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The teaching of teaching is sophisticated work although it is often viewed simplistically. To challenge simplistic approaches to teacher education, teacher educators need to actively articulate the...

The three main themes of this Special Issue of European Journal of Teacher Education are brought together and considered in the light of what has been said in the articles included. These themes of teacher education, professionalism and research are all dynamic in the way they have been developing over time and also demonstrate considerable geographical diversity in their manifestations. This paper considers the extent to which these temporal and spatial differences indicate a series of tensions, difficulties and paradoxes as the processes of globalisation continue to influence educational policies and practices around the world. The extent to which the outcomes represent increasing convergence or divergence is discussed and the paper concludes by suggesting a number of key questions that may be asked within a particular context in order to make an assessment of the state of health of the teaching profession within that setting., This work was financially supported by Portuguese national funds through the FCT (Foundation for Science and Technology) within the framework of the CIEC (Research Center for Child Studies of the University of Minho) projects under the references UIDB/00317/2020 and UIDP/00317/2020.

This paper is based on a profile of Initial Teacher Training (ITT) provision in England, which was developed as part of a wider research programme on Diversity in Teacher Education (DiTE) based at Bath Spa University (Whiting et al, 2016). It provides a new topography of routes to qualified teacher status (QTS) in England for the academic year 2015-16, along similar lines to an exercise undertaken for an earlier research programme, the ESRC funded Modes of Teacher Education (MOTE) projects conducted in the 1990s (Barrett et al, 1992; Whiting et al, 1996; Furlong et al, 2000). The allocations and census data published by the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) provide the basis for this new topography, with additional material from a range of sources, mostly online. Reflections on further changes in policy discourse since the year of analysis hint at an acknowledgement of the role of Higher Education (HE) and a reduced emphasis on the much vaunted focus on ‘school-led’ routes. However, there is little to reassure either ITT providers, or potential candidates, of a long term plan aimed at halting the trajectory towards over-complexity and incoherence. The analysis raises important questions about the quality of such diverse teacher education provision, the nature of partnership between higher education institutions and schools, and the impact of reform on the identities of those training to teach.

Although teacher education has been recognized as a key aspect of educational policy and practice, especially over the past few decades, the research undertaken to inform policy is in many respects inadequate. Drawing on reviews of such research as has been undertaken in Europe, the United States, Australasia as well as other parts of the world, we can identify the key questions for teacher education researchers. These include such topics as the relationship between theory and practice in professional learning, the significance of partnerships between schools and higher education institutions, the relationship between preservice teacher education and ongoing professional learning and the nature of the assessment of beginning teachers. Three approaches to teacher education research may be defined, and all of them are important in the quest for better understanding of the field. These three approaches are research in teacher education—mainly carried out by teacher education practitioners; research on teacher education—mainly carried out by education policy scholars; and research about teacher education—carried out by scholars in a range of disciplines and seeking to explore the wider social significance of teacher education. An exploration of each of these three approaches reveals that there is a serious dearth of large-scale and/or longitudinal studies that may be seen as genuinely independent and critical. This suggests that there is a large agenda for future teacher education research.

In this chapter, I seek to explore the relationships between teacher education, research and educational improvement. My exploration is based on a deep commitment to a research-based approach to teacher education, indeed on my commitment to teaching as an enquiry-based profession and also to the improvement of educational experiences for all learners.

During the early part of the twenty-first century, teacher education has been the subject of much change in many countries around the globe. From Australia to Austria, from Norway to Scotland, we have seen reviews, reports and reforms. Within the UK, all four jurisdictions—as well as the Republic of Ireland—have seen major reports that have led to changes of various sorts in the provision for initial teacher education (Teacher Education Group in Teacher education in times of change. Policy Press, Bristol, 2016).

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of Omani student-teachers of social studies major about citizenship and citizenship education. Interviews were used to achieve this purpose. Ten students participated in the study: 5 females and 5 males. Data were analyzed qualitatively using analytic induction and interpretive analytic framework. Qualitative results show a wide range of interesting views on citizenship that highlighted the influence of the social, cultural and political context in shaping the meaning of citizenship and citizenship education. The results from interviews can be classified into five categories: (a) Citizenship is a multi-faceted concept; (b) Citizenship education is a crucial area in the school curriculum; (c) social studies is still the main approach of introducing citizenship education; (d) citizenship education is an area which is missing in teacher preparation programs and (e) Citizenship education is practiced to an extent in practical training programs.

