Developing a Complex View of Teacher Education’s Influence on Learning to Teach

• In Event: Redrawing the Map: Toward a Complex Theory of Initial Teacher Education

Abstract

Objectives
A rich, concrete description of teacher education that provides an analysis of its significant components and the relationships between them is needed in order to develop an explanatory theory about learning to teach (Danermark et al, 1997). This study invited participants with different perspectives to build “maps” of teacher education to begin compiling an analytic description. The central research question was: What do the various participants in a complex initial teacher education system perceive to be the key elements and interactions in that system that promote teacher candidates’ learning to teach in ways that enhance children's learning?

Data sources, methods and analysis
Seventy-three participants (23 teacher candidates, 25 university-based teacher educators, 25 school-based mentor teachers) made maps of the teacher education system. Participants identified key elements (actors and structures) and indicated their relative strength by placing them in labeled sections of an otherwise blank map. Participants then used lines to show relationships among elements. Composite diagrams were then created for each participant group. Mean strength scores were determined for each element. Cluster analysis (Aldenderfer & Blashfield, 1984; Everitt, 1974) explored the linkages between elements. The analysis used the number of links between elements as a measure of proximity to reveal near and far relationships among them.

Findings and conclusion
Strikingly, all three participant groups attributed strong influence to the same three elements: the mentor teacher, children in schools and personal beliefs and values. Figure 1 shows the teacher candidates’ composite diagram.
This figure shows the elements of teacher education divided into sectors (wedge shapes), and separated into three concentric circles of different shades. The elements in the darkest circle were assigned the strongest influence by the teacher candidates; those in the lightest circle the least influence. The sectors represent the clusters that emerged from the cluster analysis. Within each sector then are elements that were linked together at different levels of strength by the teacher candidates. Teacher candidates’ linkages resulted in six clusters. In contrast, teacher educators identified three clusters, and mentor teachers, four. Elements that pertained to teacher candidate characteristics were linked together by all three participant groups.

Implications and significance
Similarities and differences revealed by the construction of the composite diagrams provide important information for the development of a rich description of teacher education as the basis for tracing complex causal pathways. Surprising uniformity in perception of strong influences points to critical areas for the eventual exploration of casual mechanisms (see Paper #4). Differing cluster structures may represent a source of disequilibrium, which may influence learning pathways for teacher candidates.

Author

• Fiona Ruth Ell, University of Auckland