“I haven’t earned the right to just play around with my literacy programme”: strategies, tactics and policy actors/subjects

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Tilson ◽  
Susan Sandretto
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Beginning Teachers ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Careful Examination ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Policy Actors ◽  
Literacy Policy ◽  
Future Attempt ◽  
Literacy Course

Purpose The purpose of this New Zealand study is to analyse the influence of the literacy course from an initial teacher education degree, to support beginning teachers to view themselves as policy actors, not mere policy subjects. In our role as teacher educators, we sought to support beginning teachers to find freedom within the constraints of official literacy policy to include multiliteracies. Design/methodology/approach Using de Certeau’s dialectic of strategies and tactics, the authors critically analysed the influence of the literacy course. The data included an assignment from the literacy course, an end-of-literacy course survey and a follow-up interview six months into their first teaching position with a group of five beginning primary school teachers. Findings The findings shed light on our apparent inability to support beginning teachers to see themselves as policy actors/subjects. The analysis reveals the beginning teachers’ tactical responses to our strategies intended to position them as policy actors. The analysis also illustrates how the tactics the authors deployed were viewed as strategies by the beginning teachers, ironically further solidifying the literacy policy they had sought to critique and destabilise and (re)positioning them as policy subjects. Originality/value de Certeau’s framework supported the illumination of the complex interplay of strategies and tactics deployed by ourselves and beginning teachers as the authors sought to support them to identify the freedoms within the constraints of official literacy policy. Any future attempt to develop beginning teachers as policy actors/subjects will benefit from the careful examination of the strategies and tactics at play in initial teacher education.

scholarly journals Developing Communities of Praxis: Bridging the theory practice divide in teacher education

2013 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 359-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael James Anderson ◽  
Kelly Freebody
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Beginning Teachers ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teach For America ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Practical Significance ◽  
Education Policies ◽  
The University ◽  
New Education

Teacher education in universities is under pressure. In many new education policies there is a renewed focus on teacher quality, and therefore quality initial teacher education. In some countries this renewed focus has led to a resurgence of “alternative approaches” to teacher education such as Teach for America / Australia. One of the most persistent complaints about pre-service teacher education is that educational theory presented in these programs does not relate sufficiently to the real work of teachers. In an attempt to overcome these real or perceived divides, tertiary drama educators at the University of Sydney constructed a professional experience program based on both the community of practice model (Lave and Wenger, 1991) and Frierean notions of praxis (1972). The community of praxis approach emphasises the importance of integrating theory and practice to support the development of beginning teachers. This article outlines the development, implementation, and evaluation of this approach, including the reasoning behind its foundation and the theoretical and practical significance of such an approach for teacher-educators.

scholarly journals Re-imagining mentoring as a dynamic hub in the transformation of initial teacher education

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 248-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel M. Lofthouse
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teacher Educator ◽  
Deep Understanding ◽  
Practical Experience ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Experienced Teacher ◽  
Content Type ◽  
School Based

Purpose Teacher education in many countries is under reform with growing differences in its form and function. This is indicative of the ongoing negotiations around the place of theory, research and practice in teachers’ professional learning. However, the demand for mentoring of trainee teachers during often extended and multiple school-based placements is a relative constant. Indeed, with the trend towards greater school-based professional experience mentoring practices become ever more critical. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach This is a conceptual paper written from the perspective of an experienced teacher educator in England, drawing on both practical experience and a body of associated research. It can be conceptualised as related to cases of practice, linked to episodes of practitioner research grounded in the ethics of the improvability of practice, the desire to meet the needs of the professional communities and a deep understanding of the demands and cultures of their workplaces. Findings Mentoring can be re-imagined as a dynamic hub within a practice development-led model for individual professional learning and institutional growth. Acting on this conceptualisation would allow mentors, trainees and other supporting teacher educators to contribute to the transformation of professional learning practices and educational contexts. Originality/value This paper goes beyond offering merely helpful guidance to participants and stakeholders in mentoring, or stipulating standards to be achieved, to considering what might be described as a hopeful or transformational stance in relation to mentoring. Teacher educators can continue to bring value to the transformation of teacher education through a focus on mentoring as an educative process.

Lesson study in Dutch initial teacher education explored: its potential and pitfalls

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 351-365
Author(s):  
Tijmen M. Schipper ◽  
Sui Lin Goei ◽  
Wouter R. Van Joolingen ◽  
T. Martijn Willemse ◽  
Evelien C. Van Geffen
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Lesson Study ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Target Groups ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Time Planning ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeThis paper explores the potential and pitfalls of Lesson Study (LS) in Dutch initial teacher education (ITE). This context is examined through data drawn from student-teachers and teacher educators participating in LS.Design/methodology/approachThree case studies of three teacher education institutes in the Netherlands are presented, focusing on student-teachers' learning in two cases and teacher educators' learning in the third case.FindingsThe case studies show that LS in the context of Dutch ITE has high potential. All cases yield clear benefits for working collaboratively as a result of participating in a LS. Student-teachers appreciate the explicit focus in LS on how students learn and teacher educators stress how LS may strengthen their role as “teachers of teachers.” Time, planning arrangements, commitment and a LS facilitator are highlighted as essential conditions for LS application in ITE.Research limitations/implicationsThe three cases address a specific ITE context focusing on different target groups (student-teachers and teacher educators in applied and/or research universities). Consequently, results are explorative regarding Dutch ITE.Practical implicationsThe potential of LS in Dutch ITE is recognized and stressed; this study may act as a catalyst for further and wider application of LS in this context, taking into account possible pitfalls and conditions.Originality/valueThis is one of the first studies exploring the potential of LS in Dutch ITE using both student-teachers' and teacher educators' perspectives.

