Is the world their oyster? The global imagination of pre-service teachers

This paper reports on a qualitative interview study with eleven pre-service primary teachers in Queensland about their career plans, exploring whether, and how, a global imagination motivates this next generation of teachers. The study is framed within sociological theory of globalisation, with regard to the growing possibilities for international mobility for work purposes, and the new life circumstances that make this imaginable. Teaching as a profession has changed and teachers are no longer as entangled with specific systems or geographical locations anymore. International recruitment campaigns are shown to pursue pre-service teachers during their university preparation. The analysis of the interview data reveals the kind of impact these possibilities make on how pre-service teachers imagine their career, and what other considerations enhance or limit their global imagination. The findings are used to reflect on the highly localised governance of pre-service teacher preparation and the limited State-bound imaginaries to which these pre-service teachers are unnecessarily confined in their preparation.     

Pre-service teachers' reasons for choosing teaching as a career in Singapore

As the national teacher education institute in Singapore, the National Institute of Education (NIE) prepares all teachers seeking to be employed within the education service in Singapore. In the last decade, NIE's enrolment for initial teacher preparation programmes has grown significantly, with peaks in numbers during the recession years. There is also some evidence of attrition when beginning teachers complete their 3-year bond with the Ministry of Education, which sponsors their teacher education programme. It is thus important to determine empirically the reasons why pre-service teachers join the teaching profession, to see whether this can inform us about measures that can be taken to ensure they stay on in the profession. As part of a longitudinal study on beginning teachers' attitudes towards teaching and professional development, a research survey, the first of three data collections, was administered to whole cohorts of pre-service teachers entering NIE's three main teacher preparation programmes in July 2004. This paper presents the survey findings on pre-service teachers' reasons for choosing teaching as a career and discusses the differences between cohorts of different programmes. The implications of the study are discussed in terms of informing future policy and practice in the areas of teacher recruitment, retention and professional development.     

Analysing the socio-psychological construction of identity among pre-service teachers

A teacher’s representation of self is crucial in how they construct their identity. In this article, it is argued that pre-service teachers’ identities are intricately linked to their perceptions of the teaching profession. This paper explores the social construction of identity among pre-service teachers and the implications for professional identity. It focuses on pre-service teachers in Kenya. The findings presented here are primarily based on semi-structured interviews distributed among students enrolled in a Kenyan university. They highlight pre-service teachers’ difficulty in overcoming the negative perceptions of the profession and building positive identities of self as teacher. They also underscore the need for training programmes that take perceptions and representations of the teaching profession into account when formulating training curricula.     

What factors support or inhibit secondary mathematics pre-service teachers’ implementation of problem-solving tasks during professional experience?

There is an acknowledged gap between the theory presented in university preparation programmes and the reality of classroom practice that has resulted in many secondary mathematics pre-service teachers failing to implement university-endorsed teaching strategies. Using responses to a questionnaire and interviews, this qualitative study examined the factors that support or inhibit secondary mathematics pre-service teachers’ implementation of problem-solving tasks during professional experience. The results showed that even though the majority of pre-service teachers reported having beliefs compatible with using problem-solving tasks, the secondary students’ ability, preparation time, and the cooperating teacher were key factors that inhibited pre-service teachers’ implementation of problem-solving tasks. It is recommended that pre-service teachers regularly visit classrooms to observe the evolving implementation of problem-solving approaches. Furthermore, cooperating teachers should be required to attend professional development before the professional experience so they understand the goals of the university preparation programme and have the requisite skills and knowledge to support the implementation of problem-solving tasks in learning mathematics.     

Thai pre-service science teachers engaging action research during their fifth year internship

As a key element in teacher education programmes, action research is a learning process in which pre-service teachers inquire, reflect on and improve their teaching practices. This qualitative study sought to understand what enhanced or hindered Thai pre-service teachers' action research projects during their student teaching. This study drew upon written reflections, focus-group interviews and observations of seminar sessions. Data analysis was inductive, involving categorical aggregation followed by a search for correspondence and patterns. The results indicated that the pre-service teachers misunderstood action research, and also held a negative attitude toward it, both of which led them to superficial analyses of practice. They struggled with time limitations, data gathering and interpretation strategies. In spite of the struggles they experienced, these pre-service science teachers did learn more about the action research through collaboratively working with cooperating teachers and university supervisors and on-campus seminar discussions held concurrently with the fifth year internship. Recognizing and understanding the reasons and thinking patterns at the root of these teachers' difficulties with learning about action research can form the basis for reflecting on and rethinking the components of science teacher preparation programmes in Thailand.     

