1. Developing a Platform for a Research- Based Teacher Education

ABSTRACTAction research methodology is commonly used in initial teacher education programmes as a pedagogical strategy to enhance student teacher learning. Action research is most often used in tandem with school-based practicum components in the latter stage of programmes as a means of bridging the theory-practice divide. It is also frequently used as a capstone assessment to assure prospective teacher capability for reflective inquiry. The study reported here focuses on the perspectives of teachers who were recent graduates of two initial English language teacher education programmes in Chile, who had undertaken action research projects as part of their degree programme. It also engaged the university-based supervisors who had overseen this work. These experiences are analysed in the context of the guiding epistemological and political foundations of action research. The outcomes of this research suggest that the use of action research in initial teacher education contexts may be more problematic than it is often assumed; particularly, where student teachers’ work is professionally isolated. From this, it is suggested that action research in initial teacher education needs to be conscious of potential constraints in school-based contexts, as these may act to limit the current and prospective impact of this learning experience.

In this chapter, teacher education researchers from Denmark, Australia, Wales and Northern Ireland critically analyse the place of universal views expressed as positive forms of universalism in teacher education. A key player in influencing these particular views of universal improvement in teacher education is the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The chapter critically examines three publications from the OECD Education Directorate to illustrate how two positive views of universalism can be identified and linked to seductive ideas of improvement in teacher education. Using an alternative theoretical lens of negative universality, we argue that by adopting such positive views of universalism, different forms of absence, marginalisation and exclusion are being implicitly advocated by the OECD. Furthermore, we also explore how such positive forms of universalism can lead to cruel optimism in teacher education that may generate frustration, anxiety and exclusion. The challenge for teacher educators is understanding how the promises of positive universalism can capture our desire for improvement in ways that make us strive for non-educational objects, e.g., standards and ‘best practices’, that fail to support intellectual flourishing and ethical-political thinking, which are vital elements in (teacher) education.

This qualitative study examines how teacher educators in Northwest China conceive of teacherhood and teacher preparation for working with diverse “Minzu” (“ethnic”) students. Based on multiple dataset collected among teacher educators, findings reveal that Minzu teacherhood was polysemic and complex. In their descriptions of how they prepare preservice teachers, the teacher educators presented, for example, aspects of learning to respect students, learning to remove prejudice, and focusing on individuality. These elements show some similarities between Minzu teacher education and, for example, (“Western”) multicultural/intercultural (teacher) education. However, because of the socioeconomic–political specificities of the Chinese context, many elements differed. There are clear signs that effective and consistent measures have been invested in and developed by the teacher educators. The authors argue that global scholarship on diversity in teacher education could be inspired by Chinese Minzu teacher education.

Background Engaging teacher educators in improving the quality of teacher education is an ongoing process internationally. In some countries, there is growing conviction that professional teacher education should be based on research-generated knowledge. This trend has led to reforms in teacher education programmes as well as in teacher educators’ roles and professional practice. Purpose This study explores teacher educators’ understanding of research-based teacher education (RBTE) in Norway and Finland with an emphasis on Norway. Norway introduced RBTE in 2017, while Finland has had experience with this approach since the 1970s. Method The study is qualitative, part of a broader research project involving participants from Norway and Finland. It included in-person interviews with 16 teacher educators in Norway and five in Finland. An asymmetric design was adopted because we were particularly interested in exploring the Norwegian context. The analysis undertaken adhered to the principles of content analysis, identifying and categorising the viewpoints of the teacher educators through a grounded, inductive process. Findings Four data-driven categories emerged: Research-based teaching, comprising teaching methods and the acquisition of professional knowledge; Engagement in research, representing teacher educators’ understanding of student teachers’ participation in research activities; Role of research-based literature, referring to reflections on the use of subject literature; and Critical thinking, describing teacher educators’ assessment of developing a critical and self-reflective mindset when engaging in RBTE. Conclusion The participating teacher educators in both countries shared similar views on the key characteristics of RBTE. They were also generally positive about the role of research in their professional practice and its contribution to fostering critically thinking practitioners. However, the study revealed some tensions among Norwegian teacher educators, due to differing academic backgrounds and the cross-pressure demands of research and teaching.

