Coherence in Program Visions and Opportunities to Learn

• In Event: Unpacking the Conception of Coherence in Teacher Education: International Perspectives

Abstract

Comparative longitudinal research in the United States finds that the nature of program visions not only varies, but also seems to have an important relationship to the nature of opportunities to learn provided in programs. A recent longitudinal study found that when teacher candidates have opportunities to learn about the program’s vision of good teaching paired with specific opportunities to enact and practice aspects of the vision, they not only remain in teaching but also choose to stay in the school contexts for which they were prepared (Feiman-Nemser et al., 2014; Tamir, 2013a., b.). Alignment between program visions of good teaching and opportunities to learn specific practices that reflect it — represents one important aspect of ‘coherence’ in teacher education (Author 1, 2006). However, we know little about the nature of the visions of good teaching that undergird programs in other countries, nor about how programs link (or don’t link) such visions to the teaching of particular classroom practices. In this paper, the authors examine the degree of coherence in three programs in three different countries (Finland, Norway and the US) — by examining the relationship between the programs’ visions of good teaching and the opportunities to learn about specific classroom practices they provide teacher candidates.
In this examination of program coherence, we draw upon surveys and interviews that were specifically designed to explore the nature of program vision as well as the degree of opportunities to learn in practice. Data include surveys of teacher candidates in all three programs (n=269) and interviews (all 3 program directors, six faculty [2 per program], twelve candidates [4 per program]). Our analysis of the survey data suggests that the degree of clarity of the program vision of good teaching seems to have a relationship to the degree of opportunities to learn in practice. Indeed, in the two programs we examined in which program directors and faculty clearly articulated visions of good teaching, teacher candidates report more opportunities to learn specific classroom practices. On the other hand, in one program, interviews with the program director and faculty revealed conflicting views about the vision of good teaching. In that program, survey data revealed that students reported fewer opportunities to learn classroom practices, and significantly fewer connections in their program between theory and classroom practice. Interview data revealed that in the programs with clear visions, students described considerable connections between theory and practice and recounted numerous connections and consistency across courses. Yet students in the program that revealed some conflicting views in the vision of good teaching detailed considerable fragmentation across and within coursework. They noted in particular a lack of opportunities to enact the kind of practices they were learning about in their courses in their fieldwork. This analysis suggest the considerable importance of articulating clear visions of good teaching and in turn defining opportunities to learn to enact that vision as a key lever for coherent powerful programs — and the relevance of those findings for countries beyond the US.

Authors

• Karen M. Hammerness, American Museum of Natural History

• Ilkka Laasonen, University of Oslo

• Kirsti Klette, University of Oslo