become strategic. We argue for considering teacher development from an alternative, lifeworld perspective in which teachers and teachers’ subjectivities in striving to achieve what matters and makes sense to them are placed centre stage. Although the evaluation mechanism plays a role in avoiding the devolution of professional development into mere subjectivism, it is reductive to treat teacher professional development not only as distinct but also as requiring evaluation items and overlooking the importance of maintaining teacher development as a tacit, authentic process of knowing. We finally juxtapose the two approaches and their contrasting characteristics and describe implications for planning teacher professional development so that policy-makers and educators can reflect on their mindsets and implementation and modify their programme planning and strategies accordingly.     

Re-imagining teachers’ identity and professionalism under the condition of international education

Around the world, 4.3 million students are engaged in international education each year. However, there is a paucity in theory and empirical research on teachers’ professionalism in international education. This paper aims to fill out this gap and contribute to our understanding of teachers’ changing roles and identity due to the impact of internationalisation and the growth of international students. Drawing on positioning theory as a conceptual framework to understand teachers’ roles and identity, this paper shows the emergence of teacher sub-identities as a reciprocal intercultural learner and an adaptive agent. It argues that these sub-identities are central to teachers’ development of cosmopolitan qualities in the contemporary context of international education.     

Changing and/or reinscribing gendered discourses of team leadership in education?

In this article, prevailing professional, business and managerial discourses of team leadership are ‘troubled’ by some feminist critiques and analyses of collectivity and gendered discursive relations of power. I draw on a study of primary school co‐principalships to describe and reflect on Karen’s (a pseudonym) accounts of her personal and shared leadership practices within a three teacher co‐principalship. The article indicates how feminist consciousness, politics and relationships can contribute to social, cultural and organizational change within ‘mainstream’ institutions. ¹ 1. I am grateful to the reviewers of this article, one of whom made this point. View all notes It also explores how pre‐constructed discourses about gender, class and leadership, can be unwittingly stitched back into an individual’s collaborative practices, limiting the potential for democratic change. My aim is to contribute to the kind of work called for by Davies when she argued that if we are alerted to the work being done by the various discourses we are invoking, then we can more effectively reflect on how limiting and disempowering discursive constructions can be challenged and changed.     

Towards a learning or a certified society? Contradictions in the New Labour modernization of lifelong learning

This paper examines the ‘Learning Society’ goal espoused by the new Labour government and inherited from preceding Conservative administrations. Section one notes the wide‐ranging consensus on this Learning Society target. Agreement reaches further than education and training (learning) policy to include other areas of policy associated with the proposed reform of the welfare state. Whether the social and administrative changes under previous Conservative governments ‐ changes that can be conceptualized in different ways the paper briefly indicates ‐ amount to the end of the welfare state is discussed in section two. The position of post‐compulsory or ‘lifelong’ learning in relation to compulsory or ‘foundation’ learning in the new ‘post‐welfare’ or Contracting State is then discussed in section three. Contradictions in New Labour's programme of modernizing lifelong learning are exposed. In conclusion, the question is posed how far a New Labour government will be prepared to reverse previous Conservative substitution of the market for representative democracy in the new type of Contracting State, or whether it will merely extend and further consolidate it. Throughout, evidence is presented, particularly from post‐compulsory education and training, to argue that the new government is bent upon pursuing the latter option.     

Being a ‘professional’ primary school teacher at the beginning of the 21st century: a comparative analysis of primary teacher professionalism in New Zealand and England

This article analyses findings from two studies conducted collaboratively across two educational settings, New Zealand and England, in 2001–2002. These studies examined the impact of national educational policy reforms on the nature of primary teachers’ work and sense of their own professionalism and compared these impacts across the two countries. Adopting a policy ethnography approach, using in‐depth interview data from samples of teachers in each country, it is argued that there have been discursive shifts in the meaning of the three key terms, autonomy, altruism and knowledge, embodied in the classical professionalism triangle. These shifts reflect policy‐makers’ moves from a ‘professional‐contextualist’ conception of teacher professionalism towards the ‘technocratic‐reductionist’ conception that accompanies neo‐liberal educational reforms in many countries. Teachers in both countries experienced increasing constraints on their autonomy as they became far more subject to ‘extrinsic’ accountability demands. Whether these demands were perceived as enhancing or diminishing teacher professionalism depended on the manner in which they were filtered through the profession’s defining quality, namely teachers’ altruistic concerns for the welfare of the children in their care.     

