Becoming a teacher educator: a personal perspective

This paper examines various aspects of the author's transition from classroom teacher to a cooperating teacher and then from cooperating teacher to university teacher educator. This analysis is used as the basis for several specific suggestions for how to improve the preparation of the next generation of teacher educators and teacher education programs.     

Situating teacher inquiry: a micropolitical perspective

Professional learning communities (PLCs) have become a popular strategy in various forms (e.g., data teams, grade-level teams) and with various champions (e.g., district leaders, university researchers, teacher advocates). Although well-implemented PLCs have been shown to distribute leadership, the tension between democratic inquiry processes and the demands of accountability remain understudied. This study asks how teacher inquiry is situated within conflicting school priorities and the impact of competing power structures on PLCs through a case study of a teacher inquiry initiative at 6 urban elementary and middle schools in the US. Data were collected over 3 years of PLC implementation. District officials, principals, reform coaches, and teachers at each setting participated in more than 300 interviews, regular site visits, and annual teacher surveys. The influences of power structures – such as district mandates, accountability pressures, and principal leadership – emerged as strong themes in teacher narratives of what it means to “do” inquiry in their PLCs.     

Faculty development for preservice teacher educators: A research utilization perspective

Weak research utilization strategies limit the faculty development of university-based preservice teacher educators. Compared to school district-based inservice teacher educators, preservice teacher educators have weaker knowledge acquisition strategies, and are less likely to have sustained contact with researchers, especially where a training focus is prominent. Preservice teacher educators have less developed networks that facilitate research utilization, and have less institutional support for internal staff development. A research utilization theoretical framework is used to propose recommendations for helping preservice teacher educators.     

Critical emancipatory research and academic identity

Abstract

This paper documents the development and manifestation of academic identity among seven master's and six PhD students as they read towards their respective qualifications at the Central University of Technology, Free State. According to these students, this development occurred in the context of their carrying out research couched in the theoretical framework of critical emancipatory research (CER). The reported transformations seem to be characterised by newly acquired abilities to talk back, to stand up for one's chosen position and to thoroughly interrogate sources of information, including what is presented as self-evident. Using Fairclough's (2004) textually oriented discourse analysis (TODA) and Ineke Meulenberg-Buskens’ free attitude interview technique, the thirteen students produce narratives confirming how doing CER research has created opportunities for them to be passionate about what they do. This study reports on these reflections by the students and no claim of any causal relationship between CER and the formation of academic identity is made.     

Using video technology in emancipatory research

The writers of this paper are currently engaged in research concerning the lives of young adults who are multi-sensory impaired; they are particularly interested in the areas of communication and the development of meaningful relationships. Part of their fieldwork has involved the use of video recordings. The paper considers the use of video technology in qualitative research, together with the technical issues and ethical sensitivities which might be involved. The issue of emancipatory research is explored, with a particular focus on how this might be applied to research with people who have pronounced and complex disabilities and who use modes of communication which are idiosyncratic and mainly non-verbal. Finally, the writers describe their own work-in-progress in this area.     

Making a Science Education Video: a teacher trainer's perspective

This article explores the area of teacher‐training by video‐led distance learning materials. The focus is on the role of educators in the process of developing a video programme for in‐service teacher training in the area of science, in the context of an overall plan of in‐service teacher training. Illustrations are given of the tension between creative ideas and pragmatic consideration, the demand of the medium and the subject matter, the criteria adopted by educationalists and those used by producers. Some practical points are made about techniques devised to communicate specific ideas which are hopefully of some relevance not only to educators but also to professionals in educational television.     

Revisiting disposition assessment in teacher education: broadening the focus

Today's teacher education programmes across the world strive to equip future teachers with the high‐quality knowledge, skills and dispositions necessary to teach students. The assessment of teacher dispositions has thus become essential to cultivate those qualities. However, the current approach to disposition assessment in the United States focuses on personal characteristics and character‐related dispositions and is frequently used as a sorting device to identify those who appear to be inadequately disposed to teaching. Expanding on earlier work by the author and colleagues, this paper examines the issue of whether more efforts should be made to incorporate elements to assess competence‐related dispositions in conjunction with the character‐related dispositions across assessment tools and, if so, how this could be accomplished. In addition, this paper will clarify some dispositional concepts and terms used interchangeably that actually differ from one another and can confuse the consistency of disposition assessment. Finally, a framework for assessing technology disposition as an example of competence‐related disposition and for broadening the focus of disposition assessment is suggested.     

Troubling the discourse of teacher centrality: a comparative perspective

The belief in the central role of the teacher has a long and comparative history. This article aims to critically analyse the discourse of the centrality of the teacher by both historicising and problematising the ideas and practices associated with this discourse. First, the article describes the discourse as it was taken up during the twenty‐first century when the teacher was viewed as the linchpin to building universal education systems. The idea that the ‘master makes the school’ is examined and the policies that stemmed from this thinking (e.g., the establishment of formal teacher training, teacher testing and certification) are outlined. The contemporary manifestations of this discourse are then described to show how the pervasive belief in the central role of the teacher has influenced education policy reforms, which like teacher policy reforms in the nineteenth century operate to shape and regulate the profession. Further discursive effects are analysed including the de‐contextualisation of educational reform and the de‐professionalisation and de‐politicisation of teachers and their work. The relationship between effective schools research and the centrality of the teacher discourse is also considered within the contemporary moment. This comparative study refers to the discourse of the centrality of the teacher in Australasia, Europe, Great Britain and North America, and suggests that our collective focus on the teacher has had some serious, unexpected effects on teachers and the work they do.     

