The different learning opportunities afforded student teachers in four secondary school subject departments in an initial teacher education school–university partnership in England

Abstract

To cite this article: Alaster Scott Douglas (2011) The different learning opportunities afforded student teachers in four secondary school subject departments in an initial teacher education school-university partnership in England, Journal of Education for Teaching: International research and pedagogy, 37:1, 93-106To link to this article: http://dx.This article investigates the learning opportunities in school subject departments for student teachers when participating in a postgraduate certificate of education (PGCE) course in England. The paper draws upon data gathered from a year-long ethnographic study to explain why learning opportunities were different for student teachers in separate school departments. Discussion focuses on three identified types of learning (learning by imitation, enculturation and innovation) and analyses how initial teacher education (ITE) resources were used within the school departments in order to work on student teacher learning. The paper concludes by highlighting some pertinent issues for ITE, and the implications of these for designing ITE programmes in the future. IntroductionIn England there are more possible entry options into teaching than any other country (House of Commons Report 2010). The PGCE course, featured in the research on which this article is based, is the most popular entry route with 59% of trainees in 2007-2008 (DCSF 2008. Its overall structure has most recently been centrally imposed on higher education institutions (HEIs) by New Labour government policy, and consequently it may appear to encourage a consistent approach to ITE. However, this apparent consistency belies the contested purpose of ITE work. The variety of possibilities for student teacher learning in the PGCE is shown in the research findings described in this article. These illustrate how mentors' and teachers' opinions on how they see their roles with regard to ITE may be influenced by and depend upon the relationships they have within their school and with higher education in ITE partnerships. The development of ITE partnershipsCircular 3/84 (DES 1984) prescribed requirements to establish a national model of ITE in England and Wales. Professional literature on ITE at that time was characterised by the dominance of the 'collaborative model' (Furlong et al. 1996, 48) and a number of PGCE courses including those at Sussex University (1965) and Leicester University (1980) had already established strong links with schools, as well as the Oxford Internship Scheme (1987), which was considered to be supporting the central *Email: alaster.douglas@roehampton.ac.uk Downloaded by [North Dakota State University] at 21:13 03 November 2014 94 A.S. Douglasideas of school-based education. Policy-makers' approval showed little appreciation of the pedagogical principles or resources needed to sustain such school-based schemes (Judge et al. 1994) but in 1992 imposed a partnership model of ITE across the country into very different situations than those where the models had been developed (DfE 1992). As a conseq...

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