Social Contexts of Teacher Education in England: Policy and Practice

• In Event: Social Contexts of Teacher Education Policy in England and the United States

Abstract

1. Objectives

We use a case-study of one higher education institution in England to illustrate the effects of recent policy mandates on theory and practice. In this particular case a long-standing initial teacher education partnership with local schools is rapidly being complicated by the diversification of training routes, the changing expectations of different contributors and the shifting patterns of competition overlaid on collaborative practices. England itself is an interesting case of the influence of neo-liberalism as there has been a pronounced move towards school-led teacher education that has not occurred elsewhere in the UK (Teacher Education Group, 2015).

2. Perspective(s) or theoretical framework

The paper uses policy sociology at macro, meso and micro levels to explore how policies have played out in the case of one particular institution (Ball, Maguire & Braun, 2012), making use of the cultural historical perspective. Drawing on the different planes of analysis (Hedegaard, 2004) allows us to explore relationships between the nested activity systems within which the prospective teachers are situated, highlighting the contradictions that arise between them.

3. Methods, techniques, or modes of inquiry

This sociocultural framework is used to explore the social, cultural and historical factors that have shaped teacher education in England. For the case study this paper presents an analysis of the particular social situations of development which are created for prospective teachers within this particular teacher education program, which is based upon an internship model. The paper explores how the interns construct their professional identity in the context of specific subject departments within particular schools each related in slightly different ways to the university provider, thus illuminating the tensions that arise in the program's aspiration to integrate theory and practice.

4. Data sources, evidence, objects, or materials

The policy context is explored though documentary analysis. The case study data come from program documents which were analyzed to develop a profile of the teacher education program and the shifting nature of the partnerships within which it was implemented. Detailed studies of the individual schools and of the prospective teachers’ experiences are based on video-recorded observations, interviews, pre and post-lesson questionnaires and copies of their teaching plans and resources. Insights from these sources are enriched by survey data from the cohort as a whole (about 150 interns).

5. Results

The case study reveals that within the over-arching policy context, prospective teachers’ learning in the higher education program is subject to complex interactions between three further domains; the culture of the individual school; the nature and pedagogical norms of specific subjects; and the individuals' own identity and values.

6. Scientific or scholarly significance of the study or work

The attempt to connect the macro with the micro in teacher education is rarely based on tracing the linkages between schools, universities, individuals and the wider policy context. The scientific significance of the investigation derives from its close examination of how complex the processes of learning for beginning teachers are, calling into question simplistic views of teacher development.

Authors

• Ian Menter, University of Oxford

• Katharine Burn, University of Oxford

• Trevor Mutton, University of Oxford