The Professional Development of Teacher Educators

Tony Bates, Anja Swennen, Ken Jones

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781317983262
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Commerce
• Subtopic: Gestion des ressources humaines

This book makes a significant contribution to a hitherto much neglected area. The book brings together a wide range of papers on a scale rarely seen with a geographic spread that enhances our understanding of the complex journey undertaken by those who aspire to become teachers of teachers.

The authors, from more than ten countries, use a variety of approaches including narrative/life history, self-study and empirical research to demonstrate the complexity of the transformative search by individuals to establish their professional identity as teacher educators. The book offers fundamental and thoughtful critiques of current policy, practice and examples of established structures specifically supporting the professional development of teacher educators that may well have a wider applicability.

Many of the authors are active and leading persons in the international fields of teacher education and of professional development.

The book considers:

• novice teacher educators, issues of transition;
• identity development including research identity;
• the facilitation and mentoring of teacher educators;
• self-study research including collaborative writing, use of stories;
• professional development within the context of curriculum and structural reform.

Becoming a teacher is recognised as a transformative search by individuals for their teaching identities. Becoming a teacher educator often involves a more complex and longer journey but, according to the many travel stories told here, one that can be a deeply satisfying experience.

This book was published as a special issue of Professional Development in Education.

Teacher Educators – a professional development perspective

Tony Bates, Anja Swennen and Ken Jones

The articles which form the chapters of this book emanated from a special issue of the journal Professional Development in Education (Vol. 36, Issues 1-2, March 2010) about The Professional Development of Teacher Educators and form an important milestone in the analysis of the much neglected work on the professional development of teacher educators. In the editorial of the special issue, Swennen and Bates (2010) explain the origins of the special issue and highlight the fact that the journal Professional Development in Education and its predecessors have published very few articles on the role, development and professional identity of teacher educators and it is interesting to reflect on possible reasons for this. It may be because the focus of the journal is professional development, which essentially addresses the in-service stage of education, so articles relating to the pre-service/initial stage with which the role of teacher educator is often associated tend to fall outside its scope. Also, while there is a growing literature on teacher education and teacher educators, there is a dearth of sources that look systematically and critically at the professional development of teacher educators themselves. The publication of the special issue of Professional Development in Education and, subsequently, this book, is an attempt to redress this omission and to continue the process of exploring the complex and changing role of teacher educators.

It is tempting to simplify the nature of teacher education and therefore the work of teacher educators. In many countries it has been linked primarily with the pre-service stage (often referred to as ‘initial teacher training’ or ‘initial teacher education’) increasingly followed in the in-service stage by academically accredited programmes, mainly at Master’s level (Snoek and Žogla, 2009). Because the responsibility for the delivery and quality of both of these since the second half of the 20^th century has been held in higher education, it is inevitable that the term ‘teacher education’ should become synonymous with this sector. Organisations such as the Universities Council for the Education of Teachers (UCET) in the UK, have a higher education membership, but the growth of partnership models in many European countries in the preparation and continuing development of teachers has extended this view so that the term ‘teacher educator’ now, rightly, encompasses a much broader group of professionals (see van Velzen, Lorist and Bezinna, 2009; Furlong et al., 2000). The definition provided by Swennen and van der Klink (2009: 3) does not limit teacher educators to any single sector of education and is therefore most appropriate:

Teacher educators are those teachers in higher education and in schools who are formally involved in pre-service and in-service teacher education. [this includes] … those who work full time or part-time in teacher education institutes, whether these are colleges or faculties of education, or in schools and are involved in teaching and supervising student teachers…[it] also means that those who are involved in the professional development of teachers are regarded as teacher educators

Their final sentence is vitally important because it recognises the work of a variety of people in supporting the continuing professional learning of teachers. However, this definition is still, as Ben-Peretz et al. (chapter 8: 127) call it, ‘the formal definition’. They argue that it is typical for teacher educators to make’a double commitment’ to educate their students and to constantly keep in mind the future professional demands of student teachers.

The problem of defining who the teacher educators are also exposes the difficulty in identifying teacher education as a profession in itself. Shagrir (chapter 4: 56) quotes Gardner (1989) in stating that ‘teacher education cannot be a normative and intuitive process, but rather a profession that is located among the existing professions’. This assumption is possible when considering teacher educators based in higher education but becomes more difficult to apply when practising classroom teachers and school leaders (see Clemans et al. chapter 13) are included in the definition.

The search for an all-encompassing definition exposes the complexity of the role and the dilemmas facing teacher educators when they seek to identify their priorities in furthering their own professional development. A number of perspectives in the professional development of teacher educators arise from the chapters in this book. We will start with discussing some of the ‘fault lines’ that influence teacher educators and their work before we turn to some recommendations for the professional development of teacher educators.

