The impact of an Irish‐medium education option in initial teacher training on a third level institution

Abstract

This paper is based on a small‐scale study carried out to evaluate the change situation that arose in a Belfast third level institution with the introduction of an Irish‐medium option in initial teacher training within the BEd degree in 1996. Data were collected from stakeholders by way of questionnaire and semi‐structured interviews with a focus on four aspects. The first of those aspects was the change's impact on the institution. Stakeholders’ perceptions of the change was the second aspect and included academic staff, management, students taking the Irish‐medium option and head‐teachers in Irish‐medium schools. The third aspect was the way in which the academic staff coped with the change situation and the fourth was the likely future of the provision. The paper reports on recommendations around both the use of a second language as a teaching medium in teacher training and striking a balance between subject‐content and language teaching in teacher training for Irish‐medium education.     

The Effects of Teachers’ Training on Pupils’ Achievement: The Case of Elementary Schools in France

This investigation examines the effects of teachers’ training on pupils’ achievement in French and mathematics. The aim of the research is to compare the effectiveness of three samples of elementary school teachers with different levels of experience and training. Using a multilevel model, the results demonstrate that training enhances the effectiveness of novice teachers. In addition, experience was also found to have a positive effect. Neither training nor experience have a significant effect on equity, defined as the capacity of reducing the initial gap between high and low achieving pupils.     

Student teachers' conceptions and evaluations of ‘theory’ in initial teacher training (ITT)

This article reports findings from a small-scale study of secondary student teachers' evaluations of one-year, postgraduate initial teacher training (ITT) programmes in England [1]. Data were collected via in-depth interviews with 16 student teachers and self-complete questionnaires completed by 224 student teachers from four training courses in central and northern England. The findings suggest that, in line with studies conducted prior to the shift towards school-based training in the early 1990s, some student teachers today remain unconvinced about the utility of ‘theoretical’ components of their training courses. The author examines what some student teachers mean and understand by ‘theory’, suggests a three-fold typology of student teachers, relating to their approaches to learning to teach, and considers some implications for the tutoring process in ITT.     

The impact of the social environment on the student teacher’s agency

This paper explores the agency of student teachers during the Post/Professional Graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) year at a Higher Education Institution in England. It presents part of the findings of a year-long investigation into the reflective practice of student teachers during the PGCE year. The multi-method study includes surveying student teachers (n = 101) and longitudinal interviews with student teachers (n = 6). One of the aims of the study was to investigate the impact of the social environment on the student teacher. The research analysis found that the complex environment the student teachers exist in can be both supportive and constraining.     

‘Elite’ career-changers and their experience of initial teacher education

This study explores the motivation of ‘high-status’ professionals to change career and enter teaching, and their experience of undertaking initial teacher education (ITE) programmes in England. The study builds on previous research which found that career-changers are disproportionately more likely to fail to complete their ITE studies, and that those who do complete the transition into teaching frequently experience frustration with some aspects of induction and often feel undervalued by their new colleagues. The participants in this study were largely positive about most aspects of their ITE experience, and felt their professional background enabled them to be resilient when faced with the challenges of transitioning from being an expert in one domain to novice in another. However, they report variable experiences of mentoring, and for some, a sense of their previous experience being under-appreciated by ITE tutors and schools. The study also finds little evidence of personalisation built into ITE programmes to take account of the distinctive needs of career-changers. This paper concludes that the current policy focus adopted in England and in many other countries on entry quality may detract from the more fundamental issue of ensuring ITE programmes provide the flexible and personalised professional learning environments that enable a diverse range of entrants to flourish.     

Wittgenstein on training: Comment on Norm Friesen’s ‘Training and Abrichtung’: Wittgenstein as a tragic philosopher of education?

