Living with CATE: the case of reflective student teachers

This paper considers the effect of the introduction of market forces into teacher education both in terms of the loss of autonomy on the part of the providers, the teacher educators, and in terms of the growth of ownership by the consumers, the student teachers, of their learning. Specifically it identifies the paradigms of teacher education which are absent from the Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (CATE) criteria, such as enquiry‐oriented teacher education, but which are important for promoting professional self‐awareness amongst teachers. This paper describes and evaluates an exercise undertaken by student teachers on a postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE) course which both promotes self‐reflection and meets some of the criteria set by CATE. It concludes that it is possible to promote self‐reflective teaching within the confines of the CATE criteria so long as certain procedures are followed.     

Mainstreaming education for sustainable development in initial teacher education in Australia: a review of existing professional development models

Initial teacher education provides a strategic opportunity for ensuring that all teachers are ready and able to teach for sustainability when they begin their teaching careers. However, it is widely recognized that this strategy has not been used to its full potential. Efforts in education for sustainable development (ESD) at this level have tended to engage with prospective teachers and teacher educators already interested in this area of learning—preaching mostly to the converted. This paper reports on a study undertaken by the Australian Research Institute of Education for Sustainability (ARIES) for the Australian Government Department of the Environment and Heritage, which sought to appraise the models of professional development underpinning a range of initial teacher education initiatives. Its intention was to learn from these experiences and identify effective models for mainstreaming ESD in pre‐service teacher education. Three main models of professional development were identified: the Collaborative Resource Development and Adaptation Model, the Action Research Model and the Whole‐of‐System Model. The paper concludes by arguing that a systemic approach that engages the whole of the teacher education system is necessary if ESD is to be successfully mainstreamed in initial teacher education.     

A situative metaphor for teacher learning: the case of university tutors learning to grade student coursework

In the continuing concern about academic standards in the higher education sector a great deal of emphasis has been placed on quality assurance procedures rather than on considering how university tutors learn to grade the quality of work produced by students. As part of a larger research project focused on how tutors grade student coursework, this paper offers a new metaphor for such tutor learning, based on a sociocultural perspective. The research project used think‐aloud protocols recorded as university tutors graded student coursework, and this was followed by semi‐structured interviews. The voluntary participants consisted of 25 lecturers in four contrasting domains—humanities, art and design, medicine and teacher education—in three universities, two teaching‐led and one research intensive. We developed a metaphorical framework that helps to understand the work and learning of the lecturers and tested it by applying it to analysis of the tutor interview data. Grading, writing feedback, second marking and moderation are important situated professional learning opportunities for tutors to debate and reach agreement on the academic standard demonstrated by student coursework. The metaphor considers professional learning as interplay between the vertical domain of public knowledge and the horizontal domain of teachers' practical wisdom. The metaphor presented in this paper is proposed for critical consideration and wider use by academics, teachers, academic developers and teacher educators as an aid to better understanding of teacher's professional learning.     

The ‘shape’ of teacher professionalism in England: Professional standards,performance management,professional development and the changes proposed in the 2010 White Paper

Teacher professionalism in England may be considered to have been shaped by the set of professional standards, and the accompanying statutory performance management system, introduced by the Labour government in 2007. More recently the coalition government's 2010 White Paper, The Importance of Teaching, announced reforms that will potentially re‐shape teacher professionalism. In this article I examine the ‘shape’ of teacher professionalism in England, as defined by the professional standards. I reveal it to be a lop‐sided shape, indicating a professionalism that focuses predominantly on teachers’ behaviour, rather than on their attitudes and their intellectuality. Presenting my conceptual analysis of professionalism, and examination of its link with professional development, I consider whether—and to what extent—teacher professionalism may in fact be shaped by government‐imposed reform. I conclude that ‘enacted’ professionalism may be quite different from ‘demanded’ professionalism, and shaping professionalism involves a complex and indecipherable process that is better understood by examining the process whereby individuals develop professionally.     

Beyond teacher training: Singaporean teacher preparation in the era of new educational initiatives

This article attempts to identify the limitations inherent in the model of teacher preparation as training within the context of current educational reforms in Singapore. Through clarifying the distinction between training and education, this article argues that two largely overlooked aspects of teacher education—one concerning transforming the beliefs of pre‐service teachers, and the other concerning initiating teachers into a wider context of worthwhile perspectives and understanding—are highly desirable, if pre‐service teachers are to teach the new ways and to become well‐informed and morally‐sensitive professionals. The article, therefore, purports to underscore the need for a broader vision of teacher preparation, and argues for the central role of theory in the education of teachers.     