Introduction During this time of active change in education, and in a world that is becoming characterised by super complexity (Barnett, 2004), initial teacher education (ITE) programmes are under the spotlight internationally. ITE programmes are accommodating changes in school and early childhood curricula and are trying to address the diverse needs of future learners more explicitly (Darling-Hammond & Bransford, 2005) through ongoing reviews. This is a huge challenge, given the competing demands to provide content, theory and experiences for participants in ITE whilst simultaneously ensuring that beginning teachers demonstrate the multiple competencies or required for graduation and induction into the profession. The level of quality of ITE is often considered from a works or pragmatic perspective. Research about works in ITE tends to promote research that gathers evidence about what has worked in the past. Given that this is a relatively new field of inquiry and that the field of education is changing rapidly, what may have worked five years ago may not be appropriate now or for the future. A futures approach to research can include what we already know about what works, as well as providing a place to develop theory related to future needs. Such an approach was used in the Teacher Education for the Future Project. It opened up possibilities for thinking about what could be emphasised in ITE, given our predictions for the future. Influences on the ITE curriculum and its implementation often come from opposing perspectives and therefore create tensions for ITE provision, especially in times of great change. These influences include: traditional and historical concepts of what ITE should provide; teachers' beliefs about teaching and learning (and the aims of education more generally); pressures to get more teachers qualified; and a range of new theories about teacher education and its implementation. This paper discusses these tensions with a focus on the New Zealand context. Firstly, it describes the influences of the New Zealand context on ITE. Then it elaborates on the tensions related to changes to traditional views of teaching and learning, the pressing need for more teachers and how and why new theories about teacher education need to be taken into account. It also outlines some key findings from the Teacher Education for the Future Project (Conner, 2008) and discusses how the process used in this project could be used to inform future ITE programmes. The New Zealand context In New Zealand there are currently more than 27 ITE providers (early childhood, primary and secondary) that compete nationally for students. By 2005, 85 different qualifications were being offered and implemented through a large variety of delivery modes. In New Zealand, these requirements for ITE are determined by the government and are guided by standards for developing programmes (New Zealand Teachers Council, 2005). The Graduating Teachers' Standards (New Zealand Teachers Council, 2007) identify the competencies that graduates of ITE qualifications need to achieve in terms of professional knowledge, professional practice and qualities such as professional values and relationships with students, colleagues, whanau, fono (1) and guardians. ITE programmes need to be closely tied to the more general directions of the education system and must address current Ministry of Education initiatives. Currently, these initiatives target Maori and Pasifika student achievement, literacy and numeracy, sustainability, gifted and talented students and engagement of senior students. These initiatives require teachers to be mindful of what is best for their students when they plan and make pedagogical decisions. The understanding, espousal and advocacy of sociocultural approaches to learning have been given more emphasis in The New Zealand Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2007) than in previous curriculum documents. …

Todays’ teacher education needs to provide pre-service teachers with readiness to integrate ICT in education. Teacher educators are expected to serve as role models for pre-service teachers, providing them with examples and meaningful experiences of learning with ICT. The aim of this study is to provide an insight into teacher educators’ and pre-service teachers’ confidence toward using ICT in education. In this study, both groups assessed their Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK). The aim was to study the possible differences between teacher educators’ and pre-service teachers’ TPK assessments, and based on their assessments, to provide insights into teacher educators’ readiness to act as role models for pre-service teachers. The participants of the study were 123 pre-service teachers and 83 teacher educators. The results indicate that the assessments of teacher educators were higher than pre-service teachers’ assessments at the sample level. The results also indicate that pre-service teachers and teacher educators can both be divided into two aligning sub-groups, with higher and lower assessments. However, the comparison of these sub-groups showed that the assessments of the pre-service teachers in the higher sub-group were higher than with the assessments of the teacher educators in the lower (modest) sub-group. This study provides evidence for variation among teacher educators and pre-service teachers in terms of their TPK. This implies a need for more tailored ways to develop TPK in teacher education.