The commitment to establishing a 'school-led' system of teacher education in England, announced by the Coalition Government in 2011 (DFE, 2011) and relentlessly pursued thereafter, represented a radical departure from previous kinds of initial teacher education partnership. While it is entirely consistent with a neo-liberal agenda, with its strong regulatory framework and appeal to market mechanisms, it is also underpinned by a particular conception of teaching as a craft - 'best learnt as an apprentice observing a master craftsman or woman' (Gove, 2010). In 2014 the Government established a Review of Initial Teacher Training, led by a primary school headteacher, Sir Andrew Carter. This signalled the recognition of teacher education as a 'policy problem', adopting Cochran-Smith's term. The ensuing report, published in early 2015, was more nuanced than might have been anticipated although a number of profound tensions emerge from a closer analytical reading; four of these tensions are similar to those previously defined by Cochran-Smith and two are newly emergent. This paper identifies and discusses these tensions as they appear in the Carter Review and relates them to wider debates about the links between teaching, teacher education, evidence and research and to policy making processes in education.

This chapter examines the history and nature of primary education in the UK, including its boundaries and links with early years and secondary education. A number of competing traditions have been seen to influence the shaping of the primary school curriculum. What emerges is a complex picture with some variation between the four nations of the UK and a number of significant political interventions, especially towards the end of the twentieth century. The role and responsibilities of teachers in relation to the school curriculum have been a matter of considerable change and we begin to see how the professional identities of primary school teachers relate as much to children as they do to knowledge.

This paper seeks to explore how we may best understand the relationship between teacher identity and national culture. Using Raymond Williams’ concept of ‘structure of feeling’ as a starting point, it is suggested that creative cultural forms of representation of teachers may complement social scientific studies to give a more complete and richer view of these matters. The paper focuses on England and Scotland, and has three substantive parts. First, consideration is given to the depictions of teachers in fictional literature from Scotland and England. Second, consideration is given to the range of methodologies that are deployed by sociologists in their consideration of teachers. Thirdly, the author draws on his own studies of teachers in both countries, to assess whether these throw any further light on questions of identity and culture. The concluding discussion argues that the complexities of the interplay between history, culture and identity are such that any single approach is unlikely to provide a...

There is now almost universal recognition around the world that 'teaching matters' and that the quality of teaching is crucial in social and economic development. However, there has been remarkably little change in the ways in which teachers' work is constructed and the ways in which teachers are educated for a lifetime of preparing young people for their future worlds. In this paper Ian Menter reflects on debates about the nature of teaching and teacher education in order to challenge much of the dominant thinking, suggesting that such thinking is often driven by ideology and prejudice rather than by careful deliberation or by the use of research evidence. His conclusion is that there are important underlying values that can be traced through the history of teaching which may now be more important than ever, but that the ways in which these values are embodied in the work of contemporary teachers are in need of major reconsideration.

Since the institutionalisation of teacher education in colleges and universities throughout the Western world during the twentieth century, there have often been tensions. These have been between the radicalism of those who have been attracted into this world because they want to bring about change in the practices of education and the “massification” and “standardisation” agendas favoured by many governments wishing to reduce risk and focus entirely on improving results. There have been times when teacher education has actually been an important focus for new ideas and for change. Yet, compliance and conformity have also, in their turn, dominated. This latter tendency has tended to characterise teacher education in the twenty-first century.

This article provides an overview of the background and recent developments leading to the current reshaping of teacher education in Scotland, starting with the developments emanating in the past decade from the McCrone Report and finishing with the recent Donaldson Report, Teaching Scotland’s Future. It documents the key features of the report and the impact that this will have on current teacher education provision in Scotland.

This paper takes a sociocultural approach to questions around the professional identity of teacher educators in Scotland. Through an analysis of the historical trajectory of Scottish teacher education and its institutions, it is suggested that there are four distinctive groups of staff currently working in the university departments that provide all of the initial teacher education. The professional backgrounds and experiences of these four groups are illustrated by data drawn from a series of interviews with Scottish teacher educators. The members of each of the four groups tend to have different relationships both with the academy and with the teaching profession. As they develop their careers as teacher educators, the continuously changing institutional environment may create different pressures on them, some of these emerging as identity conflicts, even though they are all working within the same ‘territory’ of teacher education.

In these times of accountability and audit, it should come as no surprise that there has been a great concern – some might say obsession – with ‘capacity building’. This is a term that crops up in ...

