Beginning teachers as enquirers: m-level work in initial teacher education

The Characteristics of Elementary School Teachers’ Lifelong-Learning Competencies: A Convergent MixedMethods Study

“…This converged finding is commensurate with previous research (Knapper & Cropley, 2000), which shows teachers with high LLL skills to actively utilize formal and informal environments in order to maximize development in terms of their critical thinking, self-motivation, creation of multiple sources of learning, and advanced organization skills. This finding also implies that teachers with higher LLL competencies can better guide classroom environments for students to be able to effectively and positively learn (Brčić & Perin, 2014;Dickson, 2011). Furthermore, Lopes and Pereira (2012) highlighted the strong relationship between learning centered on personal involvement and interpersonal relationships between peers and between students and trainers that foster the development of identity and LLL attitudes.…”

“…Schools can play a role in training teachers as part of their accrediting education by allowing teachers to choose compulsory and elective courses regarding LLL competencies (Dickson, 2011). Brčić and Perin (2014, p. 23) revealed that competencies such as "communication in the mother tongue, communication in foreign languages, mathematical competencies, basic competencies in science and technology, and digital competency" are included in teacher training programs in Croatia.…”

“…To provide teachers with LLL competencies, educational institutions should promote inquiry-based learning and give teachers the ability to systematically understand the factors that affect in-class learning (Dickson, 2011). Schools can play a role in training teachers as part of their accrediting education by allowing teachers to choose compulsory and elective courses regarding LLL competencies (Dickson, 2011).…”

Linking research and practice through teacher communities: a place where formal and practical knowledge meet?

“…The current move towards Master level degrees in teacher education across many European countries (e.g. Dickson 2011;Gray 2012;Jyrhämä et al 2008), and the integration of teacher research in the curriculum of teacher education institutions (e.g. Dobber, Akkerman, Verloop and Vermunt 2012; Hagevik, Aydeniz and Rowell 2012) are important steps forward in supporting and recognising teachers' research competences and their role in the generation and dissemination of formal knowledge.…”

The place of research in teacher education

“…As Ross and Bruce (2012) established, teachers who conduct action research reported improved confidence in their professional abilities. Similarly, Dickson (2011) and Truxaw et al (2011) found that practitioner enquiry helped student teachers to develop their professional identity and perceptions of self-efficacy. Although teacher confidence cannot be directly equated with impact on student learning, in her systematic review of the impact of work-based professional learning, Cordingley (2013, p.1) established that enquiry-orientated learning and a focus on refining teaching and learning 8 'working towards aspirations for specific pupils side by side with theory' were key characteristics of effective continuing professional development (CPD).…”