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Unprecedented reform to teacher education in England, through the Initial Teacher Training Market Review, led to the threat of removal of the right for established providers to offer programmes of initial teacher education beyond 2024 without reaccreditation. Such policy reform has been constructed in relation to a perceived gap in research about knowledge of the best way to educate or train new teachers. Using Lee S. Shulman's concept of signature pedagogies we consider the varying ways in which theoretical ideas are underpinned by common models of, and approaches to, teacher education pedagogy. We mobilise Shulman to analyse five models, which we categorise as 'knowledge-first' or 'people-first', to see the extent to which, if at all, there is a theoretically informed signature pedagogy for initial teacher education. Our analysis shows that there is no one discernible knowledge base or theory that underpins a signature pedagogy for teacher education, but a suite of possibilities about how a signature pedagogy of teacher education could be understood. Moreover, it is our contention that policy reform of initial teacher education based on econometric analysis fails to recognise the most important dimension of a signature pedagogy, learning how to act with integrity as a professional teacher.

A number of factors among schoolchildren in England are currently contributing to poor attitudes towards speaking in the modern foreign languages (MFL) classroom. Although multiple explicit strategy-based instruction (SBI) intervention studies have appeared in recent years, very few studies have focused on its effect on oral skills and, in particular, pupils' attitudes towards speaking in the target language (TL). From the small pool of SBI investigations into schoolchildren whose first language (L1) is English, there is some evidence of success among boys in particular. The present quasi-experimental, two-cycle action research and development study of beginner (Year 7) and intermediate (Year 10) learners of L2 French (N = 148) investigated the impact of 12 hours of strategy intervention training on attitudes towards TL speaking skills in the MFL classroom in an all-boys selective secondary school in England. To assess the impact of the intervention, a mixed-methods approach was adopted; data were captured via questionnaires, lesson observations and interviews. In Cycle 2, pupils navigated the 'Strategy Island Map', an innovative tool to track their strategy use when speaking in the TL. Results suggest that explicit SBI improved attitudes towards speaking among both age groups. Implications for practice and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Despite the growth of research in learning and teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL), no scoping review of research published in international, anglophone journals has been published so far. A total of 289 journal articles published in 95 journals were identified and used to provide a bibliometric mapping of research in CFL over three decades. Data from the sampled articles reveals a great diversity of focus in CFL research that has been conducted in more than 24 countries. The included articles also reflect an upsurge in research intensity across several key areas of focus, some of which are related to the distinctive linguistic features of the Chinese language. We also report on the research methods employed by the studies in our sample and the characteristics of their participants. Our mapping of the field identifies gaps in the existing literature which may subsequently inform any focused or comprehensive reviews. We conclude by setting out some implications for future CFL research, both in terms of substantive areas of focus and methodological approaches.

A previous special issue of this journal (Vol 46, 4) demonstrated the significant challenges for programmes of initial teacher preparation unleashed by the COVID-19 pandemic. After forcing urgent changes, the pandemic also prompted some teacher-educators to reconsider fundamental principles underpinning their programmes, as they decided which innovative approaches to retain. Using an established model of professional growth that distinguishes between temporary 'change sequences' and enduring 'growth networks', this paper examines how opportunities for learning afforded by the pandemic were transformed into sustained professional growth. Adaptions in response to successive waves of infection created a continuously evolving 'change environment', stimulating new kinds of pedagogy while affording or constraining different kinds of feedback on its effectiveness. We consider published examples of professional responses to this changing context alongside vignettes from our own professional practice to examine what is needed for teacher-educators to move beyond crisis management, recognising opportunities for sustained growth. By focusing on different emphases given at different points to the processes of enactment and reflection, we explore the extent to which teacher-educators went on to interrogate the established principles of their teacher education programmes and we consider the potential impact of such interrogations.

