Practice makes perfect? Learning to learn as a teacher

Abstract

The context of this research is one in which teachers are now expected to equip their pupils with the disposition and skills for life-long learning. It is vital, therefore, that teachers themselves are learners, not only in developing their practice but also in modelling for pupils the process of continual learning. This paper is based on a series of post-lesson interviews, conducted with 25 student teachers following a one-year postgraduate course within two well-established school-based partnerships of initial teacher training. Its focus is on the approaches that the student teachers take to their own learning. Four interviews, conducted with each student teacher over the course of the year, explored their thinking in relation to planning, conducting and evaluating an observed lesson, and their reflections on the learning that informed, or resulted from, that lesson. The findings suggest that while the student teachers all learn from experience, the nature and extent of that learning varies considerably within a number of different dimensions. We argue that understanding the range of approaches that student teachers take to professional learning will leave teacher educators better equipped to help ensure that new entrants to the profession are both competent teachers and competent professional learners.

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

“…In addition, teachers may have had negative LLL experiences and so do not see the benefits of LLL in their personal or professional life (Cresson & Dean, 2000). In addition, today's education largely expects teachers to equip themselves with a range of competencies that ensure their students' social and academic success (Hagger, Burn, Mutton, & Brindley, 2008). Teachers in the low group appear to lack experiences where they could improve their LLL competencies or apply them to their professional and personal lives.…”

Getting out the most of the combination of working and learning: the case of teachers-in-training in Flanders

“…An important challenge there is on the one hand how to learn from experience, but on the other hand not to step into the pitfall of merely dealing with these experiences. This dilemma already has been put forward by Calderhead (1989) and McIntyre (1993) and became more specific in the research of Hagger et al (2008). In fact, the results of the study at hand show that also the LIW-trajectory falls short in creating an effective interaction between both contexts.…”

“…While a lot of research has been devoted to identifying conditions for successful reflective processes , the reflective practitioner movement entails a wide variety of perspectives and positions (Hagger et al 2008;Parsons and Stephenson 2005) and there is no consensus as to what constitutes reflective practice, nor as to which components of initial teacher education programmes are likely to produce reflective practitioners (Rodgers 2002). Supporting both practical theorizing as well as reflective practice adapted to phases in the learning process of student teachers poses huge challenges to the relative importance of the school and the teacher-training institute in teacher education (Hagger et al 2008). A number of these challenges could be addressed by means of an improved cooperation between teacher education institutions and schools (Korthagen et al 2006).…”

From preparation to practice: Tensions and connections

“…Teacher educators tend to position the practicum as being important but problematic, and not all agree that that student teachers automatically benefit from having access to the expertise and practices of their mentor teachers (Ambosetti & Dekkers, 2010). Some suggest that simply providing a practice setting for student teachers is not sufficient, especially given the complexities and challenges of teaching in today's schools and centres (Hagger, Burn, Mutton, & Brindley, 2008;Haigh & Ward, 2004). Questions have been raised regarding practicum arrangements, with Peters (2011), for example, questioning the practice of randomly assigning student teachers to mentor teachers who may or may not see their role as modelling best practice.…”