Continuity and change in teacher education in Scotland-back to the future

Abstract

The paper examines the changes which have taken place in the delivery, content and validation and accreditation of teacher education in Scotland. Particular attention is paid to the impact of external and internal changes on the development of new course structures and the strengthening of linkages between the initial stage of a teacher’s professional career and on continuing professional development. The impact of these changes on those who are teacher educators are also explored.     

Computer,craft, complexity,change: explorations into science teacher knowledge

In this article we review the notion of teacher knowledge from four metaphorical standpoints – teacher knowledge as computer, as craft, as complexity and as change. We employ each of these metaphors to examine and analyse the work of one teacher of science. We draw implications from our analysis for teacher education, teacher development and the study of teaching.     

Institutional change in teacher education: The faculty's tale

A national reform in Israeli seminaries for teachers reclassified them as teachers' colleges. Ten years later the views of faculty members of one teachers' college about this reform were examined. The findings pertained (1) to the nature of academic upgrading, which was vague for most faculty, as it comprised a set of purely organizational changes which were either achieved or will be completed in the future; and (2) to the form of the ultimate college, which looked similar to a university in awarding a degree, yet lacking all the substantial characteristics of academic culture. The failure to achieve institutional transformation and the disparity between the views of the reformers and the faculty were attributed to the nature of the imposed top-down macro-level organizational change with little faculty involvement which led to the continuance of the previous teachers' seminary culture. Suggestions are made for prospective higher education reformers to help them to avoid this outcome.     

Capturing complexity: a typology of reflective practice for teacher education

Reflection has become an integral part of teacher education, yet its elusive boundaries make it difficult to define and teach. Examining the various facets of reflection with respect to teaching clarifies the concept, making it more accessible to pre-service teachers learning to reflect on their practice. This article explores those facets and provides a typology designed to guide teacher educators in teaching reflection to pre-service teachers.     

The flight from experience to representation: Seeing relational complexity in teacher education

Gaining access to the inherent relational complexity of teaching/learning situations is essential to learning to teach. As teacher educators our work with prospective teachers indicates that opportunities to develop the capacity for relational knowing are increasingly being denied and dismissed. Specifically, we are concerned with what we perceive to be a flight from the experience of relational complexities, demanding constant discernment in the concrete situated dimensions of teaching and learning, into representative certainty and singularity in ways of seeing, thinking, and doing in classrooms. This paper documents this concern and explores the consequences of such disregard.     

Field experiences in secondary teacher education: Qualitative differences and curriculum change

This paper illustrates the nature of postlesson discussions between experienced and novice secondary science teachers during an early field experience. Analysis and appraisal of differences evident in these discussions suggests that novice secondary teachers experience significant variations in the substance and quality of field-based activities intended to help them develop competence in teaching. The author explores the potential of these variations to influence the development of pedagogical reasoning and the contextual influence of curriculum change in shaping experienced teachers' views of their role as teacher educators.     

The motivations of career change students in teacher education

In this article, results are presented from a large‐scale online survey about the motivations of career change students, and their beliefs about the attributes that they bring to the teaching profession. The findings revealed that career changers' motivations were largely intrinsic, although pragmatic decisions were also important, with perceived family‐friendliness of a teaching career a common response. These findings generally support findings of previous research into motivations to teach, as found in the literature. The data examined in this paper also revealed that career change entrants believed that the most important attributes they bring to teaching are life experiences, generic workplace skills and experience, and personal qualities, rather than specific content knowledge. These findings provide support for the continued targeting of career change people into the profession, particularly in the current policy context in which some stakeholders express concerns about a perceived lack of quality of teaching in Australian schools.     

Continuity and change in the visions of childhood in head start: Implications for early childhood teacher educators

ABSTRACT

Drawing on an autoethnographic approach, the purpose of this article is to support: 1) teacher educators in thinking about how to mentor sexual minority students as they consider the decision to disclose (or not) their sexual identities in their school placements; and 2) sexual minority students in navigating the decision to disclose (or not) their sexual identities in the context of practicum or student teaching. Early childhood teacher education faculty must be prepared to support sexual minority students in confronting decisions about disclosing their sexual orientation in the context of practicum and student teaching. Though sexual minority educators may choose to seek employment in schools or districts with explicit values about nondiscrimination, preservice teachers may not enjoy similar agency or protection, given that student placements are often dictated by geographic proximity to the university and partnerships with teacher preparation programs.     

Crises as catalysts for change: re-energising teacher education in Northern Ireland

Background: Teacher education has been the subject of a seven-year review culminating with the issuing of a consultation document Teacher education in a climate of change: The way forward (Department for Employment and Learning and Department for Education 2010). Issues of rationalisation, demographic trends, the over-provision of teachers and the cost of initial teacher education inter alia dominated the agenda.

Purpose: The paper seeks to assess the ways in which the current economic climate, student tuition fees, reduced income from government and the declining demographic situation will affect recruitment, on the profile of applicants to teacher education, on widening access and participation, and on models of teacher education. As the environment becomes increasingly globally competitive, issues surrounding the nature, quality, cost and content of programmes will be analysed.

Sources of evidence: Data that informs the paper derive from multiple sources including education policy documents, review and strategy documents, research reports and relevant research literature. It will be complemented by the author's knowledge and experience as a teacher, teacher educator and international researcher, and sustained contributor to the formulation, implementation and evaluation of teacher education policy in NI.

Main argument: With the predicted reduction in expenditure for higher education in NI likely to be considerable over the next four years, substantial cuts in teacher education are inevitable. At a time when participation rates for under-represented groups are being encouraged, higher student fees and reduced quotas will impede the goal of achieving a more equitable teaching workforce. Rather than concentrating on the uncertainties that characterise the current economic climate, it will be important not to focus exclusively on survival and sustainability but on longer-term opportunities for transforming and re-conceptualising teacher education.

Conclusions: All of the current national teacher education review documents in England, Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland highlight the need to improve teacher education. Irrespective of the constraining global financial situation, a career-long model for teachers' professional learning is overdue. It is possible, even in financially challenging circumstances, to realise the opportunities for creative change to ensure that teacher education maintains its high standards and reputation. Enhanced resourcing by itself does not necessarily guarantee enhanced provision.     

Troubles with grades,grading, and change: Learning from adventures in alternative assessment practices in teacher education

In this paper, two teacher educators work to understand their attempts to transform teacher–student relations by altering traditional grading practices. Using actor-network theory, the authors examine the social effects produced across and throughout a school of education when they changed the meaning and significance of grades. Detailed analysis of retrospective reflections (narratives and dialogue) reveals the deeply ingrained and broadly interconnected role that traditional understandings of grades play in defining and stabilizing identities and responsibilities. The specific outcomes here reveal the authors’ complicity in the failure of their own change effort and offer implications for teacher educators attempting change.     

Curriculum reform in Turkish teacher education: Attitudes of teacher educators towards change in an EU candidate nation

Educational development is one way through which Turkey enhances progress towards its social goals and prepares itself for European Union membership. A major effort to upgrade the Turkish educational system was made through a multi-phased comprehensive reform of the sector introduced during the 1990s. One part of this reform, perhaps most crucial to the long-term effectiveness of other developments in education, was a transformation of the approach to teacher education. This paper utilizes recently conducted research to assess the nature and extent of that reform as well as identifying the factors which enhanced its effectiveness.