Teach First is an educational charity that places graduates to teach in ‘challenging’ schools for two years. It is marketed as an opportunity to develop employability while ‘making a difference’. In this paper, I examine the process of class reproduction occurring in this graduate employment scheme through examining the discourses used in Teach First marketing and by Teach First participants. I begin by arguing that the Teach First participants interviewed as part of an evaluation were predominantly middle‐class, and possessed social and cultural capital which had facilitated their access to the Teach First scheme. I then illustrate three processes of middle‐class reproduction within Teach First. The first is the accumulation by participants of additional social and cultural capital. The second is the reproduction of middle‐class values and stereotypes of the working‐class other, and the third is the obscuring of middle‐class advantage through discourses of ‘natural ability’. I conclude that although well...

This paper draws from a systematic literature review carried out for the General Teaching Council for Scotland on Widening access into the teaching profession. The paper first sets out a rationale for seeking the creation of a teaching profession that is demographically representative of the wider population. It is suggested that eight dimensions of representativeness are significant and the inter-relationship between them is discussed in the context of the concept of multiple identities. Consideration is given to what is known about the composition of the teaching workforce in Scotland, before a framework for developing a strategy for improving representativeness is offered. Four areas for action are identified. Finally it is suggested that the same framework and areas for action may be applicable in any country where there is concern about the unrepresentative composition of the teaching workforce.

The National College for School Leadership in England commissioned an evaluation and impact study of their new programme for recently appointed head teachers, the Headteacher Induction Programme (HIP). The early stages of this research study sought to elicit from new head teachers who were starting on the programme their own views of their needs and priorities. This paper draws from original quantitative (questionnaire) and qualitative (interview) data in order to examine what it is that head teachers believe they need in terms of professional development support at the time of what is arguably the most challenging professional experience of their career. What emerges is an extremely diverse picture, suggesting that there are many factors contributing to the formation and nature of headship, and that it is difficult to find a common set of needs or wishes. However, some patterns do emerge and these are reported. In addition the paper offers an exploration of the reasons for this diversity.

This article presents some of the Scottish findings of a comparative research project (2002–2004) which examined the ways initial teacher education (ITE) policy and practice take place in two of the four major components of the UK, England and Scotland. Debates about the nature of professional knowledge, where it resides and who owns it continue to play a central role in the development of initial teacher education arrangements as they currently stand in Scotland. The way university providers, schools and policy groups are positioned in the debate varies according to what their primary function is and how initial teacher education features on their agenda. In this article the authors investigate the conceptions, expectations and aspirations of a selected sample of policy actors, university‐based and school‐based ITE staff, and discuss implications for policy and practice in initial teacher education in Scotland. Cet article presente une partie des resultats Ecossais d'un projet de recherche comparatif (20...

There is an apparent contradiction between the widespread moves towards a uniform and instrumentalist standards‐based approach to teaching on the one hand and recent research‐based insights into the complexity of effective pedagogies. The former tendency reflects a politically driven agenda, the latter is more professionally driven. Tensions reflecting such a contradiction are evident in the debates over initial teacher education (ITE) policy and practice in many parts of the world. This article examines aspects of ITE policy in two contiguous parts of the United Kingdom, England and Scotland. The authors draw on a comparative study carried out during 2002–2004, particularly on an analysis of key contemporary policy documents, in order to consider some of the similarities and differences that are apparent in these two countries. It is argued that while features of national culture, tradition and institutional politics have a significant role to play in the detail of the approaches taken, there is neverthe...

Dieser Beitrag betrachtet die Veranderungsprozesse, die in der Lehrerbildung in England in den letzten Jahren angestosen wurden. Die aufgezeigten Trends zeigen sich konsistent mit dem zentral gesteuerten Ausbau eines markt-orientierten Ansatzes auch in diesem Bereich. So findet sich eine erhohte Diversifikation des Ausbildungsangebotes durch neue Qualifikations- und Berufseintrittswege, die wenige oder keine akademischen Ausbildungsanteile aufweisen, ebenso wie eine zunehmende Betonung von Leistungsergebnissen und Accountability. Insgesamt wurde durch die Veranderungen ein zersplittertes System der Lehrerbildung geschaffen, welches sich durch eine erhebliche Instabilitat insbesondere fur die traditionellen Anbieter von Lehrerbildungsprogrammen auszeichnet. Basierend auf einer grob vereinfachenden Sicht auf die Profession, wonach das Unterrichten und das hier zu vollziehende professionelle Handeln auf eine Liste messbarer Standards und Kompetenzen verkurzt werden konne, wurden diese Entwicklungen begleitet durch wachsende Vorbehalte gegenuber der Lehrtatigkeit als solcher.