Looking back at the very first issue of the Journal of Education for Teaching, it is clear that initial teacher education (ITE) was, at the time, undergoing significant change and has, in fact, been subject to political scrutiny in each of the intervening decades. Our paper traces key policy moments over the past 50 years in England, examining specifically those policies that have had implications for the role of schools and school-based teacher educators within ITE programmes. Our interest is in the broader context that has informed ITE policy-making, the content of those policies, and the implications for the role of schools. We go on to discuss how the concept of ITE partnership working has evolved over this period and then consider the pedagogic role that schools can play in the education of teachers, including the role of school-based mentors. Finally, we consider the potential impact on the practice of the most recent set of ITE reforms in England. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how the policy process around initial teacher education (ITE) during the pandemic of 2020 was experienced by the leaders of ITE programmes across England.Education policies,it is argued, are solutions to perceived problems, revealing latent values that drive action. Group interviews with leaders of ITE programmes across the education sector, focused on the lived experience of ITE policy developments during the first wave of the COVID-19 period (March to July 2020). The analysis drew upon three policy drivers derived from an examination of teacher education policy (prior to the pandemic) in four 'high performing' English-speaking countries (according to PISA). The three policy drivers: the economy and global competitiveness (the rationale for change); accountability and regulatory framework (the technologies for change); and the core purpose of schooling and teacher professionalism (the values underpinning change); show how the temporary policy shift soon reverted back to previous priorities. Agency and autonomy were experienced by teacher educators which enabled them to exercise expert judgment, but there were also the significant 'gaps' in the expertise of policymakers. The research reveals how values influences policy formation, creating divisions within England's ITE community, and isolating it from international policy trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2014, the final report of the British Educational Research Association and Royal Society for the Arts Inquiry called for teachers to engage both with and in research as a core part of their professional role. After considering some of the reasoning and evidence underpinning this ambition, the authors explore one way in which it might be realised: namely, through a Master's course in teachers' professional learning with a strong component of practitioner research. To do so, they present three case studies of Modern Foreign Languages teachers who have recently completed such a course, investigating the participants' perceptions of both (a) the benefits and drawbacks of the course in terms of their professional learning, and (b) any facilitators and barriers they encountered when completing it. The findings support existing evidence for the positive impact of research engagement on teachers' perceptions of their competence and efficacy. They conclude with a series of personal characteristics that seem likely to support individual teachers' engagement with and in research, and by offering some recommendations for schools, university-based teacher educators and policymakers in terms of how such engagement might be effectively supported.

Recent research has established that it is academically advantageous for students to adopt an incremental view of their intelligence and that this is a key marker of a student's level of self-efficacy. The self-efficacy of students following Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) courses in UK secondary schools is known to be low. Interventions have been successful in modifying students' intelligence theories in the short term, but less research has been conducted into the longer-term impact of such interventions. This paper investigates the impact of intervention training focussed on the benefits of adopting both an incremental theory of intelligence and a strategic approach to learning. We report the results of a year-long intervention study with a quasi-experimental design based in a large comprehensive secondary school in England. The participants were five Year 9 German as a foreign language classes (N = 127). The impact of two interventions is assessed through in-depth questionnaires, analysis of student outcomes, and students' intentions to continue with post-compulsory language study. The findings of this study yield significant implications for teachers' classroom practice. Targeted intervention is shown to have a lasting impact on students' theories of intelligence. The combination of interventions appears to have had an effect on the frequency with which students report adaptive attributions for failure. Most strikingly, for students of lower initial attainment, such interventions may have the power to transform attainment and motivation to continue with language study.

The few studies conducted in Europe to date suggest that little attention is paid to pre-service teacher preparation for family-school partnerships (FSP) and that many teachers feel unprepared for such work. In England there has been little research in this area but a government review of best practice in parental involvement with schools concluded that '(t)eachers often lack the confidence and knowledge to work with parents …'. Given the apparent discrepancy between the need for teachers to be more knowledgeable about FSP and the lack of opportunity within initial teacher education (ITE) programmes to address the issues, we carried out a national survey of ITE providers in England in order to ascertain what provision is currently on offer. Our findings indicate that while there is overall recognition of the value of preparing trainee teachers to become confident and knowledgeable about home-school partnerships, ITE providers feel constrained by the lack of time available to them to explore this area in greater detail. The article concludes by discussing some of the challenges of both planning and delivering effective FSP provision within the ITE curriculum and how this might relate to future professional learning.

