Abstract
Reform of the education sector in Wales has given university-school partnerships of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) in Wales much to grapple with conceptually and practically, in order to design new programmes of ITE that can attract national-level accreditation in line with the recommendations made by Professor John Furlong in 2015. These reforms have required a system-wide rethink of ITE, based on a philosophy for new provision. This article outlines an approach to ITE inspired by the work of Lee Shulman (2005) who argued that teacher education should prioritise the acquisition of three habits, corresponding to the 'what' the 'so what' and finally the 'who' of teaching, namely an understanding of one's professional identity, ethos and character. We describe a pedagogical model for embedding these principles in ITE, based on the work of Parker, Patton and O'Sullivan (2016). Finally, we consider the implications for mentors and lecturers, noting in particular the need to see all members of the ITE partnership as learners, both to ensure effective role models for beginning teachers, and also to remain faithful to the principle laid down in social development theory (Vygotsky, 1978) that learning is interactive and symbiotic.
Highlights
Initial Teacher Education (ITE) in Wales is undergoing a period of intensive change that aims to bring about a ‘transformational’ education system that can build teachers’ capacity as practitioners, leading to improved outcomes for pupils
In 2005 the Welsh Government commissioned a review of Initial Teacher Education and Training in Wales to advise on how it might more effectively meet the current and likely future needs of learners
A key requirement of universities is that they lead on bringing expertise to bear that is heavily r esearch-informed (BERA–RSA, 2014), and develop the capacities of teacher educators to be research-engaged with the ability to design programmes with a strong teacher inquiry strand
Summary
Initial Teacher Education (ITE) in Wales is undergoing a period of intensive change that aims to bring about a ‘transformational’ education system that can build teachers’ capacity as practitioners, leading to improved outcomes for pupils. Unifying all three of Parker, Patton and O’Sullivan’s (2016) pedagogical components is the centrality of an inquiry model of teacher learning that is situated, by which students are supported to develop curiosity about how their pupils learn in their school contexts, how their teaching relates to that most effectively and to collect a range of forms of evidence that help build professional knowledge and practice This is to develop ‘inquiry as stance’ (Cochrane-Smith and Lytle, 1999) – a disposition towards teaching based on the formation of curiosity-led professional identity, that continually seeks ways to understand the needs of learners and how they can be m et.
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