Collaborative Practice and Observation Outline for the session Who are the Teacher Educators ? The core principles – tripartite observation A model of observation and analysis What Next? Joy Carroll

Who are the Teacher Educators ? “ Recently, there has been interest in who should do the training and renewed interest in the division of labour between schools and higher education.” (Childs, 2013, p. 314). “…our schools and universities must open up new connections with schools. One connection would be to bring expert teachers into universities …. Conversely, university faculty staff who are competent to teach either teachers or pupils should spend more time doing these things and studying them in schools.” (Lanier, 2007, p.21). “The rationale for this so-called new professionalism was to make England more economically competitive with its global rivals” (Saunders, 2013, p.13). Universities are changing in response to, “unprecedented government intervention” (Courtney,2013,p.41).

A Model of Observation Scottish Government funding was used to set up a partnership between Glasgow City Council and some of their schools. Aspirations  Clear definition of roles and responsibilities of all partners  Development should be organic  Teachers and schools valuing and being valued in their role in partnership development  Immediate and in-depth evaluation of partnership activities  Enhanced support  Improved communication The Model  Professional development Seminars  Learning Round Observations  Joint Assessment Process

Research Findings 86% of students had said that they found the partnership model of greater benefit to them than the conventional model. (Dickson,2014). Tutor comment What I would say was that first of all because the supporter teachers had worked for considerably longer in the placement setting with the students, they were able to tell me if there was something going on or wasn’t going on. I think there was also the fact that there were lots of things that we were seeing together. We were able to give a clear overview of what was going on. 3 rd Year Trainee Teacher I felt that when my tutor visited, my teacher was able to give the tutor a clear overview of my performance and they were able to work closely together to judge my teaching. Feedback from both was always positive, constructive and useful for the future Class-teacher comment I can understand it’s pretty hard for the student teacher, but as a teacher that has developed the student teacher along. I would then be able to back her up after the lesson is finished and say, look, I can see she was a bit nervous and she maybe didn’t do that quite as well. However, I have seen her do much better.

An Observation Model for the University of Worcester and Partnership Schools The structure of Learning Round Observations  Students placed in small groups (where possible)  1 student teacher is observed by other trainees, class teacher and tutor  Nonjudgmental observations (20 minutes)  Post observation discussion – focus on observer’s practice Activity Discuss what the challenges, strengths, opportunities and threats will be for you, in your school. Scribe your thinking on the SWOT analysis sheet and feedback for discussion.

Next Steps ? Explore complementary roles for university-based and school-based teacher educators (Staffing in transition) Career-long teacher learning Masters-level CPD School-based professional learning for teachers

References Childs, A. (2013) ‘The work of teacher educators: an English policy perspective’. Journal of Education for Teaching: International research and pedagogy, 39 (3), Lanier, J. (2007).The Holmes Partnership Trilogy. Tomorrow’s Teachers, Tomorrow’s Schools, Tomorrow’s Schools of Education. Peter Lang. New York. Saunders, L. ( 2013). ‘What can be learned about a Royal College of Teaching from the experience of the General Teaching Council for England ?’ Education Today, Vol 63, (1), 13 – 17. Mtika,P.,Robson,D., and Fitzpatrick,R. (2014). ‘Joint observation of student teaching and related tripartite dialogue during field experience: Partner perspectives.’ Teaching and Teacher Education,39,66-76.