The view of Wittgenstein as a ‘tragic’ philosopher of education is examined. Friesen’s claim rests on an interpretation of the way in which Wittgenstein uses the German term ‘Abrichtung’. This involves the claim that Wittgenstein saw training activities closely analogous to the breaking of an animal’s will. Close examination of various of the later texts of Wittgenstein and comparison of the original German with the English translation does not bear out this claim. Wittgenstein used ‘Abrichtung’ and related terms in his own way and for his own purposes. The picture that emerges from an overview of Wittgenstein’s use of these terms is that he sees training as a variegated rather than a single kind of activity.     

In the Lion's Den? Pupils and school-based initial teacher training

Although school-based initial teacher training (ITT) has been studied extensively, little attention has been paid to the subject of this paper: its impact on pupils. The findings reported here are part of a larger investigation into the costs and benefits of ITT in secondary schools. This paper explores the implications of school-based ITT for pupils from the perspective of four groups of teachers: two groups with formal mentoring responsibilities; class teachers with no designated role in the mentoring processes and headteachers. Their views on matters such as effects on pupil discipline, pupil motivation, curriculum continuity and parental perceptions of a school are examined. Received wisdom on some of these topics is cast in an unexpected light by the results reported here.     

The impact of structured on-the-job training (S-OJT) on a trainer’s organizational commitment

The purpose of this study was to examine the causal relationships between S-OJT trainer preparation, self-efficacy as a trainer, trainers’ delivery of S-OJT, and organizational commitment as a consequence of employing S-OJT. This study proposed a theoretical model from the review of related literature and then empirically investigated the fitness of the proposed model. This study was conducted in a life insurance company in Korea. A questionnaire was distributed to 334 randomly selected S-OJT trainers in Seoul. There were 235 usable questionnaires. structural equation modeling and principal factor analysis were applied to conduct a data analysis. The results showed that the chi-square was significant, along with good model fit indices. As a result, the causal links in the proposed model were established and these results fully supported the study hypotheses. Finally, the study discussed some implications for HRD, focusing on S-OJT.     

The impact of vision impairment on students’ self-concept

This study investigated the self-concept of students with vision impairment who were placed in specialist and mainstream educational settings in South Australia. Self-Concept was explored across six dimensions, namely Physical, Moral, Personal, Family, Social and Academic Self-Concepts and the Total Self-Concept. The ‘Tennessee Self-Concept Scale: Second Edition’ was administered to 25 students with vision impairment (13 females and 12 males). Participating students’ age ranged between 15 and 25 years and they were included from all levels of vision impairment. The visual acuity of the participants ranged from 6/18 or less (low vision) to 3/60 and less (blindness). Although the majority of the students with vision impairment obtained low scores on all dimensions of self-concept, namely physical, moral, personal, family, social and academic, some students obtained normal scores in relation to family and academic self-concepts. There were no significant differences between female and male students with vision impairment across the six dimensions of self-concept and thus total self-concept. These findings have implications for teachers, special educators, policy-makers and a range of professionals in the education and special education sector in enabling greater understanding of the self-concept accomplishment of the students with vision impairment. However, this study has limited scope for generalisation of the study's conclusions due to the study's small population sample size.     

Differential effects of a long teacher training internship on students’ learning-to-teach patterns

To become a lifelong learner as a teacher, student teachers already have to learn how to direct their own learning during initial teacher education programmes. Previous empirical research has shown that student teachers differ in their patterns of learning-to-teach, but few is known about the changeability of these learning patterns throughout teacher education and the role of teacher training internships in this. In this study, the changes in student teachers’ patterns of learning-to-teach amongst pre-service teachers were investigated using a longitudinal design. 253 student teachers were asked to complete the ‘Inventory Learning To Teach Process’ questionnaire at two points during the last semester of a three-year teaching programme: immediately prior to and immediately following a long teacher training internship. The results of this study demonstrate that learning-to-teach patterns are subject to a relative degree of change. In particular, survival-oriented student teachers appear to have undergone a greater degree of change after the long teacher training internship.     