Leadership without imposition

Community colleges require speech communication teachers with special competencies—competencies dictated by the educational goals, the student characteristics, and the community orientation of junior colleges. These teacher competencies should be taught through special master's degree programs and in‐service training provided by teacher education institutions and professional speech communication associations. Based on her experience as a teacher at community colleges in Texas and Illinois and as a director of teacher training in speech, the author suggests that community colleges are basically different than four‐year institutions, and need teachers with different skills.     

Exploring the lives of non‐native speaking English educators in Sri Lanka

This paper uses in‐depth interview data to explore aspects of the lives of non‐native speaking English educators working in the state education system in Sri Lanka. In so doing the research focus is on the educators themselves and the paper will discuss such issues as: careers as English teachers—motives for entering teaching, career progression, becoming a teacher educator; professional self‐development; beliefs about teaching, learning and teacher education; and the wider socio‐educational context of English teaching in Sri Lanka. It is hoped that the paper will offer insights into the development of non‐native speaking TESOL teachers—by making more visible features of practice in particular contexts—as well as providing ‘snapshots’ of teaching and learning in state systems beyond the western world which may inform thinking more broadly about international English language teaching and learning.     

The construction and production of youth ‘at risk’

Following the Commonwealth Government funding cuts in 1986, a hiatus has developed in in‐service teacher education in Australia. Recent curriculum innovations and expanding stresses in the educational environment have generated in‐service education needs which are possibly greater than at any other time in the recent past. The trend in other industrialized countries has been to encourage or even require teachers in primary and secondary education to achieve postgraduate qualifications. Similar pressures are currently mounting in Australia. The combination of the stresses and new emphasis, calls for a rethinking of existing approaches and policies. The restructuring of the education system in a number of States, the difficulties which have become apparent in solution‐centred in‐service programmes and the continuing unsatisfactory ad hoc arrangements for the design and delivery of such programmes across Australia indicate that the need for different policies and provisions in teacher professional development is acute. After analysing the state of the art of in‐service training in Australia, this paper provides possible rationales for such policies and programmes and suggests the development of a multiprogramme policy package which could assist the teachers to ensure a better quality and cost‐effective educational service.     

Critical Factors in On‐Campus Clinical Experiences: Perceptions of Preservice Teachers

In this paper, I present the findings of a self‐study into my teaching practices as a sociology‐of‐education lecturer working in the pre‐service teacher education programme of a regional university in New South Wales, Australia. The principal data source is a logbook of the teaching practices which characterised several tutorial classes taught in 2007. To understand these practices, the paper draws upon Aristotle's concepts of techne and praxis, and Bourdieu's understanding of practices as socially constructed and contested. The paper situates tensions between more technicist and praxis‐oriented teaching approaches to pre‐service teacher education, within the teacher education and university contexts in which these classes were undertaken. In doing so, the paper reveals tensions between assessment‐driven and more authentic teaching practices, and more student‐ and teacher‐centred teaching practices. The paper also shows how accountability pressures within tertiary settings have led to a more instrumental approach to tertiary teaching. I conclude that there is a need for greater attention to the conditions of work which influence teacher educators' practices, rather than fetishising individualistic instantiations of such practices.     

Difficulties in promoting inquiry in teacher education partnerships: English and Canadian perspectives

This comparative study of two pre‐service teacher education programmes in England and in Canada focuses on the relationship between inquiry and the partnership structures within which the universities and schools work together. Despite the very different jurisdictions and cultures of the two systems, the two universities seem to experience similar difficulties in relation to their commitment to inquiry and to working in partnership with schools. At both the Canadian and the English sites, definitions of inquiry varied within institutions as well as between universities and schools, and inquiry was a university rather than a school priority. These differences between the schools' and the universities' views on inquiry are significant for the partnerships in which the programmes operate. It is these differences and difficulties—which often seem context‐related but which, through the authors' comparative work, have come to seem more systemic—that are explored in this article.     

