Choice and diversity in English initial teacher education (ITE): trainees’ perspectives

In England, there has been an expansion of different routes into teaching resulting in an increasingly complex and diverse pattern of training provision. This reconfiguration of becoming a teacher is driven by concerns to improve the quality of teachers who are better able to raise standards in schools as well as to ensure a regular supply of teachers for the nation’s children. In consequence, there has been a move towards more school-based and school-led programmes set in a market-driven approach to pre-service teacher preparation. A great deal of research has focused on the implications of these structural changes in English teacher education, while much less attention has been paid to the perceptions and experiences of those who enrol on these diverse teacher education programmes.

This paper draws on a series of in-depth interviews with twelve trainee teachers following some of the different pathways into teaching in secondary schools. It explores the trainees’ rationale for choosing their route and how they describe the advantages and disadvantages of their chosen pathways.     

Exploring diversity through ethos in initial teacher education

This paper considers whether there is value in introducing student teachers to schools of different ethos as part of their initial teacher education. A 2-year study of undergraduate post-primary student teachers at a university college in Northern Ireland reveals that encounters with schools of different ethos can help student teachers to understand differences between schools and their visions of education, as well as correcting misunderstandings and challenging stereotypes. It is argued that as a result of experiencing diverse examples of ethos, student teachers may also be helped to understand the complexity of schools as organisations and to position themselves and their professional practice within wider debates about the aims of education and schools as communities of practice.     

Evaluating initial teacher education programmes: Perspectives from the Republic of Ireland

Research studies in teacher education have focussed on the outcomes of preparatory programmes. Less attention has been paid to the processes through which professional learning is acquired. This article argues that the study of attitudes and persuasion is very important in teacher education. The elaboration likelihood model (ELM) of persuasion provides an integrative framework to analyze empirical evidence from a five-year study, conducted in the Republic of Ireland, which presents findings from an in-depth survey of 2348 respondents. This model highlights many salient issues that teacher educators should consider when engaged in programme development, delivery and evaluation.     

Socio-demographic composition of primary initial teacher education entrants in Ireland

The homogeneity of the teaching profession is an international, as well as national, phenomenon. In an era of significant demographic change in schools and education policy development in Ireland and across Europe, the lack of solid data about the backgrounds of teachers and initial teacher education (ITE) applicants and entrants has hindered informed policy development, including in relation to ITE application procedures, selection criteria as well as teacher supply and demand. In this paper we discuss findings from the Diversity in Initial Teacher Education (DITE) national project. We present analyses of application (N?=?2,437) and survey data (N?=?530) to explore 2014 undergraduate primary (UG P) ITE entrants’ socio-demographic backgrounds. Key findings confirm that primary teaching remains a popular career choice attracting high academic achievers in Ireland. We note the continuing underrepresentation of males and of people from minority national and ethnic backgrounds. Roman Catholics and students without disabilities are overrepresented in the UG P cohort compared to postgraduate post-primary ITE cohorts and the general Irish population. Findings are discussed with reference to Irish and international literature on teacher diversity.     

Whiteness in teacher education research discourses: A review of the use and meaning making of the term cultural diversity

The term “cultural diversity” is extensively used in recent teacher education research, but its meaning appears to vary and therefore needs to be made visible. This article reviews the use and meaning making of the term cultural diversity. The analysis reveals three main patterns across the 67 studies reviewed: Cultural diversity is (1) undefined, (2) related to a set of other undefined terms and (3) used in binary oppositional discourses that produce a racialized Other. Drawing on critical Whiteness studies and critical discourse analysis, I argue that despite attempting to promote social justice, researchers are actors who produce a discursive ideology of White supremacy.     

A demographic and epistemological divide: problematizing diversity and equity education in traditional,rural teacher education

This study documents the experience of an Asian woman faculty in the rural Mountain West as it relates to difficulties teaching predominantly White preservice teachers about the importance of diversity and social justice to prepare them adequately with skills and materials for their P-12 classrooms in a rapidly changing world. The current challenge has its origins in US history (the macro-level) and continues into the present (the micro-level) beyond the preservice teachers to include college of education colleagues and administrators, and community members. Using nexus analysis to reveal this larger picture, the hope is to develop actions to keep the problem from persisting into the future. This study is geography-specific in that not all rural areas are predominantly White, nor do they all share the same worldview. The results suggest that rural university communities remain predominantly White in their demographic makeup and crucial actors often hold fast to Whiteness and White ignorance. This is problematic – the need to transform and change is urgent in rural teacher education programs.     