Tensions in Teaching and Teacher Education: Professionalism and professionalisation in England and Canada

The argument in this article derives from a comparative case study of two pre-service teacher education programmes in England and in Canada. Using Goodson and Hargreaves' propositions about the seven principles of postmodern teacher professionalism, we discuss the tensions between government professionalisation agendas for teaching and teacher education, on the one hand, and on the other hand, the creation of conditions in schools and faculties of education in which professionalism is diminished or even systematically undermined. We extend the analysis to consider the particular tensions teacher educators experience as they manage competing definitions of professionalism within university and school contexts.     

A comparative study of two pre-service teacher preparation programmes in the USA and Romania

This article presents an overall exploratory comparison of two specific pre-service teacher preparation programmes at two research-intensive institutions of higher education in the USA and Romania. The main conclusions suggest that US and Romanian teacher candidates differ very little in their ratings of their respective programmes in terms of learning in the programme, preparation for general teaching and twenty-first century skills. The largest differences were recorded for the university supervisor and cooperating teacher constructs, which the US teacher candidates rated considerably higher than their Romanian peers, namely in the quality and extent of applied field and clinical experiences, which merit further exploration.     

Establishing a portfolio assessment framework for pre-service teachers: a multiple perspectives approach

In the field of initial teacher training, portfolios are widely used to assess pre-service teachers' performance as well as the outcomes of university-based teacher preparation programmes. However, little is known about the explicit design of portfolio assessment mechanisms in teacher preparation programmes. Issues related to the design and validation of portfolios for pre-service teacher assessment are a critical area of inquiry for the field of initial teacher training. In this study, perspectives were elicited from school trainee teachers and faculty from a secondary teacher preparation programme to examine the relationships identified among core competencies of a portfolio assessment framework and pre-service candidate learning outcomes. Comparative findings are presented about the relationships identified by the trainee teachers and faculty across the secondary education programme's portfolio core competencies and trainee learning outcomes. A discussion of the findings is presented with implications and future directions highlighted.     

Implementing a new science National Curriculum for England: how trainee teachers see the How Science Works strand in schools

This article reports empirical work conducted by three university teacher education providers into how a major revision of the science curriculum in England, the How Science Works strand, has been translated into practice for 14–16 year olds in schools. Data were collected from pre-service teachers about their understanding, experiences, perceived challenges and resourcing of How Science Works during their final school experience. The results indicate that implementation of How Science Works in schools lies on a spectrum between two extremes referred to as creative implementation and restricted implementation; a recognition that success with this new approach requires a fuller engagement in higher order thinking skills; and that the importance of differentiation is paramount if all pupils are to connect with the new curriculum. The article concludes that support is needed for major transitions in pedagogy with both serving and trainee teachers. This needs to start with teacher education and encompass teacher development, with greater involvement both in school and university programmes.     

Creating expansive learning opportunities in schools: the role of school leaders in initial teacher education partnerships

This article analyses the learning opportunities afforded pre-service teachers when participating in a primary school placement in London, England as part of their university teacher education course. Cultural historical activity theory is used as a theoretical framework to address how pre-service teacher learning opportunities are constructed. Building on a previous year-long ethnographic study which explored how and why pre-service teacher learning opportunities differed in school settings, this paper introduces a small scale pilot study. The study integrates developmental work research into an initial teacher education school/university partnership, and considers the role of the school leader in this. Possibilities for pre-service teachers, teachers and teacher educators to work together in a research process that is integral to an initial teacher education partnership are forwarded, with the aim of ensuring that critical enquiry and learning are kept at the forefront of the activity.     

Encouraging Pattern Language Development in a Pre-service Inclusive Education Course: A Comparative Study

This study investigated the ability of students in a pre-service teacher education course to deploy pattern language (or professional lexicon) related to specific inclusive teaching strategies. The study sought to determine whether there were differential effects of two approaches to learning, one based on a field-based placement (Applied Experience) and the other employing an embedded course design approach (Embedded Design). The results indicate that pattern language frequency and sophistication increased significantly over time. Results also indicate that pre-service teachers’ use and sophistication of pattern language differed according to the structure of the university learning approach employed. The findings are discussed within the context of Embedded Design theory and the role of Applied Experience in pre-service inclusive education, as well as within the context of building more rigorous teacher preparation programmes.     