Developing teacher professionalism for teaching socio-scientific issues: What and how should teachers learn?

Cultural Studies of Science Education - This commentary reinterprets the findings of Macalalag, Johnson, and Lai’s study in terms of the substantive content of and ways of initiating...     

Contested discourses of teacher professionalism: current tensions between education policy and teachers’ union

This article addresses constructions and redefinitions of teacher professionalism by focusing on the discursive negotiations between the government and the teachers’ union in Norway. Based on an examination of three white papers on teacher education from the past 15?years and policy documents put forth by the Union of Education Norway during the past decade, the authors argue that new constructions of teacher professionalism are produced both by the government and from within the teachers’ union. However, there are differences between the government and the teachers’ union concerning what the main aspects of teacher professionalism are. The government emphasises teacher accountability, research-based practice and specialisation. By contrast, the teachers’ union highlights research-informed practice, responsibility for educational quality and professional ethics. There are three main areas of discursive struggle focused by the teachers’ union: the resistance to accountability policies, the redefining of research-based practice and the lengthening of teacher education. The authors argue that the teachers’ union is adopting an increasingly more active approach, thereby also challenging the idea that the teachers’ union is less interested in developing and taking responsibility for the quality of school education.     

Science teacher candidates’ perceptions about roles and nature of scientific models

Background: Scientific models have important roles in science and science education. For scientists, they provide a means for generating new knowledge or function as an accessible summary of scientific studies. In science education, on the other hand, they are accessible representations of abstract concepts, and are also organizational frameworks to teach and learn inaccessible facts. As being indispensable parts of learning and doing science, use of scientific models in science classes should be reinforced. At this point, uncovering pre-service science teachers’ (PSTs) understandings of scientific models are of great importance since they will design and conduct teaching situations for their students. Purpose: The study aimed to provide an answer to the research question: What understandings do PSTs possess about scientific models? Sample: The sample of the study consisted of 14 PSTs enrolled in an Elementary Science Education program in a public university in Ankara, Turkey. Design and methods: Data were collected by using an open-item instrument and semi-structured interviews, and were analyzed by using qualitative data analysis methods. Results: Findings showed that PSTs held fragmented views of models by having informed views in some aspects while having naïve views on others. That is, although they displayed a constructivist orientation by acknowledging the presence of multiple models for the same phenomenon depending on scientists’ perspectives or creativity involved in the production of scientific knowledge, PSTs also expressed logical positivist views by believing that models should be close to the real phenomena that they represent. Findings further revealed that PSTs generally conceptualized models’ materialistic uses, yet they did not think much about their theoretical and conceptual uses. It was observed that roles like reifying and visualizing were overestimated and models were dominantly characterized as three-dimensional representations. Conclusions: It is clear that PSTs, having difficulties in grasping the concept of models, would possibly have problems in planning their lessons effectively and would not develop accurate concepts in their students. These findings apparently support the need for appropriate pedagogic training of PSTs to scientifically reflect on and professionally make use of models in science classes.     

Changing classroom practice at Key Stage 2: the impact of New Labour’s national strategies

The article examines the impact of New Labour policies—particularly the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies and the subsequent Primary National Strategy—on classroom practice at Key Stage 2 in England. Evidence is drawn from fieldwork conducted in 2003–2005 from a sample of 50 schools, replicating a study conducted a decade previously in the same schools. The data base consists mainly of 188 transcribed in‐depth teacher interviews and fieldnotes from observation of 51 lessons. By comparison with other research studies on primary classroom practice from the 1970s through to the mid‐1990s, our study suggests that there have been more changes in the last five years in teaching styles and in classroom organisation throughout the whole curriculum at KS2 than in the previous two decades. Such changes include a dramatic increase in whole‐class teaching, the use of learning objectives shared with pupils and changes in pupil seating arrangements. Through compliance with centrally imposed changes in pedagogy, teachers’ experiences have led them to change some of their professional values concerning desirable pedagogy. The article concludes by considering some of the implications of our evidence for theories of educational change and of teacher professionalism.     

The decline of teacher autonomy: Tears or cheers?

