Equity, democracy, and neoliberal assaults on teacher education

Collaboration, dialogue and expansive learning: The use of paired and multiple placements in the school practicum

“…Some developments have been driven by a concern to strengthen the links between schools and HEIs in order to bring theory and practice closer together, a notable forerunner of this being the Oxford Internship Scheme in England (Benton, 1990). Others have emerged through political challenges to the role of the HEI and governments seeking to take greater control over teacher education (Furlong, 2001;Sleeter, 2008;Zeichner, 2009). A consequence of these changes has been an increasing focus on a mentoring role in schools and, where HEIs remain involved, collaboration between HEI tutors, school-based mentors and student teachers.…”

“…Such arguments have been developed further in recent years. In the US a call for more inquiry-based approaches has been linked to the need for developing teachers who are able to work in a variety of settings and communities and be prepared to meet the diverse needs in such settings (DarlingHammond, 2006;Sleeter, 2008). Zeichner (2006), in reviewing practices in the US and elsewhere, argues for some key actions in ITE.…”

“…In England, the Coalition Government's plans for teacher education (DfE, 2010), now being put into practice, emphasize the importance of school-based training but see this as largely concerned with learning craft skills from 'experts'. Like England, many other countries have seen an increased centralized control of teacher education (Sleeter, 2008;Zeichner, 2009) and this, too, has often been accompanied by a shift in emphasis to school-based training. Zeichner's (2006) review of practice internationally, noted earlier, stressed a need for carefully planned practicum placements, with collaboration and reflective practice at their heart, as part of a process of transforming learning.…”

Changing teacher education in Sweden: Using meta-ethnographic analysis to understand and describe policy making and educational changes

“…The mediating constructions operating at curriculum level between society and teacher educators (Hökkä, Eteläpelto, & Rasku-Puttonen, 2010), ideology and social formation (Popkewitz, 1994), the capacity of teacher education to educate critically conscious professionals (Reid & O'Donoghue, 2004;Zeichner, 2010) and how teacher education operates as academic work (Ellis, McNicholl & Pendry, 2012) have been focused on, and similar policy developments have been described in many countries (see e.g. Karras & Wolhuter's, 2010;Garm & Karlsen, 2004;Sleeter, 2008). They suggest that over the course of the past fifty years national policies for teacher education have moved from emphasizing a dualist to a more unitary professional perspective, founded on a research-based knowledge about teaching, learning and education conditions (Beach & Bagley, 2012), but have then begun to swing back again, with a convergence toward global neo-liberal and new-managerial ideas (Apple, 2001;Garm & 2 Karlsen, 2004;Zeichner, 2010).…”

“…Critical questions have been raised concerning this convergence (Adamson, 2012;Delandshere & Petrosky, 2004). It is said for instance to have had negative consequences for teacher knowledge and decision-making (Reid & O'Donoghue, 2004;Sleeter, 2008) and for the possibilities of educating teachers as professionals who can critically reflect over, and control their educational practices through a research-based and shared scientific professional knowledge foundation (Apple, 2001;Beach & Bagley, 2012, 2013Zeicher, 2010).…”