Programme theory,programme documents and state standards in evaluating teacher education

Across the USA as well as worldwide, numerous universities offer teacher preparation programmes and award such degrees. However, there are no consistent valid or reliable indicators for determining the coherence and quality of these programmes. An effective way of starting to evaluate these programmes is by looking at their standards and their documents. The combination of both could be considered the basis on which all major decisions about the programme are based. Using the example of a Midwestern university in the USA, the purpose of this paper is to demonstrate a method of examining the coherence between the various sets of standards that university programmes have to adhere to (e.g. whether the teacher education standards of the university correspond to the standards for the state that the university is in, as well as to the programme documents). This article ends with some suggestions that could lead to a higher level of coherence within such programmes.     

Student Teachers' Perceptions of the Effectiveness of their Initial Preparation

What influences how well-prepared student teachers feel towards working in schools upon completion of their initial teacher preparation (ITP)? In order to investigate this question, we used a path analysis using data from a longitudinal study investigating the experiences of trainee and early career phase teachers in England. The data were generated via self-complete questionnaires and follow-up telephone interviews with 1,322 trainees. Those on undergraduate or school-based programmes felt better prepared to work as teachers than one-year postgraduate trainees, perhaps because the former give higher ratings of the quality of assessment of, and feedback received on, teaching practice, and because of the clarity of theory-practice links in programmes. Across different kinds of ITP programme, good relationships with school-based mentors significantly boosted trainees' confidence that their ITP had effectively prepared them for teaching. Trainees' motives for entering the profession and their initial concerns about and expectations of ITP also affected their perceptions of its effectiveness, by shaping the way they experienced aspects of their courses. Implications of these findings for policy and practice in teacher preparation are discussed.     

Genuine conversation: the enabler in good mentoring of pre-service teachers

This study confirms the role of genuine conversation as the enabler in good mentoring of pre-service teachers. The practicum plays an essential role in moving the pre-service teacher beyond learning about teaching to the practice of teaching. Yet the benefit of the practicum is often constrained by relational tensions, disappointment and frustrations for both the pre-service teacher and the mentor. The authors report on the findings drawn from stories and experiences of pre-service teachers and mentors as they participated in a final practicum in a range of Australian secondary schools. This paper uses social learning theory as a framework for understanding the key aspects of pre-service teacher mentoring: specifically, Wenger’s three interrelated concepts of mutual engagement, joint enterprise and shared repertoire. Conversation plays a critical role in these areas and hence enables successful practicum experiences. Recommendations to enhance professional conversations focus on strengthening the relationship through considered pre-service teacher placement, close school/university partnerships, mentor programmes and the selection of appropriate mentors.     

The Future of Teacher Education: Principles and prospects (1)

Teacher educators everywhere experience, and are concerned about, strained university-school relations. As feelings of unease and uncertainty intensify, pressures increase to re-jig teacher education programmes. Consequently, variations on the theme of teachers and teacher educators working together have emerged recently in an attempt to bridge the gulf between campus and the schools. These revisions can easily delude teacher educators into thinking that criticisms of teacher education have been countered and that the future is secured. Another interpretation is that these developments are signals that the logic of the traditional model is out of step with the times. Such signals point to the transformation and redefinition of institutions for a new kind of society. Relationships with historic partners-schools, employers, parents and teachers' unions-take on new meanings as universities and teacher education undergo reorganisation. Under these conditions, the leadership role of teacher education loses its legitimacy. Claims that university-based teacher education generates definitive teaching-related research and is the clearing-house for powerful knowledge about teaching and curriculum are no longer credible beyond the university. Further, universities and school systems increasingly judge their success by participation in an expanded global market. The inevitable outcome is a high degree of competition between (and variety in) teacher education programmes. In that environment, and with few political allies, the university-based teacher education model cannot easily survive as the principal form of teacher pre-service preparation. The challenge for teacher educators is to engage the forces that drive institutional change rather than expecting existing practices to guarantee the future. This paper proposes some principles for new approaches to teacher education that lie beyond present models. The inexorability of change and the unpredictability of the future are ideal conditions for recreating teacher education rather than celebrating its demise.     