Supporting Student Teachers' Professional Learning with Standards‐Referenced Assessment

Professional standards in teaching are developed in many education systems, with professional learning and quality assurance being the central purposes of these standards. This paper presents an initiative in developing a professional development progress map (hereafter, progress map) within a learning‐oriented field experience assessment (LOFEA) framework. The article examines the use of a progress map to support professional learning in teaching supervision in the field experience of a teacher education programme. Views of users, including 16 tertiary supervisors and 21 teacher participants of the in‐service programmes, were collected. Issues relating to supporting student teachers' professional learning with standards‐referenced assessment, are discussed around four themes, namely intention, instrumentation, interpretation and implementation.     

Teacher Education in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic

Teacher education in Czechoslovakia is part of a unified national provision of education; this covers in‐service as well as pre‐service training. The basis is that of training at Higher education level followed by life‐long upgrading.

The Marxist‐Leninist view is that the quality of the teacher is central to the educational process. Consequently, the initial and in‐service training of the teacher are of paramount importance, and the Czechoslovak system aims at an integrated approach to the entire process. In this process, acquisition of ideological, as well as professional, maturity, is seen as essential. Equally, the teacher must master his chosen discipline (s) in the scientific sense.

Additionally, it is important that the teacher be able to participate actively in the community—in, for example, family education, health care and concern for the environment.

Against this background of goals, the author outlines the Czechoslovak institutional provision for initial training, conditions for enrolment and the process of obtaining a post, before providing an in‐depth examination of the country's provision of in‐service education. A final section emphasises the position of the teacher in society, and specifically in socialist society. The teacher is, quite simply, a key figure and teacher education has to be built around this fact.

Svatopluk S. Petrá?ek is Professor of Education and Director of the European Centre of the Charles University for Further Education of Teachers.     

The return of the prodigal son: the experience of support agents on their return from Teachers’ Centers to school

This paper presents the results of a two‐year qualitative inquiry, carried out in Spain, on a rather neglected side of external support to schools: the personal and professional experience of external support agents when they go back to teaching. These ex‐advisers are career teachers who return ‘home’ to school after having left it to serve for some years in Teachers’ Centers, which in Spain are the institutions in charge of school support and in‐service teacher training. During their stay there, the ex‐advisers have developed a new discourse on teaching, on school organization and on teacher training that, on their return, they have to contrast with their everyday life in schools. To explore this process, the conceptions, perceptions and visions of these professionals, has a high potential to throw some light on school support, in‐service teacher training and the construction and reconstruction of different professional identities within our educational systems.     

Teacher perceptions of the goals of effective school reform and their own role in it

The role of the teacher in the modern school system is increasingly important and complex. A teacher needs a high level of professional knowledge and autonomous decision‐making when faced with professional challenges. The curricular reform in Slovenia has encompassed several areas of teachers’ professional activities. This paper establishes that declarative goals by themselves are not enough for successful introduction of reform, as the achievement of reform goals in practice is highly dependent on teacher perceptions and how actively they are involved in all phases of the reform. The empirical study examined how teachers understand the main aim of the reform, and how they evaluate their own level of competence in areas which have gained in importance as a result of the reform. The study included 468 primary and grammar school teachers. The results show that teachers have a fairly narrow view of the goals of the reform. The categories stressing a more active and responsible role of the learner (in line with modern models of instruction and learner‐centred paradigms of curriculum development) did not rank highly. The study also points at areas where teachers need additional training. The importance of quality teacher education at pre‐service and in‐service levels is stressed as a pillar of effective school reform.     

Teacher preparation to proficiency and beyond: exploring the landscape

Concerns around the provision and retention of quality teachers are global. Amongst these concerns are the preparedness of graduate teachers and the quality and nature of teacher education. The purpose of the article is to focus questions of teacher preparedness and education within a wider discussion around the professional life-cycle of teachers. Initial teacher education is viewed as the first phase of the professional life-cycle of a teacher; part of a professional continuum of learning and expertise, rather than a distinct preparatory phase. We do not present a detailed model for this continuum; believing there is still significant work to be done on defining and delineating the levels of expertise. Such work is beyond the scope of this paper. We do provide a starting point for further consideration. Further, we suggest a scaffolded transition, determined by the learning needs of teachers, between initial teacher education and induction, moving to in-service learning, with closer connections between providers and schools to mitigate against a disconnect between these phases of development. The potential role of professional standards in supporting teacher learning across the professional life-cycle is also discussed.     