A distinctive feature of the practice of teacher education is the value of teacher educators as role models for student teachers. This potential is not always realised because teacher educators do not always know how to model their practice, and when they do their student teachers may not notice it. Knowing this, a project team from a Dutch institute for teacher education trialled a 12-week intervention to address these shortcomings with six teacher educators. The intervention aimed to first put an emphasis on the teacher educators’ explicit modelling during classes; second, develop their student teachers’ observation skills so that they better noticed the teacher educators’ use of modelling; and third, organise a professional dialogue between teacher educators and students about the practice of teaching. The intervention was an attempt to facilitate the idea of teacher educators working with student teachers as partners to improve teacher education. The researchers used data from questionnaires completed by the teacher educators and their student teachers to establish the outcomes of the intervention. This data suggested that the intervention contributed to the professional learning and practice of the teacher educators and helped student teachers to learn from and about their teacher educators’ modelled practice.

The learning opportunities for teacher educators should respond to individual professional needs, but also prepare educators for new developments in (teacher) learning, (teacher) education and the teaching profession (Smith, 2003). To communicate the needs of society, the professional development and the lifelong learning of teacher educators are essential. This article aims to discuss the different approaches to the professional development of teacher educators, an overview of the European policies and country-specific studies, and observe and analyse professional development (PD) activities for teacher educators that create strategies to ensure quality education in Myanmar. It is found that compared to some European countries, it should provide opportunities for international professional networks and research projects to promote positive research culture. Moreover, sufficient financial support for developing a practical knowledge base for Myanmar teacher educators is needed. Finally, we present some suggestions for effective professional development pathways for teacher educators in Myanmar.

Research has suggested that teacher educators’ profession and the process of identity formation are poorly understood. Moreover, attempts to clarify the terminology are rare. While research has addressed teacher educators’ professional identities holistically, discussion on teacher educators’ teacher identities is very rare, even though these specific sub-identities are at the core of their work. In this study we apply meta-ethnography to provide an interpretive synthesis of 30 studies on teacher educators’ identities conducted in the past decade. Our findings display how teacher educators’ teacher identities are understood in the current literature suggesting teacher identity to be a hidden term in research on teacher educators. Moreover, we provide a critique, challenging prevalent understandings of teacher educators’ identities, particularly focusing on the terminology used in the studies and definitions of teacher educators’ teacher identities and conclude with future directions for the research in this domain.

Mathematical functioning in sub-Saharan Africa remains persistently weak in global terms. This limits the flourishing of young people and communities in the region. Moreover, affordable, effective ways to address the issue are not well established. This paper analyses outcomes from a blended learning ‘Mathematical Thinking and IT’ course, iteratively adapted for East African primary mathematics teacher educators. The course adopted theoretical approaches derived from the mathematics, teacher and technology education literatures. It aimed to address the problem of low mathematical functioning by equipping participants for their own work, and also for supporting local collaborative teacher development workshops. The reported study asked, ‘What are the affordances and constraints of the adapted course and the available technology for mathematics teacher educator development in this context?’A variety of qualitative tools were used to track the course’s impact on the ten mathematics teacher educator participants over six months, as they attempted to transfer course learning to their home professional context. The analysis adopted an ethnographic lens. Outcomes suggested participants with a broad mathematical and pedagogical capacity for change, including critical levels of reflection, made significant progress in their technological, mathematical and mathematics pedagogical expertise. However, teacher educators without such a threshold capacity appeared not able to re-envision practice. Free subjectspecific software was appreciated by all participants, but not yet reliably accessible in these teacher educators’ institutional contexts. The reported study evidences the potential for affordable, sustainable, development of many mathematics teacher educators in this context, but further research is needed. Similar courses should take account of local technological and education constraints.

I argue that larger cultural concerns about human–technology interactions are seldom addressed in teacher education. This article seeks to trace cultural anxieties about technology by addressing the long-standing trope of human versus machine; examine how these concerns are manifested and addressed (or not) in popular culture, educational technology research, and teacher education; and propose how, in a counterintuitive turn, we might begin to use what has been called cyborg anthropology, feminist cyborg discourse, and feminist posthuman discourse to address those fears in a world where human–technology relationships are increasingly symbiotic.

