Learning from School-based Teacher Training: Possibilities and constraints for experienced teachers

Abstract

This article presents findings from a study of teachers' development conducted in a large English 'comprehensive' school during a period of intense educational reform. In particular, it considers the ways in which experienced teachers contributed to and claimed benefit from a new national system of school-based initial teacher training (ITT). In addition to outlining the professional development possibilities for experienced teachers involved in school-based ITT, the article highlights a range of factors that appeared to constrain this development. By drawing on the English experience, the paper considers the implications of recent Danish policy related to school-focused teacher education, both in terms of the potential benefits for experienced teachers from involvement in such training, as well as more generally in terms of the quality and appropriateness of such forms of teacher preparation.