Primary school student-teachers’ knowledge and understandings of child sexual abuse and its mandatory reporting

Teachers in many schools have only recently gained a new role to fulfil as mandatory reporters of child sexual abuse. However, little is known, and little literature has been found, on the preparation they receive, as student-teachers, for this significant role. This study examines a final-semester cohort of 81 Bachelor of Education (Primary School) student-teachers in Queensland, Australia, by questionnaire, on their knowledge and understandings of child sexual abuse and its mandatory reporting. Using quantitative and qualitative data, the results show that while these student-teachers have a substantial awareness of the role's importance, without gender or age differences, they are suffering a crucial lack of confidence in their ability to identify child sexual abuse, and also in their ability to respond appropriately to suspicions of it. This evidence may be useful to inform the development of more appropriate and effective pre-service education programmes, and departmental policy to ensure that teachers entering the profession are better prepared to deal with it. Thus, this study accords with a variety of imperatives in national and international government-sponsored research, policy and practices which are focussing on this timely, ubiquitous and costly issue, in addressing enhanced pre-service teacher preparation to respond more effectively to child sexual abuse and its mandatory reporting.     

Physics teachers: a holistic plan for professional education during both the pedagogical stage and the probation year

Despite the Bologna agreement implementation in 2008, teachers' education in Portugal has not changed significantly from earlier practice. The major modification in the requirements of master’s level teacher education programmes was the introduction of a strong component of educational research in a master’s degree; this is designed to replace an educational monograph in the typical 5-year ‘Licenciatura’. Both a professional one-year in-school pedagogical stage and a fifth year as a university student continue to be mandatory, as well as the stage co-supervision of the university and the school. However, existing government regulations imply that in the very near future the full professional education of teachers will have to be complemented with an in-service probation year conducted under the supervision of a school mentor. The current study has been designed to try to determine: (a) how the activities of the probation year should be organised in order to improve this stage of professional education; and (b) how probation years could be used to promote school–university partnerships that could provide for more effective in-service teacher education and/or possible shared educational action research. Drawing on the survey data from pre-service students from four different universities, novice teachers, stage supervisors and school principals, information was collected on the perceptions of the quality and scope of the professional education of future teachers from the beginning of their programmes through their pedagogical stage. A high degree of agreement among all the respondents enables us to point towards the perceived high quality of several components of the teacher education programmes, e.g, teachers’ ability to plan a lesson using different teaching strategies and the high value-accorded school–university collaborations. The results also show the weaknesses of other components, e.g, teachers’ skill with controlling badly behaved students and their ability to capture students’ attention and motivation. Based on these results and on our knowledge about the type of professional support needed to promote teaching practice, we conclude with a holistic plan designed for teachers’ professional education during the pre-service pedagogical stage and the in-service probation year.     

Continuities and Discontinuities: The transition from pre-service to first-year teaching

The study outlined in this paper is one element of a research project that was designed to determine, from the teachers' perspective, how their teacher preparation program influenced their development as teachers and how this development progressed in their beginning years within the profession. This paper then explores how a group of student-teachers who had completed their Dip. Ed. at Monash University described their own development during their transition into the teaching profession as they re-considered their pre-service teacher preparation program.     

When rural meets urban: the transfer problem Chinese pre-service teachers face in teaching practice

Traditional teacher education’s supposed failure to prepare prospective teachers for classroom realities (the transfer problem) is a widely discussed topic in the teacher education literature. Previous studies have focused on causal relationships between teaching and such factors as pre-service teacher education programmes, contextual factors in the practicum school, and transition shock; however, most of these studies have been set in developed countries, and have paid little attention to the interactions among such factors. This study, involving 35 East China Normal University pre-service teachers, explores the transfer problem in a rural/urban divide context, discusses the possible impacts of pre-service teachers’ previous educational experience (i.e. before teacher education) on their teaching, and examines the interactions among teachers’ previous education experience, teacher education, and practicum schools.     

Mapping changes in support: a longitudinal analysis of networks of pre-service mathematics and science teachers

In England teachers of secondary school mathematics and science are in short supply and it is important to understand how pre-service teachers develop and maintain networks of support during their training year and the impact these networks can have on their training outcomes. The purpose of this study is to examine how changes to the size and composition of these support networks during the training year are associated with programme outcomes. The paper draws on social network theory to examine the nature of the support networks that develop around each pre-service teacher, and examines how supportive ties were initiated, maintained, and broken over the course of the training year. A survey design was utilised to collect data at four time points across the 2014–2015 academic year from a total cohort of more than 75 pre-service teachers. At all four time points, participants were asked to nominate those peers and others to whom they had turned during the previous month for different aspects of support. Results showed that the size and composition of support networks changed over time with significant differences in the development of the networks between pre-service teachers on school-led and university-led programmes.