Fault lines

Being a teacher in schools and a teacher educator in higher education

A common theme occurring in the chapters in this book and in other literature relating to teacher educators is that of ‘gaps’ between being a teacher in school and a teacher educator based in higher education. In the case of a teacher becoming a teacher educator the individual continues along a professional path which normally begins in higher education (the initial stage as student teacher) then moves into school-based professional learning (as a teacher) to return to higher education as a teacher educator. This is less of a gap and is, to borrow a geological term, more of a ‘fault line’ in the continuing professional journey of the individual teacher educator. Other fault lines or discontinuities occur. They may be philosophical, pedagogical, epistemological or professional and are often accentuated by the language used by those in different sectors. They include the differences and perceived differences between the culture of teaching in schools and academic teaching in higher education, the use of educational language in schools and that of higher education, the changing role from teacher to teacher educator in initial teacher education and onwards in continuing professional development, and perceptions of the value and significance of educational research.

In this book, Boyd and Harris (chapter 2) draw attention to the differences new teacher educators experience when moving from schools into higher education. They highlight the ‘confusing transition into higher education roles’ concluding that ‘these tensions … encourage the new lecturers to hold on to their identity and credibility as school teachers rather than to pro-actively seek new identities as academics within the professional field of teacher education’ (p. 21). Williams and Ritter (chapter 6: 99) comment: ‘During our professional journey into academia, we discovered that becoming teacher educators represents an ongoing process fraught with competing and constantly changing tensions’ (emphasis added). Similarly, McKeon and Harrison (chapter 3: 52) illustrate how beginning teacher educators ‘make the transition from school teacher to teacher educator and further to what might be described as “teacher educator academic”’. The terms ‘academic’ and ‘academia’ accentuate the existing or aspired distinction between schools and higher education. Many of the studies in this book are of and about new teacher educators. For those based in higher education, as the journey into academia continues, the need for a pedagogy of teacher education (Loughran, 2006) that supports teacher educators to develop as teachers of teachers or ‘second order teachers’ (Murray & Male, 2005; Swennen, Jones & Volman, chapter 9) becomes essential.

Several authors in this book highlight the point that being a teacher of teachers (or second-order teacher) also means being aware that teacher educators have a responsibility in modelling good teaching (Swennen, Jones & Volman, chapter 9) or, as Ben-Peretz (chapter 8: 128) calls it, being a good ‘model pedagogue’, both as a responsibility towards their student teachers and as a means to help student teachers understand teaching (Loughran and Berry, 2005). In doing so, teacher educators should not only be a mere model and ‘teach as they preach’ but they should also explain their underlying thoughts and beliefs, what McKeon and Harrison (chapter 3) call ‘pedagogical reasoning’ (see also Loughran, 2006). This also implies that teacher educators underpin their own teaching, the teaching of the student teachers and of classroom teaching with theory. In so doing they help student teachers to improve their teaching based on relevant findings from research and the experiences of the teachers that preceded them (Swennen, Lunenberg & Korthagen, 2008). There is no doubt, that this model of teaching teachers demands a lot in terms of personal, practical and theoretical professional development and the need for a broad perspective here is illustrated by Ben-Peretz et al. (chapter 8: 127-128) who define at least three major mental models for teacher educators to develop: ‘“The model pedagogue”, “The reflective, self-studying practitioner” and “Collaboration in the process of developing professional identities”’.

The contractual fault line

The recruitment of appropriately experienced staff to teacher education has often been a problem. Previously, headteachers and other staff have moved into teacher education having fulfilled themselves in senior positions in schools or local government and have brought with them a wealth of experience in working with aspiring and serving teachers. In the UK at least, the enhancement of schoolteachers’ salaries has created a salary gap between schools and higher education and this has restricted mobility of staff. A report by the Institute of Employment Studies (2005) into the recruitment and retention of staff in higher education in the UK (UCEA, 2005) highlighted the problem: ‘Given concerns about the ageing profile of their workforce, institutions [in the survey] were asked if they had any difficulties in recruiting young, academic staff … Specific problems were highlighted in recruiting staff for education. Specialities such as Early Years, Childhood Studies and Educational Psychology were proving a particular challenge. Attracting individuals from the secondary school sector was problematic too’ (p. 11). On the other hand, we see that in many countries the change from school teacher to teacher educator in higher education is seen as a move upwards and one that gives schoolteachers a chance for social mobility that is otherwise restricted within primary and secondary education.

One model of teacher education is that of the Professional Development School (Holmes Group, 1995) in which teacher education (and teacher educators) would be based primarily in schools rather than on university campuses. This would have significant implications for the professional development of teacher educators (van Velzen and Volman, 2009) in that it would require serving teachers not making the contractual shift from school teaching to the education of teachers in universities but would entail making the zone of contact between schools and higher education more pervious teachers would stay as teachers but become both school-based and university-based and engage in research. Teacher educators in higher education would remain contracted to their institutions and engage primarily in research and teacher education with a required annual engagement with classroom teaching and a mirrored programme of secondment to a school to update their classroom and management experiences.