Collaboration with parents is widely regarded as important in the education of children and young people, yet teachers rarely feel sufficiently prepared for this task. Several studies indicate that initial teacher education (ITE) programmes struggle to address issues of family-school partnerships (FSP). Our purpose in this study was to assess whether national ITE frameworks in seven European countries enable or constrain effective FSP preparation for preservice teachers. Our data, drawn from document analysis and national surveys, suggests that, despite the importance officially attributed to FSP at both governmental and ITE institutional levels, no single country presents a satisfactory picture in terms of FSP provision within their ITE programmes or in the extent to which preservice teachers are prepared to deal with the issue. Regardless of the existence (or not) of a national curriculum and variations, both in terms of legally-required competences and the amount of attention given to FSP in ITE programmes, it appears that simply making FSP compulsory is not the solution. Nor do national frameworks, in themselves, really appear to shape and direct the provision offered. Essentially FSP preparation still seems to depend upon the proclivities and expertise of individual teacher educators.

The commitment to establish a "school-led" system of teacher education in England, announced by the Coalition Government in 2011 and relentlessly pursued thereafter, represented a radical departure from previous kinds of initial teacher education partnership. While it is entirely consistent with a neoliberal 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". In 2014, the government established a Review of Initial Teacher Training, led by a primary school head teacher, 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.

The introduction in England of the Pupil Premium Grant (PPG) provided a stimulus to ensure that beginning teachers understand the nature of poverty and critically examine strategies used by schools seeking to overcome the barriers to academic achievement that it presents. This article explores the effects of asking student-teachers within a well-established initial teacher education partnership to adopt a research orientation towards the use of PPG funding. It focuses on the student-teachers' experiences and developing thinking as they engaged in small-scale investigative projects and on the perspectives of their school-based teacher educators (professional tutors). Whole-course evaluation data suggest that most projects operated successfully, with the student-teachers encouraged to ask critical questions about current practices, drawing on different kinds of evidence. Three case studies illustrate the diversity of approaches adopted towards the project, reflecting the views of individual professional tutors and the complex interplay between the competing object motives of different participants.

This review examines the kinds of relationship between research and practice that have been envisaged in programmes designed to provide opportunities for beginning teachers to engage in "research-informed clinical practice". Although the terminology varies, scope for inclusion is defined by an intention to facilitate and deepen the interplay between the different kinds of knowledge that are generated and validated within the different contexts of school and university. A variety of approaches have been taken to achieving this kind of integration; not merely extending the time that beginning teachers spend in school, but focusing on the processes by which professional knowledge is created, for example, by equipping beginning teachers to act as researchers, adopting a problem-solving orientation to practice. A range of approaches within and beyond the UK are examined, acknowledging the policy contexts in which they have been developed and comparing the rationales advanced in support of them. Finally the paper examines the claims advanced for the impact of such research-based clinical practice and the quality of the evidence that underpins them, in relation both to beginning teachers' professional learning and to student outcomes.

The need in many countries not merely to recruit but--critically--to retain effective teachers has been a key factor in shaping induction policies. Past reviews of teacher induction have highlighted two important sources of difficulty: novices' own unrealistic expectations of teaching and of students, and others' unrealistic expectations of the novices. This article, which examines the relationship between teachers' expectations of the first year of teaching and the realities that they encounter, explores the ways in which two policies in England--school-based initial teacher education partnerships (established since the early 1990s) and formal induction arrangements (re-introduced in 2000) have impacted on beginning teachers' experience of the transition. Drawing on data from a three-year longitudinal study it focuses specifically on how the teachers' reflections on their "experience" of their first year in teaching are related to the accounts that they give of their "learning" over the same period. (Contains 4 notes and 3 tables.)