Reshaping teacher education through the professional continuum

Abstract

The current policy gaze on teacher quality is resulting in significant shifts in how teacher education is conceptualized, designed and delivered. Traditional approaches to teacher preparation and continuing professional development (CPD) are being challenged, and often displaced, by new models that expedite the process and experience of becoming a teacher, relocate teacher preparation from universities directly to schools and widen the pool of teacher education providers. This "reshaping" of teacher education and leadership development is at a critical point of reform in a number of systems, driven by the need to align with curriculum and wider education reform and the effect of the dual exposure of international comparative tests and economic performance. As a consequence the practice of teacher education, by which we mean the pedagogies, programmes and places through which and where teachers are prepared, must adapt to become more responsive to demands from government to deliver high quality teaching that is developed and sustained throughout a teacher's career. This means reconceptualizing teacher and leadership development as a careerlong process developed by and through the professional continuum. It requires the redesign of the practice of teacher education, necessitating new thinking and fresh approaches to the rich pedagogies that must underpin professional learning programmes, the sites of professional learning and new partnership arrangements. Crucially it also involves widening the pool of teacher educators so that all teachers and school leaders are recognized as teacher educators.

Student teachers' experiences of participating in mixed peer mentoring groups of in-service and pre-service teachers in Finland

“…The professional development of teachers is increasingly conceptualized as a continuum of initial teacher preparation, induction and continuing professional development (Avalos, 2011;Day, 1999;Feiman-Nemser, 2001, McMahon et al, 2015OECD, 2011). The idea behind the continuum approach is to move away from over-emphasis on initial preparation by distributing teacher learning and professional development across career stages, and to thus support and promote the lifelong learning of teachers.…”

“…Tynjälä and Heikkinen (2011) have identified six common issues that new teachers encounter when transitioning from initial education to work: (1) threat of unemployment, (2) inadequate knowledge and skills, (3) decreased self-efficacy and increased stress, (4) early attrition, (5) uncertainty regarding the role and position of newcomers in the work community and (6) the importance of workplace learning. Another key cause of reality shock is seen to lie in the disconnect between university-based teacher education and everyday school life, reflecting the perennial tension between theory and practice in the teaching profession (Allen, 2009;Ball & Forzani, 2009;Korthagen, 2010;Lewis, 2013;McMahon, Forde, & Dickson, 2015;Zeichner, 2010). The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD] (2011, p. 5) has identified the "limited connections between teacher education, teachers' professional development, and school needs" as one of the key points of stress in the continuum of teacher development and called for improved partnerships between teacher education institutions and schools in order to provide student teachers with a more integrated experience.…”

Editorial

“…The award comes with a prize from our publisher, Routledge, and an invitation to give a seminar on the topic of the article. The winner for 2015 is from Margery McMahon and her colleagues on shifts in how teacher education is conceptualized, designed and delivered (McMahon, Forde, and Dickson 2015). The article was praised by the editorial board as offering a highly insightful, empirically based commentary on the current development of teacher education.…”

Understanding teachers’ professional learning goals from their current professional concerns

“…We aim to further examine these relationships in this study. Knowing what drives teachers' learning in their workplace and throughout their career can inform theories on what a professional continuum of teacher learning might look like (Beck & Kosnik, 2014;Feiman-Nemser, 2001;McMahon, Forde, & Dickson, 2015).…”