Pedagogical bricolage and teacher agency: Towards a culture of creative professionalism

The way in which educators choose to engage with learners and to offer opportunities to share knowledge of both the physical world and the world of ideas is an ongoing area of international research interest but remains diffuse and difficult to systematise. This idiosyncratic quality underscores the privileged position of teachers as creative professionals. By exploring Claude Lévi-Strauss’s conception of how and for what purpose we share knowledge within society, this paper explores the relationship between perceptions of teachers’ professional role and the challenges they face working within formal education systems. The artisan quality of teachers’ practice, gained through experience, association and personal commitment, makes possible a visualisation of teacher professionalism as bricolage that, when read alongside theories of teacher agency, generates an affirmative picture of how teacher professionalism may be reframed as creative and responsive rather than homogenous and mechanistic.     

Teacher educators working on their own professional development: goals,activities and outcomes of a project for the professional development of teacher educators

This article reports on the professional development of teacher educators within the context of a national project, ‘Professional Quality of Teacher Educators,’ where a professional standard and a standards‐based procedure of (self‐)assessment and professional development have been created and effectively implemented. This project offered a unique opportunity to analyze the goals, activities and outcomes of the process of professional development of teacher educators in a situation in which this development is promoted by the professional group as a whole. In our research, we used 25 completed portfolio's made by teacher educators participating in the standards‐based procedure of (self‐)assessment and professional development. We found that teacher educators, participating in this procedure, prefer the development of their knowledge and skills over the development of their attitudes and beliefs. For their professional development, the teacher educators experiment with new activities within the work‐situation and interact with colleagues within their professional community, more than that they study theory or reflect on their work. The participating teacher educators experience a positive impact at the personal level (change in cognition and behavior). More than one‐third of them share outcomes with others. Above, they report a more positive self‐esteem and more enthusiasm for teacher education. This article may motivate other countries or institutions to invest in the professional development of teacher educators. Further research is necessary on the essence of the professional qualities of teacher educators and the relation of their professional development with student learning.     

‘Practice in teaching should be practice in caring’ fidelity in teacher education

Abstract

As we move forward in the new millennium, the call for reform in teacher education programs increases. One reform model, offered by Nel Noddings, focuses on the students’ affect, emotion, and intellect. Noddings proposes the use of fidelity—focusing on the individual and the quality of relationships—as a cornerstone in teaching and teacher education. Fidelity in teacher education utilizes a process that includes modeling, dialogue, practice, and confirmation. This paper explores the fundamentals of a fidelity‐based approach to teacher education and examines a university course and its fieldwork component by analyzing the structure and methods of each using the fidelity framework. If we expect our pre‐service teachers to create caring learning environments, they must first be taught about caring environments by their professors. The use of fidelity in teacher education programs is one model that allows for caring environments as well as content application.     

Assessing General Education and Special Education Majors’ Self‐Efficacy for Teaching Reading

In an era of teacher quality reforms, one overlooked area for assessing readiness for teaching is education majors’ self‐efficacy for teaching reading. This gap is unfortunate, as teaching reading is a common responsibility among general and special education teachers. In the current push for RTI—one in which more general education teachers are increasingly called upon to provide reading support to students with learning disabilities, in addition to the support received from special educators—it is important to determine preservice teachers’ self‐efficacy for teaching reading. Self‐efficacy is an important construct to consider as it is related to eventual teacher attrition. The purpose of the current study was to develop a scale to measure elementary and special education majors’ self‐efficacy for teaching reading. With a sample of 110 education majors, a three‐factor scale was developed and demonstrated strong psychometric properties. Implications for the future of teacher education programs are discussed.     

Teacher Competence Frameworks in Europe: policy-as-discourse and policy-as-practice

This article analyses the growing focus on teacher competences in European policy discourse against the backdrop of global convergences in education reforms. It traces key ideas, policy recommendations, peer learning and documents which underscore the relevance of teacher quality for education improvement, as recently stressed in the European Commission Communication and Staff Working Documents Rethinking Education. The intertwining of teacher competence frameworks with other areas of education policy is outlined — key competences in school education, the quality of initial teacher education, and the continuous professional development of teachers — teasing out reasons for their central role. Some insights from research and peer learning then explore key implications in the defining and implementing of teacher competence frameworks in national education systems. A comparative viewpoint further analyses current policy trends about teacher competences across European national contexts, in discourse and practice. In order to do so, a framework of analysis takes into account system features as key variables affecting national policy — roles and responsibilities of stakeholders, governance and education cultures, and the status of the teaching profession. Across the variety of policy practices, the analysis endeavours to trace some emerging patterns and trends, highlighting paradigmatic national examples, with some food for thought.