Beginning teacher resilience in remote Australia: a place-based perspective

Enhancing resilience is key to reducing teacher attrition and addressing the challenges of the profession but scant research exists on resilience in regional and remote settings, where there is a shortage of quality, specialist and lead teachers. The aim of this study was to combine ecological and relational perspectives on resilience to examine pre-service and early career teacher resilience in the remote context of central Australia. The findings suggest that beginning teacher resilience in central Australia involves a particular set of enablers and constraints which are characterised by teachers’ capacity to build connections to place, connections as a learner and connections in relationships. A transactional systems model is presented that articulates the dynamism of the resilience processes and offers a way to better understand the ecological interdependencies unique to a particular context and culture. This understanding will enable teachers, initial teacher educators, school leaders and policy makers to better address the challenges facing this profession.     

Perpetuating gender stereotypes in the classroom: a teacher perspective

This paper discusses findings from a study funded by the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (NI) to explore the promotion of gender equity in the classroom and the extent to which initial teacher training and in-service courses address gender issues. Data from a questionnaire survey of 344 teachers and the qualitative dimensions of the study suggest that teachers are generally aware of gender stereotypes in the classroom and that, despite their lack of training in gender issues, where appropriate, most attempt to challenge this type of behaviour. Concern was expressed with the role of teachers in unconsciously perpetuating stereotypes and the extent to which equality issues are directed more towards girls than boys.     

Classroom teacher effectiveness research: a conceptual critique

Teacher effectiveness research now informs the rationale of much Australian education policy aimed at redressing student under‐achievement. The approach draws a ‘straight line’ between teacher practice and student outcomes, ‘controlling’ for and ultimately dismissive of other possible influences. The paper calls into question this conception of teaching–learning relations, particularly the extent to which teaching practice can be reasonably quantified and improvements in students' academic achievement can be solely attributed to and/or sole responsibility placed on the pedagogic strategies employed by teachers. Drawing on the theoretical resources of Foucault and Bourdieu, the paper argues further that teacher effectiveness research is flawed in both means and ends. It concludes that in its ranking of student and teacher performance, such research actually works against the purposes of education; specifically, authentic teaching and learning.     

Reframing the teacher profession as a dynamic multifaceted profession: A wider perspective on teacher quality and teacher competence frameworks

Many countries in Europe use some kind of competence framework to define the quality of teachers. They typically formulate one level of teaching quality which defines the competence level that teachers must have acquired after completing initial teacher education. In addition, most countries provide limited career structures that define career opportunities within the teacher profession itself, resulting in a profession where often the only option for career progression is to move to leadership positions. Competence frameworks that create opportunities for vertical and horizontal career structures can make being a teacher a more attractive profession. They offer teachers opportunities for ‘career crafting’ and professional growth and supply school leaders with tools for more elaborate career guidance. In this article, we present a framework that was developed in the Netherlands to support teacher growth and teachers' career development. It has been used as a starting point for creating a shared language and understanding of the teacher profession and as a catalyst for dialogue between teachers and school leaders on professional growth. We elaborate the main characteristics of the resulting model, its limitations, the feedback that has been collected and how this feedback has been incorporated in how the model is used and discussed by teachers, school leaders and teacher education institutes. Finally, we argue that the strength of the framework can be explained by the way it acts as a boundary object, inspiring mutual learning and dialogue between different activity systems (of teachers, school leaders and teacher educators).     

On being critical: uniting theory and practice through emancipatory action research

This paper engages with some of the specific issues that challenge critical practice. My argument is related to the Carr and Kemmis debate on ‘staying critical’ and to ideas expressed in my current book, Community Development: A Critical Approach. I refer to critical practice as any practice that has a transformative social justice intention, and which happens in a range of contexts from grassroots community activism to more institutionalised settings, such as hospitals or schools. My own professional base is community development, and this paper is founded on emancipatory action research developed over many years in grassroots practice. It is my view that emancipatory action research, committed to the practice of social justice, with the intention of bringing about social change, is a necessary component of critical practice. In fact, I would go so far as to say that emancipatory action research is the glue that binds critical praxis in a unity of theory and action. However, all too often collective action for change is not followed through to its greatest potential, and practice remains contextualised in the immediate, local and specific without making critical connections with the structural roots of oppression from which inequalities emanate. The result is that we constantly fixate on symptoms, and leave the root causes free to perpetuate oppressions. At the same time, we find ourselves in a globalised world marked by intensifying social divisions. So, it is my intention to raise a few issues which present challenges to get beyond sticking points in critical practice as we face times in which there is an accelerating urgency to ‘become critical’.     

Transformational practice: critical teacher research in pre-service teacher education

This article traces the experiences of three pre-service teachers as they engaged in teacher research as part of their teacher education program and considers how teacher research might disrupt dominant paradigms that aim to de-contextualize teaching and offer one-size-fits-all solutions to address inequities. In particular, the article examines: the role of the teacher’s personal and academic history in the design of their teacher research projects; how their research worked to disrupt and complicate classroom cultures and practices; and the ways in which the pre-service teachers interpreted their research in light of new contexts during their first year of teaching. This work has critical implications in an era when teacher education programs are under attack, including: the value of drawing on pre-service teachers' lived experiences as an entry point into inquiry; creating highly localized inquiries; and positioning novice teachers as knowledgeable practitioners who are able to share research with colleagues.     

Revisiting the teachers' lounge: Reflections on emotional experience and teacher identity

This essay explores the relationship between emotion and teacher identity, using a framework of personal experience and published research from a variety of disciplines. The author argues that an increased awareness of emotional experience serves not only to increase rapport among educators, but also to counteract the persistent dehumanization of the teaching profession in our current sociopolitical context. She highlights the work of other educational scholars to suggest various means by which this awareness can be cultivated in research and teaching practice.