Teaching as a clinical profession: translational practices in initial teacher education – an international perspective

In response to evidence that teacher quality has the greatest in-school impact on student learning, and the consequent need for reform of intial teacher education, clinical approaches to the preparation of pre-service teachers have gained international prominence since the turn of the twenty-first century. This adaptation of medical discourse for the preparation of teachers has presented a new paradigm for teacher preparation and professional learning: a key tenet of this approach is the ‘translation’ and application of theory and research in the sites of practice. This paper will explore the ways in which two clinical pre-service teacher preparation programme, The Master of Teaching at the University of Melbourne and the Partnership Model at the University of Glasgow, utilise clinical approaches to develop the research-informed practice of pre-service teachers working at designated clinical sites (schools). A central aspect of this paper is a discussion of the ways in which the medical metaphor and its consequent models can be effectively translated into different national contexts, and the affordances and appropriations required when undertaking this cross-disciplinary work.