Is the remedy worse than the disease? The impact of teacher remediation on teacher and student performance in Chile

I study the impact of remedial training for low-performing teachers in Chile. Taking advantage of the fact that assignment to remediation is mainly based on teacher evaluation scores, I use a fuzzy regression discontinuity design and find that teachers barely assigned to remediation improve their pedagogical practices as measured by their next evaluation scores. While there is suggestive evidence that these teachers’ students obtain higher standardized test scores after the training is complete, this result is not robust, and the suggestive positive impact disappears after one year. I also find that during the year of their teacher’s reevaluation, the students of teachers assigned to remedial training obtain significantly lower test scores. Teachers assigned to remediation report lower prestige and job satisfaction, suggesting that the stigma of being labeled as a low performer leads teachers to put more effort into preparing their teaching evaluations, causing a temporary drop in student learning.     

Narratives of ‘doing,knowing, being and becoming’: examining the impact of an attachment-informed approach within initial teacher education

The Scottish Government’s vision of improving outcomes for children prioritises attachment theory and research in promoting children’s well-being across children’s services. This theme is also noted as increasing international relevance. Our narrative research springs from the experience of designing and delivering the first course within initial teacher education in Scotland to focus on the application of attachment theory to the role and identity of the teacher – particularly, in supporting children vulnerable through experiences of trauma and adversity. We capture students’ ‘real time’ learning moments through reflective journaling during school experience within the analytic ‘Doing, knowing, being and becoming’. Emergent themes include: looking behind and responding to behaviours, making links with ‘lived lives’, understanding teachers’ potential as attachment figures and ‘secure base’, understanding the relevance of adult attachment theory and resilience/self-care to teachers’ emotions and their own attachment experiences.     

Educative mentors? The role of classroom teachers in initial teacher education. A New Zealand study

Classroom experience is an important part of initial teacher education (ITE) and the teachers who work with student teachers in schools have a significant impact on learning in this context. While many studies have documented what the role of these teachers should be, it is also important to consider how the role is conceptualised by the teachers themselves. This qualitative study compares the views of New Zealand primary school teachers with that of an ITE provider. The findings show some differences among the teachers and significant differences between classroom teachers’ interpretations of their role and the expectations of the ITE provider. Teacher interpretations are firmly held and there is more work to be done to explore understandings of educative mentoring and so develop a coherent shared vision of roles in the practicum community.     

Does school‐based initial teacher training affect secondary school performance?

This article investigates the effects of trainee teachers on secondary school student outcomes. The additional resources which schools receive from being involved in teacher training offer them an opportunity to raise standards, but this has to be set against the possible losses due to school students being taught by inexperienced beginning teachers and the diversion of mentors' efforts away from the classroom. Inspection evidence is used to assess whether trainee teachers affect school students' test and examination results. The findings of this research are that the number of trainees has no significant effect on school results at A‐level or General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE), or on the overall value added between Key Stage 3 and GCSE level. However, at Key Stage 3 level at age 14, while there appears to be a very small depressing effect on achievement in schools with low numbers of trainees, there is a significant positive effect on achievement in schools with larger numbers of trainees.     

The impact of educational development workshops on teachers’ practice

Abstract

Workshops are common practice as a staff and educational development tool in higher education around the world, yet while it is common to seek participants’ immediate reactions there been little attempt made to measure their impact. This paper reviews the available literature on the effectiveness of workshops and reports the findings of a study in to the effectiveness of 33 workshops delivered by the Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development over a four month period. The study used questionnaires at the end of the workshops and four months later, and these were followed up by telephone interviews with a sample of participants. The study demonstrates that workshops can lead to changes in practice, and that these changes are themselves deemed to be successful by those involved. In addition, where at the end of a workshop participants report that they are likely to make changes this can be used as a reasonably accurate predictor of subsequent change. The features of workshops identified in end‐of‐workshop questionnaires which are linked with likelihood of subsequent change are also reported.