Teacher policy: a framework for comparative analysis

Abstract

This article outlines a framework for analysis of teacher focused policy studies within an international and comparative perspective. Using the notion of the professional life cycle of teachers, the article examines examples of key empirical studies that illustrate the impact of policy on addressing such issues as teacher recruitment, education, selection, retention and development. The article concludes that the framework is useful in identifying the strengths and weaknesses in the conceptualization and design of teacher focused policy and studies, and gives recommendations for the design of rigorous studies to inform future policy in this area.

The TEDS-M: Important Issues, Results and Questions

“…Research has begun to advance our understanding of the knowledge considered most important for school mathematics teaching (e.g., Baumert et al 2010;Hill et al 2007;Schmidt et al 2011;Tatto 2008;Tatto et al 2010). For more than a decade, recommendations from relevant societies and expert groups have emphasized that future teachers of school mathematics need to develop a deep understanding of the mathematics they will teach (Conference Board of Mathematical Sciences 2001), and that to be successful "… mathematics teachers need preparation that covers knowledge of mathematics, of how students learn mathematics and of mathematical pedagogy" (National Research Council 2010, p. 123; Education Committee of the EMS 2012).…”

Knowledge Expectations in Mathematics Teacher Preparation Programs in South Korea and the United States: Towards International Dialogue

“…This study explores social expectations around adequate knowledge for prospective secondary mathematics teachers in different national contexts-South Korea and the United States. By social expectations for teacher knowledge, we mean discursive practices institutionalized around what teachers should be taught to teach according to the collective image or epistemic model of "the ideal teacher" in a given society (Oser, 1994;Tatto, 2008). Analyzing the educational aims and curricula of teacher preparation programs in the two countries, we suggest that mathematics teacher knowledge may be influenced not only by social expectations in particular sociohistorical contexts but also by evolving transnational discourses on education.…”

Constructing the problem of initial teacher education in Aotearoa New Zealand: policy formation and risk, 2010-2018

“…In the case of ITE, the policy remit is generally concerned with the production of highly qualified teachers and, as indicated later in this study's findings, teachers' longevity in the profession. However, the improvement of education systems through teacher performance and the system's ability to produce workers for an increasingly global market are all also important objectives of ITE system design and policy (OECD, 2005(OECD, , 2012Tatto, 2009). An interpretive approach to policy analysis (which we took in this project) examines the way problems are framed and how that is reflected in policy (Browne, Coffey, Cook, Meiklejohn, & Palermo, 2018).…”