Equity and social justice in teaching and teacher education

This essay presents a review on the theme of equity and social justice in teaching and teacher education based on articles published in TATE since its inception. It is a part of an initiative started by the current editors of TATE to “encourage us all to look backward to deepen our understandings of how earlier research has shaped our current research and the ways we can see the reverberations across the temporal span” (Clandinin & Hamilton, 2011, P. 2).     

The promise of experiential education in teacher education: transforming teacher beliefs and practices

Building from the theories of Dewey and Kolb and Fry, we sought to examine the impact of experiential education in teacher education on teacher beliefs and practices. The teacher education model described in this article sets out to challenge the seduction of the apprenticeship of observation and create an opportunity for in-service teachers to re-imagine their teaching in concrete and transformative ways. Immersed in a weeklong experiential residency in either the mountains or at a local environmental education farm, the teachers in the study were challenged physically, intellectually, socially, and emotionally in and through the experience. The experiential work ultimately led to changes in teacher participants’ beliefs and practices related to teacher and student roles and potentialities. Although challenges exist for this type of practice in K-12 classrooms and in teacher education, experiential education has a significant potential to change the way teachers think about and act in their practice.     

Teacher education, preservice teacher beliefs, and the moral work of teaching

This paper presents a case for attending to preservice teachers’ beliefs that are relevant to the moral work of teaching within teacher education research and practice, and examines what it would look like to do so. The case for attending to candidate beliefs is grounded in a learner-centered approach to teacher education and in the literature on the role of beliefs in teacher learning and change. The authors demonstrate how attending to preservice teacher beliefs is particularly critical for the task of preparing candidates for the moral work of teaching, and present a conceptual framework that can guide that task and teacher education research and practice designed to support it.     

Empathy,teaching dispositions,social justice and teacher education

ABSTRACT

Considerable attention over the past several years has been given to empathy as a desirable teacher disposition. Situating empathy in a slice of the research on dispositions, the author identifies and explores several problems surrounding empathy related to expectations, definitions, measurement, inferential accuracy, and the realization of social justice. An argument is made for listening to learn as an alternative to empathy as a teaching disposition and virtue.     

International comparative studies in teaching and teacher education

This review of eight papers published in Teaching and Teacher Education over the past twenty years shows how the profession has been impacted by the forces of globalisation. The impact varies in different contexts, according to local factors. The review looks at papers that use explicit international comparisons as a means to bring local contextual characteristics into sharp relief, and discusses the values and pitfalls of this approach. The review concludes by suggesting a possible future agenda for international comparisons, one that seeks answers to the domestic challenges of the Millennium Development Goals and Education for All by looking for solutions overseas. However, international appropriation needs to remain highly sensitive to the cultural context of implementation.     

In pursuit of teacher quality in diversity: A study of the selection mechanisms of new secondary teacher education programmes in Taiwan

As the definition of teacher quality changes with time, the selection mechanism of students into teacher education programmes may also change accordingly. In Taiwan, before the 1994 teacher education reform, selection of pre-service students was based solely on academic achievement. Afterwards, the selection was delegated to individual teacher education programmes with varied missions for teacher education. This study examines the degree of diversity and selectivity of the selection mechanisms of these programmes. Data from 48 programmes, including institutional documents, telephone inquiries and governmental reports, were collected and analysed. The results show that the selection mechanisms of these programmes are diverse enough to reflect a variety of characteristics of teacher quality, and rigorous enough to ensure a certain level of quality. Related issues on teacher selection are further discussed.     

Research into initial teacher education in Australia: A survey of the literature 1995–2004

This paper presents the initial findings of a survey of research from 1995 to 2004 into initial teacher education in Australia. Teacher education research has grown rapidly over the last decade and it is timely to critically evaluate directions within the field. An overview of the research is presented in terms of number and type of research projects, key research themes and topics, range of methodologies, general strengths and weaknesses, and key trends. The insights provided by this survey will be of value in establishing a context for future research, policy, and practice.     