This paper examines the implications of England's ‘golden thread’ policy framework for teacher education, which describes a state‐mandated, linear model of professional learning from initial teacher training and education through to continuing professional development. Our collaborative retrospective analysis of three empirical studies within a university‐led teacher education partnership critically examines the experiences of student teachers, early career teachers and mid‐ to late‐career educators. The findings reveal that the policy network of the golden thread, as operationalised through the initial teacher training and early career framework and national professional qualifications, promotes a reductive, compliance‐oriented model that marginalises professional agency, critical inquiry and ontological development. In contrast, by considering international movements in many nations towards the kinds of reductive models that dominate in England, the paper argues that to tackle recurrent issues of teacher recruitment and retention, meaningful teacher education must transcend technocratic prescriptions and embrace complexity, reflexivity and co‐construction across career stages—a rich tapestry, instead of a single, golden thread. An effective counterweight to performative policy regimes, therefore, requires an original reconceptualisation of the golden thread, in England and beyond, so that a rich, co‐constructed and dynamic tapestry supports teachers not only to survive but to thrive in increasingly complex educational environments.

Teacher education in sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) has been criticized for the lack of attention to learning to teach in real classrooms, which limits the opportunity for pre-service teachers to successfully introduce learner-centered pedagogy in African primary school classrooms. To address this problem, Ghana has implemented a teacher education reform since 2004 to incorporate practicum. However, the critical role of teacher educators has been overlooked by policymakers, and few studies have qualitatively investigated their practice and vision. The study draws on qualitative data from the Ghana component of the Teacher Preparation in Africa (TPA) research project to explore eight teacher educators’ practice and vision of good teaching of primary mathematics. The study found that teacher educators’ practice and vision of good teaching consist of the use of teaching and learning materials (TLMs) and small group activities following specific steps without understanding the principles of learner-centered pedagogy that could be applied in a variety of classroom contexts and mathematics topics. The study also identified the hierarchical relationship between teacher educators and school teachers as a major challenge for effective practicum, limiting the opportunity to transform teacher educators’ vision and practice of primary mathematics teaching. Recommendations for enhancing professional learning opportunities for teacher educators are offered.

As a response to the exponential increase in COVID-19 cases, the South African government implemented the closure of schools and many universities in March 2020, with some universities operating under partial lockdown conditions. In this context of closure and lockdown, many universities have shifted to forms of virtual and online learning. Teacher education programmes were no exception, with many teacher educators having to transform their teaching under COVID restrictions to prepare future teachers. This article presents a snapshot of how teacher educators responded to the COVID-19 crisis between 2020 and 2021, and the implications of what has been deemed “emergency remote modes” of teaching for the future of higher education pedagogy. We look specifically at the effect of COVID-19 on teacher educators’ sense of self and wellbeing at one institution in South Africa. These teacher educators teach on the Bachelor of Education Foundation Phase programme. We examine the way in which teacher educators in a university setting supported the learning needs of student teachers as they develop their skills and pedagogic approaches. This qualitative study included interviews with eight purposively sampled foundation phase teacher educators. Several themes emerged from the semi structured interviews. These include the implications of the pandemic on teacher educator pedagogy, the effects on teacher educator wellbeing, and the institutional context of education, including support mechanisms. Teacher educators highlighted possible solutions for the future and how institutions could best adapt its primary objective of teaching and learning during times of crises and disruptions.

Th eo ther parts of this boo kh ave spoken to the tangible issues of assessing the quality of a teacher education program. Thi sc hapter now speak st o t he issues of the teacher educator’s identity development. In thi sc hapter I will consider the context where I teach and the impact this has on my own identity as a teacher educator; then, I will consider th ew aysi nw hich attention to my moral authority as a teacher educator enables me to support the development of the identity of preservice teachers, an dfi nall yIw ill consider the potential confounding relationships of reciproca li d entity development for adolescent publi cs c hool students, teachers, and teacher educators. Key t ot he awareness of my own identity development i st he process of self-study as a recommende dp rofessiona lp ractice for teacher educators an dp reservice students. Aubusson (Chapter 3) not only captures well the issues of secondary teacher education in his context, his account articulates the issues at Brigham Young University where I have been a teacher educator since 1992. During that time, my own identity as a teacher educator has been influenced by three reform efforts in secondary education. We are currently in the third. Having spent three years away from campus working on a special project, my own voice in the current reform effort is minimal and my connection is distant. Aubusson outlines a program similar to ours with similar concerns and disconnects. In his context, I would be one of those generic teacher educators that “deliver” bits and pieces of teacher education preparation, such as educational psychology, school and society, or diversity courses rather than the methods for teaching the discipline that seem more central in his account. As I discuss teacher education at my institution, I will analyze the implications for my own role and its implications for my identity as a teacher educator.