Professional development of teacher educators Three steps forwards and two steps backwards Annual conference, Birmingham, 3-4 November 2015 Anja Swennen, VU University Amsterdam De State of the Art in het onderzoek door en naar lerarenopleiders en verder

Aim of my presentation “Good teachers need good teacher educators” Good teacher education starts with good teacher educators Increase recognition of teacher educators as a specific professional group within education and understand (ourselves as) teacher educators Explore charactistics of teacher educators Explore research by teacher educators

Why focus on teacher educators?  They are responsible for the education of (future) teachers and therefor for the education of all pupils and students  They are the “linchpins” of educational reform  They also contribute to the continuing professional development of Europe’s six million serving teachers. Teacher Educators Matter (Cochran-Smith, 2003, Snoek & Van der Sanden, english.pdf).

Humble origins Educators of primary teachers are good primary teachers and generalists Subject specialists with a subject teaching degree Teacher educators in HE Maguire, 2000; Swennen, 2012; Willis, 2012

The profession of teacher educators is an emerging profession  Policy  Identity  signature identity  Pedagogy  signature pedagogy  Research Shulman, 2005

Policy

European policy June 2010: The Profession of Teacher Educator in Europe small peer learning activity in Reykjavik organised by the peer learning Cluster ‘Teachers and Trainers’ March 2012: Education²: Policy support for Teacher Educators Large peer learning conference in Brussels organised by the peer learning Cluster ‘Teachers and Trainers’ February 2013: Integration, innovation and improvement: The professional development of teacher educators Large conference in Dublin organized by the Irish government /school/doc/support-teacher- educators_en.pdf Supporting Teacher Educators For better learning outcomes

….to enhance the quality of the educational experience of learners in schools, colleges and universities in the UK (…). …by ensuring that the nation’s teachers and educators are effectively prepared for their professional responsibilities, that they acquire the skills, understandings and dispositions necessary for effective professional performance, and that they receive programmes and other forms of continuing support that will enable them to respond effectively to changing circumstances. UCET (…) promotes programmes that are quality-assured to the highest international standards that are formally accredited at higher education level; that are informed by research, and that involve the examination of the values which underpin teaching as a profession. Not a word about those who have to prepare these teachers and develop and teach the programs: the teacher educators

Going forward 1 Teacher educators:  Have to be recognized as a professional group  Need their own journals, associations, handbooks, conferences

Signature identity

The signature identity of TEors Teachers are first order practioners TEors are second order practioners Murray & Male, 2005

Transition from teacher to TE is complicated Becoming a TEor means developing an identity of second order practitioner TEors at universities are second order practioners in a second order contex”: left the profession of teachers TEors at schools (mentors) are second order practioners in a first order context: the teach teachers within the profession of teachers TEors who are academics are first order practioners in a first or second order context: never (or limited) member of the profession of teachers

Who have Less interest in pedagogy for teacher educators More interest in school and pupls or academic work Teachers and TEors seen as the same Less interest in professional development as TEor Rather subject specialist Rather academic Rather teacher

Going forward 2 Teacher educators  Have to be recognized as a professional group  Need their own journals, associations, handbooks, conferences Identify themselves as teacher educators

Signature pedagogy

A signature pedagogy Second order practitioners need a pedagogy that reflects this core elements of our work: forms of congruent teaching and explicit modelling First order context of teaching Second order context of teacher education

Congruent teacher education The education of (student) teachers (curriculum and practice of TEors) is in line with the principles that are preached Swennen, Lunenberg & Korthagen, 2007

Modelling It is modelling the processes, thoughts and knowledge of an experienced teacher in a way that demonstrates the ‘why’ or the purpose of teaching: it is not creating a template of teaching for unending duplication Loughran, 2001; Van Velzen, 2013

Explicit modelling Explicit modelling: a pedagogy whereby the teacher educator unpacks her practice and the related reasoning for the benefit of student teachers or peers Berry & Loughran, 2005; Boyd, 2014, Powell, 2015

WHY? A moral obligation Professional responsibility for improving teaching Experiencing teaching complexity in our own practice (Zeichner, 2012)

Knowledge and skills of TEors Are always aware of the second order context of TE and the first order context of the (student) teacher and can move easily between those two contexts Have knowledge of pedagogy of teacher education Are able to model explicitly their own teaching and that of other novice and experienced teachers Field, 2012; Loughran, 2007

Going forward 3 Teacher educators  Have to be recognized as a professional group  Need their own journals, associations, handbooks, conferences  Identify themselves as teacher educators Develop a pedagogy of teacher education

Research

Research about and by teacher educators? Developing research capacity as a way of strengthening teacher education communities is seen as a key factor in enhancing the long-term quality of student and teacher learning across Continental Europe and the USA (Murray, Campbell, Hextall, et al., 2009) Practice based research by teachers as part time researchers Practice based research by teacher educators as part time researchers Scientific research by full time researchers (who might teach)

ResearchersScope of findings Aim of the research Non-academic world Schools School teachers Student teachers As subjects As fellow researchers Practice-based research Findings interpreted locally at school or class level Improvement of curriculum, teaching and learning Professional development of teachers (individually and as a team) Semi- academic world Teacher education Semi-academics (or academics) Practice-based research Findings interpreted locally at institutional or departmental level Publish in professional journal, books, Internet Professional development of TEors (individually and as a team) Improvement of teacher education and teaching teachers Understanding of one’s own work Academic world Traditional university AcademicsPractice-based and academic research Theoretical interpretation findings Publish in academic journals Transfer of knowledge Contributing to theory and knowledge Geerdink & Swennen, 2014)

Non-academic world of schools Semi-academic world of TE Academic world of traditional universities “Most academics who are involved in the teacher (education) research movement around the world have marginalized the process of school-based inquiry by teachers (and TEors, as ) as a form of teacher (education) development but do not consider it as a form of knowledge production” (Zeichner, 1995, p. 153)

Good example: self-study of TEors Researchers/teacher educators have worked consistently to create, grow and enhance their research SIG S-STEP Conference Journal Handbooks Leading professors, John Loughran, Amanda Berry

Themes in research about TE(ors) Student teachers 9 ITE (reform)8 Teachers5 Teacher educators4 Partnership4 Pupils3 Assessment 2 Coaching/mentoring 2 FE2 Math2 Research2 CPD1 Head teachers1 Policy1 8,7 % of all 46 papers are about teacher educators David Powell (Huddersfield): FE Teacher Educators, modelling and their practice Matt Walker (NFER): The importance of enhancing teachers’ research literacy: what teacher educators need to know about research in schools, and how you can help prepare your trainees Diane Swift and Marie Bateman (Keele and North Staffordshire Primary SCITT): 'Developing the role and status of Teacher Educators (Mentors) within a primary partnership Charmaine Brown (Greenwich): Teacher educators’ perceptions of the FE professionalisation agenda UCET papers

Going forward 4, teacher educators  Have to be recognized as a professional group  Need their own journals, associations, handbooks, conferences  Identify themselves as teacher educators  Develop a pedagogy of teacher education  Do research that contributes to understanding and improving teacher educators and their work and 2. Contribute to the body of knowledge about TEors and their work  Need time and facilities  Need change in working conditions (Ellis, McNicholl, Blake, & McNally, 2014)

Who will take the initiative? TEors? ‘Teachers’ of teacher educators Teacher education leaders? 3