The linguistic fault line

Higher education often alienates itself from teaching in schools by its use of archaic or inappropriate language (the linguistic fault line). Hamilton (2002: 137) bemoans the fact that the ‘problem of frozen language is deeply embedded in the history of teacher education. Terms stay the same, even if their meanings are constantly changing.’ Although advocating interactive ways of supporting learning, the higher education professional is often referred to as a ‘lecturer’. Many Governments insist on referring to ‘teacher trainers’, ‘teacher training’ and to ‘trainees’ rather than ‘teacher educators’ ‘initial teacher education’ or even ‘initial teacher education and training’ and ‘student teachers’.

A serious problem is the lack of a common language for teacher educators to exchange, discuss and build a common knowledge base and exchange good practice. As van Velzen et al. (chapter 5) explain this lack of a common language may be one of the reasons that prevent beginning teacher educators benefiting from the knowledge and skills of their more experienced colleagues.

The international discourse between teacher educators is also influenced by the existing national differences that are reflected in the vocabulary used by teacher educators, researchers in teacher education and policy makers alike. An example is the use of words like ‘standards of teacher educators’ or ‘registration of teacher educators’. As the Dutch standards for teacher educators are developed by the teacher educators they view these standards as positive or neutral (Koster & Dengerink, 2008), whereas outside The Netherlands the word ‘standards’ is often met with great scepticism. The challenge for teacher educators in higher education is to ensure that, without being patronising, their language is accessible to their fellow teacher educators (school-based and higher education based) and to teachers in schools. The continuing professional development of teacher educators must therefore ensure that everyone is equipped with the tools to engage in and critically assess academic issues including research, but it must also ensure that it does not devalue the language of practice and of school practitioners.

A long standing problem is that of the gap between the language of research about teacher education and the work of teachers and teacher educators that takes place in the immediate practice of classrooms and student groups. Hoban (2002: 6) argues (and the term ‘teachers’ can be easily replaced here by ‘teacher educators’): ‘Historically, teachers and university researchers do not have a common language to share ideas. The discourse of university researchers is embedded in the theoretical divisions of educational research, mainly for the purpose of publishing articles in internationally refereed journals. In contrast, the discourse of teachers is embedded in their school experiences, pragmatically focusing on “what works” in classroom practice’.

The professional fault line

The movement from the pre-service stage to the induction stage in teaching should be seamless. However, there is often little continuity in the involvement of higher education in the move from the preparation of aspiring teachers to the induction of newly qualified teachers. From research undertaken in Scotland, O’Brien and Christie (2008) found that there was a ‘missing link between the perceived high calibre of new teachers entering the profession and the quality of ITE they had just emerged from’. The quality of newly qualified teachers was highly praised and valued by schools ‘ …but few were prepared to attribute this excellence to their pre-service courses’ (p. 158). They argue that serving teachers have ‘limited knowledge of or interest in what is going on in ITE…with the result that decades-old prejudices about teacher education are remaining unchallenged’ (p. 158)

A coherent professional continuum is needed, moving from initial preparation, through induction and Early Professional Development into Continuing Professional Development. Teacher educators b...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Notes on Contributors
• Introduction
• 1. Teacher Educators – a professional development perspective
• 2. Becoming a university lecturer in teacher education: expert school teachers reconstructing their pedagogy and identity
• 3. Developing pedagogical practice and professional identities of beginning teacher educators
• 4. Professional development of novice teacher educators: professional self, interpersonal relations and teaching skills
• 5. The induction and needs of beginning teacher educators
• 6. Constructing new professional identities through self-study: from teacher to teacher educator
• 7. Discussing pedagogical dilemmas with teacher educators: facilitating their professional development
• 8. Educators of educators: their goals, perceptions and practices
• 9. Teacher educators: their identities, sub-identities and implications for professional development
• 10. ‘I can only learn in dialogue!’ Exploring professional identities in teacher education
• 11. Supporting professional learning through teacher educator enquiries: an ethnographic insight into developing understandings and changing identities
• 12. Towards a new language of scholarship in teacher educators’ professional learning?
• 13. Lost and found in transition: the professional journey of teacher educators
• 14. ‘It’s all about paying attention!’ … but to what? The ‘6 Ms’ of mentoring the professional learning of teacher educators
• 15. Developing a research profile: mentoring and support for teacher educators
• 16. Transformative learning-based mentoring for professional development of teacher educators in information and communication technologies: an approach for an emerging country
• 17. ‘Without stones there is no arch’: a study of professional development of teacher educators as a team
• 18. Collaborative writing and dis-continuing professional development: challenging the rituals and rules of the education game?
• 19. A teacher educator’s professional learning journey and border pedagogy: a meta-analysis of five research projects
• 20. Reflective teaching as self-directed professional development: building practical or work-related knowledge
• 21. Writing as a journey of professional development for teacher educators
• 22. Re-conceptualizing professional development of teacher educators in post-Soviet Latvia
• 23. Curriculum reform and professional development: a case study on Chinese teacher educators
• Index