International concern to raise educational standards and improve teacher quality has directed attention to the need to sustain career-long professional learning. Teacher induction and early professional learning (during years 2-6) have been associated with patterns of attrition and improved pupil outcomes. As the economic crisis impacts on public sector employment, the rhetoric of professionalism stands in contrast to the employment experiences of many recently qualified teachers. This article draws on interviews with 20 early career teachers in Scotland who achieved full registration from 2006. Work histories drawn from this small-scale study challenge the implicit assumptions of staged models of teacher development and draw attention to the increasing fragmentation and casualisation of experience in the teacher labour market. © 2014 © 2014 Taylor and Francis.

Over recent years increasing attention has been given to professional development for aspiring heads in the UK and elsewhere. In Scotland, the Scottish Qualification for Headship (SQH) was devised as a means of preparing for headship. This paper draws from the national evaluation of the SQH in order to assess the extent to which this programme appears to be achieving the development of the kinds of leadership qualities which have been identified as significant in recent research. However, the paper does not focus simply on the development of the qualities of the individual candidate but looks at the impact of the SQH in the wider professional setting, particularly in the schools where candidates are working. It appears that the programme has been effective in many instances in engaging with the dynamic emotional and professional dimensions of teacher development and in contributing to school improvement.

This article reports on the emotional impact of Threshold Assessment on teachers and schools. Using data from an ESRC funded project, ‘The impact of Performance Threshold Assessment on teachers’ work' (ESRC R000239286), we seek to contribute to a growing literature on teachers' emotions by sharing some of the insights gained from 76 interviews undertaken in nine case study primary and secondary schools between 2001–2003. The research has revealed a number of (apparently) unintended consequences of Threshold Assessment as well as considerable variability of experience. We underline the significance of contextual factors in the way that the policy was handled in schools and in the degrees of vulnerability and exposure experienced by teachers as they struggled to come to terms with the demands of ‘performativity’. … social policy needs a subject in which mind and body, reason and passion, self and other, agent and object are held simultaneously in mind without splitting one from the other. (Hoggett, 2000a, p...

The paper reports on aspects of an ESRC project, ‘The impact of Performance Threshold Assessment on teachers' work’ (ESRC R000239286). The paper begins by explaining the nature and technology of Threshold Assessment, and its location nationally within the performance management system recently introduced into schools in England. We review the monitoring procedures adopted for Round 1 of Threshold and draw attention to the limitations of such statistical data as are available. We locate Threshold within recent international developments characterised by managerialism and the culture of performativity that have increasingly come to dominate both the nature of policy‐making and definitions of ‘professionalism’. Drawing on interview material gained from thirteen case studies carried out in primary and secondary schools and in Local Education Authorities, we analyse the ways in which Threshold Assessment carries different significance for women and men teachers, heads and threshold assessors. We conclude that ...

This article draws on data from our recent research project The Impact of Performance Threshold Assessment the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC R000239286) for two years from May 2001. Within its wider context of performance management we focused on Threshold Assessment, employing a range of methods to identify policy sources, track the processes of development and implementation and analyse the impact and significance of Threshold in relation to: individual and particular cohorts of teachers; their cultures; their work and the institutional consequences for schools (Mahony, Menter, and Hextall 2003). This article considers some of the impacts on teachers, drawing mainly on the 70 interviews with staff in nine case-study schools.

This paper considers two examples of recent policies affecting teachers' work, Performance Threshold Assessment in England and Chartered Teacher status in Scotland. Through tracing their origins and motivations, a comparative analysis is offered, which seeks to explore the extent of the influence of national contexts on developments in the restructuring process. Both policies purport to meet the professional needs of teachers who are a few years into their careers, yet the Scottish example is strongly oriented towards professional development, while the English example is oriented towards performativity and teacher assessment.

This chapter engages with two of the most enduring debates in teacher education—especially in pre-service teacher education—concerning respectively the sites of professional learning and the relationship between educational theory and the practice of teaching. These two debates are very closely connected and it is the interaction between them that is the central concern of this chapter. In particular, there is an examination of how the issues have developed, been contested and are currently being reconstructed in the distinctive context of Scotland. The policy context for teacher education in Scotland is reviewed and a recently developed ‘clinical model’ of teacher education is outlined. Some of the similarities and differences with contemporaneous developments in England are also discussed.