I feel like a hypocrite: a beginning teacher’s disconnect between beliefs and practice

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Knotts
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Beginning Teachers ◽  
Teacher Induction ◽  
English Language ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Public High School ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Beliefs And Practice

Purpose This study aims to examine the lived experiences of a beginning teacher to understand the constraints and possibilities she faces in moving from a critically minded preservice teacher toward a critical educator during her first year of teaching secondary English Language Arts at a public high school in the Southwestern USA. Design/methodology/approach This research was conducted as a qualitative case study. The data set was collected through interviews, documents and observations. Data were analyzed inductively using open coding techniques and grounded theory in order to establish themes. Findings The research describes three themes: losing a sense of self, losing hope and losing sight. These themes explore in order to illustrate the participant’s sense of loss, the disconnect between her stated beliefs and practice and how contextual factors contribute to her experiences. Practical implications The paper includes recommendations for teacher induction and undergraduate initial teacher education. Originality/value This research contributes to the literature about beginning teachers and their challenges to realize their stated beliefs in practice. It extends this body of literature with a specific focus on criticality and an exploration of how the current corporate reform paradigm impacts beginning teachers and how these topics can be taken up in teacher education.

Constructing English: pre-service ELA teachers navigating an unwieldy discipline

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 174-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kati Macaluso ◽  
Cori McKenzie ◽  
Jennifer VanDerHeide ◽  
Michael Macaluso
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Beginning Teachers ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teacher Preparation Program ◽  
School Subject ◽  
Pedagogical Innovation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Matrix

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe a pedagogical innovation – a matrix construction exercise – intended to help pre-service teachers (PTs) navigate the multiple and oftentimes competing discourses that shape the school subject English Language Arts (ELA). Design/methodology/approach To explore the various ways the PTs drew on the discursively constructed paradigms of ELA throughout their teacher preparation program, researchers (themselves teacher educators) conducted an intertextual analysis (Prior, 1995) of PTs’ classroom texts and interview transcripts. Findings The intertextual analysis suggested that PTs possessed knowledge of and investment in a range of discourses, which they used to anchor their own pedagogical and curricular decision-making and to anticipate the leanings and ideologies of other stakeholders in ELA. Although the organizational schema of the matrix proved helpful from an orientation standpoint, it also may have disguised the productive tensions between particular discourses for some PTs. Originality/value Although scholars have long noted the plurality of the school subject English and some studies on innovations in teacher education allude to the difficulties that teachers encounter as they navigate the multiple purposes of ELA, there is little scholarship that considers how pre-service and beginning teachers might best navigate that incoherence and unwieldiness. This study, which contextualizes and explores a pedagogical innovation in an English methods class designed to help PTs navigate the many “Englishes”, attempts to fill this gap. The findings suggest that teacher preparation in ELA would do well to conceive of pedagogical innovations in teacher education that allow teachers to grapple with, rather than solve, the uncertainty and unfinalizability of the discipline.

Enterprise education: pre-service further education teachers' impressions and aspirations

2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Tiernan ◽  
Jane O’Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Further Education ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Education Data ◽  
Enterprise Education ◽  
The Future ◽  
Constant Comparative Analysis

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the attitudes and impressions of pre-service Further Education teachers towards enterprise education. It also looks at the potential impact on their future teaching practices and aspirations. This study builds on the literature in this area by bringing a teacher education focus and by providing views from the underserved further education sector.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative research approach was used to evaluate pre-service further education teachers' understanding of and attitudes towards, enterprise education. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 15 students in their final year of an initial teacher education degree.FindingsFindings emerged through constant comparative analysis of interview transcripts. These findings indicate that exposure to enterprise education greatly increased understanding of its importance and relevance, while also encouraging pre-service further education teachers to recognise the benefits of incorporating enterprise education into their classrooms of the future.Originality/valueWhile there is an array of literature on entrepreneurship and enterprise education outside of business contents, very few studies exist, which examine enterprise education in an initial teacher education context. Fewer still examine enterprise education from the perspective of further education. This study provides a unique qualitative view of pre-service further education teachers' impressions of enterprise education and their aspirations for the future.

scholarly journals Practice-Focused Research in Initial Teacher Education

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Abbiss ◽  
Eline Vanassche
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Teacher Education ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teacher Educator ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Theoretical Contribution

