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The Graduate Teacher Programme in EnglandEmployment-based routes into teaching can be found in the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand (Brookes, 2005;Haigh, 2003). These vary considerably in nature and little research has been carried out into whether they offer an effective induction into teaching.
The Graduate Teacher Programme in England was set up by the then Teacher TrainingAgency (TTA) in 1997 in order to address a national shortage of teachers. It was designed to attract mature entrants to the profession, particularly those changing their career. The GTP enables schools to employ unqualified teachers, whilst training them to meet national standards for qualified teacher status (DfES/TTA, 2003).In 2002, whilst representatives from the TTA praised the new scheme as a high quality route which had already brought 'well over 6,000 career-changers into teaching' (TTA, 2002a, p.2), a preliminary survey by government inspectors was highly critical of GTP provision overall (Ofsted, 2002a). The report identified considerable variation in practice 3 and concluded that: 'too many trainees are failing to achieve the high standards of which they are capable' (ibid. p.29). However, the report also noted that the GTP could be an 'effective route for training teachers' (ibid. p.10), where good practice was in operation.Since 2002, the GTP has helped to fill teacher recruitment gaps in England (MacLeod, 2005); although a more recent inspection survey of GTP providers (Ofsted, 2005) found that the quality of training was still variable. However, the report noted that improvements had been made to the training route overall and that the best managers had 'a clear understanding of the distinctive demands of an employment-based route' (ibid.p.3). The report also commented on the quality of the candidates attracted to the scheme, who were 'highly committed' (ibid. p.14) and professional, with strong 'motivation and ability to get the most out of the training and experiences offered' (ibid. p.14).The limited research so far into the GTP reveals a similarly mixed picture. For example,Foster (2000) found that, whilst there was enthusiasm in schools for a flexible programme which could help alleviate teacher shortage, the quality of provision was variable and, in some cases, trainee teachers were being exploited. More recently, Brookes (2005) highlighted the tension between models of teacher education and the potentially low quality of some employment-based programmes. However, he acknowledged that the scheme provided opportunities for mature entrants to train and that mentors in schools welcomed the GTP as a positive alternative approach to training. This is reinforced in some brief, first-hand accounts by GTP trained teachers (Parkin, 2002;Clarry, 2003), which stress the benefits of the...