Taking as its starting point the murder of Stephen Lawrence and the failings which that case has demonstrated in justice and the judicial system in England, this article questions the extent to which current models of citizenship education address the reality of young people's lives. The critique focuses particularly on the proposed revisions to the English National Curriculum to be implemented in 2001. It is argued that unless citizenship education provides an opportunity to study the reality of contemporary experience, including the injustices and inequalities which continue to be features of that experience, it will be an ineffectual exercise. There are also severe dangers of the citizenship curriculum being overcrowded with factual knowledge at the expense of opportunities for experiencing democratic processes and playing a part in the formation of learners' identities. Some examples are given of effective work based on the principles outlined in the article. In conclusion, an agenda for research and ...

This special issue of Teaching and Teacher Education is dedicated to work undertaken as part of the Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP), a major investment in education research in the United Kingdom. The generic phase of TLRP ran from 1999 until 2009, with some additional projects on technology enhanced learning (TEL) continuing into 2012. Total funds of nearly £40 million were provided by a range of national bodies including the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) (which coordinated the programme), the Higher Education Funding Council for England, and the governments of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and, for the TEL phase, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

The Scottish chartered teacher programme (2003-2011) is an important example of a national policy designed to support the development of 'accomplished teaching'. This paper provides an account of the emergence of the programme before discussing how the impact of such a scheme might be assessed and thus rendered accountable. The difficulties of developing valid and reliable methodologies for ensuring accountability are explored, including an account of a pilot research project and an indication of what the international literature may reveal about such aspirations. The paper concludes with a summary of four major challenges facing researchers who wish to offer insights that are of use to policy-makers and practitioners. © 2013 Copyright Educational Studies Association of Ireland.

Drawing on the experience of carrying out a literature review commissioned to support the Review of Teacher Education in Scotland, this paper discusses the role of literature reviews within the movement for 'evidence-based policy' making. The first part of the paper discusses the purposes of such reviews and some of the misconceptions that may be associated with them. Several critical questions that shape the work of reviewing are identified. By examining the particular case in which the authors were involved, it is demonstrated how the establishment of terms of reference and definitions of scope are critical factors in determining the outcome of such a project. But so too are the relationships established between those undertaking the project and the commissioners of the work. The conclusion is that reviewing literature is much more of a deliberative process than is commonly understood. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

Background: Teacher education in Scotland has developed its own trajectory for many years and this distinctiveness appears to have increased since the creation of the Scottish Parliament in 1999. Teachers' pay and conditions were addressed in 2001 by the agreement A teaching profession for the 21st century. This agreement led to a number of innovations in teacher education and development. More recently, there has been a report of the Review of Teacher Education in Scotland by Graham Donaldson and a committee is currently reviewing teachers' pay and conditions.Purpose: This article examines the extent to which the development of teacher education in Scotland has been affected by the global financial crisis and its impact on the provision of public services. Three policy contexts are explored in turn, those of politics and economics, education and teacher education, so that the analysis moves from the wider societal perspective towards the specifics of teacher education.Sources of evidence: The article draws on a close analysis of relevant policy documents, including those produced by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Scottish Government and the General Teaching Council for Scotland. Additionally reference is made where appropriate to a wide range of published research and to reports such as the Review of Teacher Education in Scotland.Main argument: The ways in which teacher education policy in Scotland is developing is a result of the interaction between history, culture and politics played out at a national level under the wider influence of UK, European and global affairs, both economic and political. There are real tensions in the current conjunction of policies and trends, which create major challenges for all those involved. The promotion of career-long professional learning and enhanced school autonomy proceed alongside the review of teachers' professional conditions (McCormac Review), high levels of intermittent employment among new teachers, fluctuations in student numbers and staffing in university Schools of Education, and contracting resource to support school-level curriculum development and continuing professional development. The social partnership achieved between employers and practitioners is under increasing strain; and relations of partnership between universities and schools are subject to increasing critical scrutiny. Teaching in a time of crisis creates new challenges, and the need for innovative approaches to enduring challenges, in the short and longer term.Conclusions: The longstanding commitment to explicit values in Scottish culture and education is all the more important in a context where pressures for accountability and efficiency are greater than ever. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.