A review of the field of practice-focused research in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) reveals four broad genres of qualitative research: case studies of teacher education programs and developments; research into student teacher experience and learning; inquiry into teacher educators’ own learning, identity, and beliefs; and conceptual or theory-building research. This is an eclectic field that is defined by variation in methodologies rather than by a few clearly identifiable research approaches. What practice-focused research in ITE has in common, though, is a desire on the behalf of teacher educator researchers to understand the complexity of teacher education and contribute to shifts in practice, for the benefit of student teachers and, ultimately, for learners in schools and early childhood education. In this endeavor, teacher educator researchers are presented with a challenge to achieve a balance between goals of local relevance and making a theoretical contribution to the broader field. This is a persistent tension. Notwithstanding the capacity for practice-focused research to achieve a stronger balance and greater relevance beyond the local, key contributions of practice-focused research in ITE include: highlighting the importance of context, questioning what might be understood by “improvement” in teacher education and schooling, and pushing back against research power structures that undervalue practice-focused research. Drawing on a painting metaphor, each genre represents a collection of sketches of practice-focused research in ITE that together provide the viewer with an overview of the field. However, these genres are not mutually exclusive categories as any particular research study (or sketch) might be placed within one or more groupings; for example, inquiry into teacher educators’ own learning often also includes attention to student teachers’ experiences and case studies of teacher education initiatives inevitably draw on theory to frame the research and make sense of findings. Also, overviewing the field and identifying relevant research is not as simple as it might first appear, given challenges in identifying research undertaken by teacher educators, differences in the positioning of teacher educators within different educational systems, and privileging of American (US) views of teacher education in published research, which was counteracted in a small way in this review by explicitly including voices located outside this dominant setting. Examples of different types of qualitative research projects illustrate issues in teacher education that matter to teacher educator researchers globally and locally and how they have sought to use a variety of methodologies to understand them. The examples also show how teacher educators themselves define what is important in teacher education research, often through small-scale studies of context-specific teacher education problems and practices, and how there is value in “smaller story” research that supports understanding of both universals and particularities along with the grand narratives of teacher education.

Redesigning initial teacher’s education practices with learning scenarios

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 266-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Pedro ◽  
João Piedade ◽  
João Filipe Matos ◽  
Neuza Pedro
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Education Programs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Education Practice ◽  
Planning Strategy ◽  
Learning Scenarios ◽  
The One

PurposeThe construction of learning scenarios is a way to plan for teaching activities, promoting the development of skills related to problem solving, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity. Using learning scenarios as a lesson planning strategy becomes a powerful tool in initial teacher education. On the one hand, it mobilizes teaching-related scientific concepts, and on the other hand, it offers opportunities to think on innovative pedagogic approaches involving strategies and capacities essential for the future teacher. Research shows that teacher education programs within real school contexts enriched with digital technologies represent an important factor in increasing the quality of teachers’ preparation and their future professional practice. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approachThe authors present the analysis of practice of design and implementation of learning scenarios in teachers’ initial education courses developed with students of teaching master degrees. Activity theory is used in the analysis of a case study of a student-teacher in Computer Science.FindingsThe results have been analyzed, contributing to the specification of the principles underlying the learning scenarios in initial teacher education.Research limitations/implicationsResults show the affordances and possibilities of using learning scenarios as structuring resources for the initial teacher education practice.Originality/valueTherefore, the use of learning scenarios brings a set of potentialities to teacher training given its prospective nature.

How ePortfolios Support Development in Early Teacher Education

2011 ◽  
pp. 2130-2137
Author(s):  
Victor McNair ◽  
Kevin Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Beginning Teachers ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Technology Policy ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Qualified Teachers ◽  
One Year ◽  
Graduate Certificate

This chapter reports on a pilot study which examined how student teachers of a one-year Post Graduate Certificate in Education course in Northern Ireland developed reflective ePortfolios and then used them to embed ICT in their first (Induction) year as qualified teachers. Two central themes emerged. First, the process of constructing the ePortfolio developed confidence among the beginning teachers which supported them when faced with the challenges of starting teaching. Second, the ePortfolio was used to ease the transition from Initial Teacher Education to Induction, but where there is a lack of critical reflection, barriers to professional development can emerge. These issues are discussed within the context of technology policy, teacher training, and emerging technology in Northern Ireland.

How ePortfolios Support Development in Early Teacher Education

2011 ◽  
pp. 474-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor McNair ◽  
Kevin Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Beginning Teachers ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Technology Policy ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Qualified Teachers ◽  
One Year ◽  
Graduate Certificate

This chapter reports on a pilot study which examined how student teachers of a one-year Post Graduate Certificate in Education course in Northern Ireland developed reflective ePortfolios and then used them to embed ICT in their first (Induction) year as qualified teachers. Two central themes emerged. First, the process of constructing the ePortfolio developed confidence among the beginning teachers which supported them when faced with the challenges of starting teaching. Second, the ePortfolio was used to ease the transition from Initial Teacher Education to Induction, but where there is a lack of critical reflection, barriers to professional development can emerge. These issues are discussed within the context of technology policy, teacher training, and emerging technology in Northern Ireland.

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