In the United States teacher autonomy has been declining for at least a decade. This decline can be attributed in large part to three factors. First, uniform staff development programmes based on research on effective teaching have become widespread. Second, classroom observations have become an integral part of imposed teacher evaluations. Third, school principals have been called on to assume the role of instructional leader. While some may perceive the decline of teacher autonomy negatively, at least two benefits of this decline have been identified. First, a common language by which teachers can discuss the problems and potential of instruction and teaching among themselves and with school administrators is developing. Second, the likelihood that teachers will achieve a truly professional status is enhanced. Many educators write as if the natural result of a decline in teacher autonomy is standardization; that is, the cloning of teachers. This article negates such pessimism. Teacher autonomy, like many educational variables, exists along a continuum. As a consequence, a midpoint on the autonomy continuum — a balance between uniqueness and standardization, between license and responsibility — is the desirable state of affairs. Finally, autonomy should be earned by teachers, not simply given to them. In this regard, greater concern should be given to teachers' preparation for, and induction into, their roles as school teachers. Similarly, increases in autonomy should mirror increases in teacher status; status defined in terms of teacher experience, expertise, and excellence.

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Zusammenfassung In den Vereinigten Staaten ist die Autonomie der Lehrer im letzten Jahrzehnt gesunken. Drei Faktoren sind die hauptsächlichen Ursachen dafür: Erstens sind einheitliche, auf Untersuchungen über wirksame Unterrichtsmethoden basierende Personalentwicklungsprogramme derzeit weit verbreitet. Zweitens sind Beobachtungen im Klassenzimmer zu einem integralen Bestandteil vorgeschriebener Lehrerbeurteilungen geworden. Drittens sind die Schulleiter aufgefordert worden, die Rolle der Unterrichtsanleiter (instructional leader) zu übernehmen. Während einerseits die zunehmend eingeschränkte Autonomie der Lehrer negativ beurteilt wird, lassen sich zumindestens zwei Vorteile aus dieser Minderung ableiten. Erstens wird eine gemeinsame Sprache entwickelt, in der Lehrer über die Probleme und das Potential der Lehre und des Unterrichts miteinander und/oder mit den Schulverwaltern kommunizieren können. Zweitens verstärkt sich die Wahrscheinlichkeit, daß Lehrer einen wirklich professionellen Status erreichen. Viele Pädagogen schreiben, als ob die natürliche Folge einer verminderten Autonomie der Leher eine Standardisierung bedeute, d.h. das Klonen von Lehrern. Dieser Artikel verneint einen solchen Pessimismus. Wie viele andere pädagogischen Variablen besteht die Autonomie der Lehrer in einem Kontinuum. Folglich ist der wünschenswerte Zustand in Form eines Mittelwerts des Autonomiekontinuums — d.h. eine Balance zwischen Einzigartigkeit und Standardisierung, zwischen Lehrfreiheit und Verantwortung. Ferner sollten sich Lehrer ihre Autonomie verdienen, anstatt daß sie ihnen automatisch übertragen wird. In diesem Sinne sollte der Lehrervorbereitung und deren Einführung in die Rolle des Schullehrers ein größeres Gewicht beigemessen werden. Ebenso sollte sich der Zuwachs an Autonomie in einem Anwachsen des Lehrerstatus wiederspiegeln. Status ist hier zu verstehen im Sinne von Lehrererfahrung, Sachverständigkeit und Vortrefflichkeit.

