School-Based Teacher Educators: Understanding Their Identity, Role, and Professional Learning Needs as Dual Professionals

Abstract

As teacher shortages increase, policymakers have focused on fast-track, employment-based routes to ease the pressure. An outcome of these approaches is that classroom teachers are increasingly identified by policymakers as responsible for the work of educating, mentoring, and assessing the next generation of teachers, while also teaching their own students. This phenomenon creates new sets of pressure for teachers, to be “dual professionals” as they support the learning of both school students and pre-service teachers alike. This chapter explores the shifting identity, role, and professional learning needs of teachers who take on this important work, often referred to as mentor teachers but in this chapter described as school-based teacher educators. The chapter examines the international literature and reports on studies into the emergence of this distinct group, discussing the policy shifts related to their identity, work, and roles over recent decades. Studies highlight that teachers often lack the knowledge and understanding of teacher education research, pedagogy, and practice required for such a role. Insights reveal a need for a shared language between university-based and school-based teacher educators and that a knowledge of practice be codified and shared by both.KeywordsSchool-based teacher educatorTeacher educationTeacher professional learningPolicy