What we're teaching teachers: An analysis of multicultural teacher education coursework syllabi

This study is an examination of syllabi from multicultural teacher education (MTE) courses taught across the United States. Using qualitative content analysis and drawing on existing typologies for multicultural education, I analyzed the theories and philosophies underlying MTE course designs. The analysis revealed that most of the courses were designed to prepare teachers with pragmatic skills and personal awareness, but not to prepare them in accordance with the key principles of multicultural education, such as critical consciousness and a commitment to educational equity. An unexpected outcome was a new five-layer typology for MTE.     

Inclusivity through exclusivity: An evaluation of the provision of a special education needs (SEN) placement within second level art & design teacher education in the Republic of Ireland

It is a feature of Irish second-level teaching that teachers will encounter pupils with special educational needs (SENs). To prepare them, the National College of Art and Design (NCAD) has designated SEN placements as part of the ITE programme, whereby students are immersed in SEN settings. These placements have been acknowledged as good practice by Merriman & Rickard, on behalf of the National Parents and Siblings Alliance (2013). Over the ten-year duration of this specific SEN placement, this immersion has led to positive outcomes for both the student teachers and the centres in which they have been placed.     

Innovation in teacher education: towards a critical re-examination

ABSTRACT

In the course of introducing a themed issue of the journal on “Innovation in Teacher Education’, we lay out an argument for re-examining the meaning of innovation in the field, shifting it away from the dominance of the economistic and technological. Acknowledging its status as a ‘buzzword’, we distinguish between purposes for innovation and, in particular, between changes driven by arguments for social mobility and those driven by social justice and equity. Two imperatives for innovation underpinned by arguments for social justice and equity are identified: the concept of a ‘teacher education debt’, built on Ladson-Billings’ more general notion of ‘education debt’; and the humanization of learning, teaching and becoming a teacher as person-centred, relational practices. The final section of the article introduces each of the six papers in the context of the discussion in previous sections about these imperatives for change.     

Ethical and moral matters in teaching and teacher education

The author reviews a set of articles on ethical and moral matters in teaching and teacher education previously published by Teaching and Teacher Education. Comparisons are made and a summary of findings offered.     

Exploring pre-service teachers’ justifications for one-to-one technology use in schools: implications for initial teacher education

ABSTRACT

Set against the backdrop of a succession of educational technology policies in Ireland, influenced by international discourses, this study aimed to explore how Irish pre-service teachers justify the use of mobile technologies in schools. In order to achieve this, 23 pre-service teachers were presented with a vignette that asked them to justify the use of a one-to-one tablet initiative in school. The research found that pre-service teachers tended to justify the initiative, as they saw the increasing technification of schools and society as an inevitable process. In addition, they presented pragmatic reasons for using the technology rather than highlighting their educational/pedagogic value. This study points to the need to challenge pre-service teachers’ innovation-centric and techno-centric attitudes towards technology use. It also highlights the need for teacher educators, as a whole, to take a more active role in addressing this issue in teacher education programmes.     

Improving teacher training in Ethiopia: Shifting the content and approach of pre-service teacher education

Teacher education in Ethiopia has undergone multiple reforms, yet primary students still struggle to learn to read. The USAID-funded Reading for Ethiopia's Achievement Developed - Technical Assistance project aimed to reform the primary school curriculum and teacher education to improve instructional approaches to teaching reading and writing. We examine the process and effectiveness of the project's pre-service teacher education component. Impacts on teacher educator pedagogywere observed at Colleges of Teacher Education, including less lecturing and greater use of student-centered teaching and learning approaches. Sustainability depends on the government's efforts to invest in long-term solutions and promote student-centered pedagogy.     

Enlarging the social justice agenda in education: an analysis of rural teachers' narratives beyond the distributive dimension

The sustained disadvantages suffered by rural schools place the concept of social justice at the centre of any discussion of rural education. However, too often a one-size-fits-all model is adopted that equates it with distribution of resources. Drawing on Iris Marion Young's work, this paper instead demonstrates the necessity of adopting a plural framework of social justice that includes issues of recognition and participation within the current neoliberal environment. The author draws on findings from a qualitative study with teachers in two rural schools in Victoria, Australia. While the teachers acknowledged the importance of a better distribution of resources, just as significant was their concern for issues of power, respect and participation in their work. The author argues that the distributive dimension offers a useful but limited approach and that a plural framework of social justice better informs teachers' experiences, and contributes to their understanding of the contexts in which they work.