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Résumé L'autonomie de l'enseignant aux Etats Unis va en déclinant depuis dix ans au moins. Ce déclin peut être attribué en grande partie à trois facteurs. Tout d'abord, les programmes de développement d'un personnel uniforme basés sur la recherche relative à l'efficacité de l'enseignement se sont répandus. Puis, les observations de classes font à présent partie intégrante des évaluations globales des enseignants. Enfin on a demandé aux directeurs d'assumer le rôle de responsables en matière d'instruction. Alors que certains perçoivent de façon négative la restriction de l'autonomie de l'enseignant, deux avantages au moins ont été identifiés. Premièrement, la langue commune avec laquelle les enseignants peuvent discuter des problèmes et du potentiel de l'instruction et de l'enseignement entre eux ainsi qu'avec le personnel administratif connaît un développement. Deuxièmement, les chances d'obtenir un vrai statut professionel sont renforcées pour les enseignants. De nombreux enseignants écrivent comme si le résultat naturel d'une perte d'autonomie de l'enseignant signifiait une standardisation, c'est-à-dire une reproduction exacte de la même espèce. Cet article réfute un tel pessimisme. L'autonomie de l'enseignant suit un continuum, comme de nombreuses variables éducatives du reste. En conséquence, le point central du continuum d'autonomie — l'équilibre entre le caractère unique et la standardisation, entre l'autorisation et la responsabilité — est une situation souhaitable. Enfin, l'autonomie devrait être acquise par les enseignants, et non leur être simplement offerte. A ce propos, un plus grand intérêt devrait être accordé à la formation des enseignants, à leur entrée dans leur rôle d'instructeur. Parallèlement, une croissance de l'autonomie devrait refléter une amélioration du statut de l'enseignant, statut défini en termes d'expérience en matière d'enseignement, de compétences et de perfection.

     

Attending to changing landscapes: Shaping the interwoven identities of teachers and teacher educators †

Teachers, in Canada and elsewhere, live and work on school landscapes being shifted by globalization, immigration, demographics, economic disparities and environmental changes. Within those landscapes teachers find themselves struggling to compose lives that allow them to live with respect and dignity in relation with children, youth and families. In places in Canada, increasing numbers of teachers are leaving after only a few years of teaching. In this paper we take up questions about the stories teachers tell of their leaving and about what we can learn about our work as teacher educators from listening to, and inquiring into, their stories. Considering the inter-relatedness of our lives as teacher educators with teachers, we also inquire into our shifting landscapes as teacher educators. We discuss possible spaces we might collaboratively shape with teachers as they, and we, attempt to sustain our stories to live by on these shifting landscapes.     

Do teacher characteristics matter? New results on the effects of teacher preparation on student achievement

Research fairly consistently demonstrates that teachers are an important measurable factor in student learning, yet few teacher characteristics are shown to be consistently related to student achievement. Using a state administrative dataset that matches individual students to their teachers over time, I find that math teachers’ undergraduate performance, as measured by GPA (overall, math, and math education) and course hours (math and math education), is predictive of 5th grade math achievement. The effects of the teacher characteristics are mediated by years of experience and vary according to student types.     

What future for initial teacher education? New curriculum and new directions

This article analyses aspects of the implementation of the National Curriculum for initial teacher training (ITT). It focuses on the impact of the standards upon course design and structure and particularly the emphasis on the development of subject knowledge. The assessment of students in terms of subject knowledge and the standards for qualified teacher status (QTS) are explored alongside the development of partnership schools and mentoring programmes. The impact of external agencies such as OFSTED and the TTA is included in the discussion. Future implications for primary and secondary ITT programmes are considered.     

In,out or somewhere in between? Disabled students' and teacher aides' experiences of school

Disabled students' entry to the (compulsory) education system in New Zealand is often conditional upon the presence of untrained teacher aides, who are frequently regarded as the ‘solution to inclusion’. This widespread practice has occurred within a research and policy void, despite the growing body of international research literature that contests its efficacy and equity. Drawing from the findings of a qualitative study, the purpose of this paper is to develop an understanding of the school experiences of disabled students, from their and teacher aides' perspectives. Interpreted within a framework of current disability, social justice and sociology of childhood theorising, the findings are presented as a continuum of educational contexts, in which students (and aides) were (1) fully included in all aspects of school, (2) partly included/assimilated in aspects of school life, and (3) excluded from regular school. The findings are consistent with those of international research in illuminating the pivotal, complex and ambiguous role that aides play in both helping and hindering disabled students' educational presence, participation and achievement. The paper concludes with an outline of changes that may be instrumental in bringing about a more inclusive education system for all students.     

Effective teacher? Student self-evaluation of development and progress on a teacher education programme

This article examines 28 teachers’ views about their teacher education requirements. The participants were enrolled on a one-year full-time pre-service teacher education programme with a focus on post-compulsory education and training. The study examines how student teachers’ self-evaluations against aspects of teaching professional practice changed, developed and evolved over the duration of the course. The results reveal a statistically significant improvement in self-evaluation when all areas of professional expertise are considered. In addition, the study reports a decline, as the programme progresses, in student-assessed need to learn about specific aspects of teaching.