Search

The growth, internationally, in professional doctorates over the last 25 years has been well documented, as are the forms, fields and disciplines that such doctorates embrace. Yet relatively little is known about the professional tensions teachers encounter, in relation to their positionality, when carrying out doctoral research in the schools where they work. This paper draws attention, not only to the contribution the Professional Doctorate in Education (EdD) makes to research as a whole, but also to the significance of teachers as invaluable members of the research community. Findings will be presented from interviews with 30 senior teachers from schools in England who are carrying out practitioner research as part of their doctoral studies. The paper draws attention to how power relations in the research process ferment the structural and agentic concerns of the participants in this study when discussing their researcher positionality. The scholarly significance of this study is its contribution to knowledge of how schools are increasingly becoming both sites of research and research-rich environments. With its focus on researcher positionality the paper draws attention not just to the tensions and dilemmas these participants encounter on their doctoral journey, but also to the importance of teacher researchers and their role in research knowledge production.

Current literature suggests that while teacher educators perform a multitude of complex roles, they receive minimal preparation or possibilities for professional development to fulfil these roles. As a result, they need to acquire relevant knowledge and skills after taking on the position of teacher educators. Therefore, it is important to learn what skills and knowledge teacher educators need and how they acquire such skills and knowledge throughout their career. The purpose of this study is to describe the professional development needs and activities of 61 teacher educators across six national jurisdictions (England, Ireland, Israel, Norway, Scotland and The Netherlands) and to reveal influencing factors and affordances conducive to professional development. Semi-structured interviews constituted questions on professional learning opportunities and teacher education and research. Results from the interviews convey themes around the areas of (i) self-initiated professional development, (ii) the importance of experiencing professional development through collaboration with peers and colleagues, (iii) accessing opportunities to improve teacher education teaching practices, and (iv) the inextricable link between teaching and research and, consequently, the need to upskill in research skills. Discussion points that arise include the induction period, frustration and tension in navigation, haphazard professional learning and learning with, and from, each other.

Against a rapidly changing policy landscape for teacher education, exacerbated by 'Brexit' in the UK, findings are presented from an electronic survey of 272 higher-education based teacher educators in England, the Republic of Ireland and Scotland about their experiences of, and priorities for, professional learning. While the data generated were mainly quantitative data, qualitative features were embedded within the survey design. Both types of data have been used to draw out complexities that emerge when exploring a professional group of educators responsible for the preparation of a future generation of teachers. The findings are presented and discussed in relation to the professional demographics of the sample, research expectations placed on them and teacher educators' priorities for professional learning. Given the unique occupational position of teacher educators, their importance in the quality of teacher education and the lack of formal focus on their professional development, our starting point for teacher educators' professional development lies in their practice situated and positioned within global, regional, national and local policy contexts.

A universal lack of attention to the professional learning needs of teacher educators is the driver for this study, which considers the most effective ways to support the professional learning of higher education-based teacher educators. At a time when many industrialised countries are engaged in systemic educational reform, this study provides an international and comparative needs analysis through a survey of 1158 higher education-based teacher educators in the countries participating in the International Forum for Teacher Educator Development: Belgium, Ireland, Israel, the Netherlands, Norway and the UK. Our results suggest that while teacher educators are only moderately satisfied with their professional development experiences, a strong desire exists for further professional learning. This desire, influenced by their professional context, relates to their current beliefs concerning "best practice" in teacher education, the academic skills required to further their professional careers and knowledge of the curriculum associated with their fields of expertise.

The growth, internationally, in professional doctorates over the last 25 years has been well documented, as are the forms, fields and disciplines that such doctorates embrace. Yet relatively little is known about the professional tensions teachers encounter, in relation to their positionality, when carrying out doctoral research in the schools where they work. This paper draws attention, not only to the contribution the Professional Doctorate in Education (EdD) makes to research as a whole, but also to the significance of teachers as invaluable members of the research community. Findings will be presented from interviews with 30 senior teachers from schools in England who are carrying out practitioner research as part of their doctoral studies. The paper draws attention to how power relations in the research process ferment the structural and agentic concerns of the participants in this study when discussing their researcher positionality. The scholarly significance of this study is its contribution to knowledge of how schools are increasingly becoming both sites of research and research‐rich environments. With its focus on researcher positionality the paper draws attention not just to the tensions and dilemmas these participants encounter on their doctoral journey, but also to the importance of teacher researchers and their role in research knowledge production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines prison education in England and Wales arguing that a disjuncture exists between the policy rhetoric of entitlement to education in prison at the European level and the playing out of that entitlement in English and Welsh prisons. Caught between conflicting discourses around a need to combat recidivism and a need for incarceration, prison education in England exists within a policy context informed, in part, by an international human rights agenda on the one hand and global recession, financial cutbacks, and a moral panic about crime on the other. The European Commission has highlighted a number of challenges facing prison education in Europe including over-crowded institutions, increasing diversity in prison populations, the need to keep pace with pedagogical changes in mainstream education and the adoption of new technologies for learning. These are challenges confronting all policy makers involved in prison education in England and Wales in a policy context that is messy, contradictory and fiercely contested. The article argues that this policy context, exacerbated by socio-economic discourses around neo-liberalism, is leading to a race-to-the-bottom in the standards of educational provision for prisoners in England and Wales.

Though teachers in schools are increasingly being asked to take responsibility for the education and training of prospective and practicing teachers, little empirical research has been undertaken into the support that they require to perform their duties effectively. This study provides an international needs analysis of the professional learning needs of this occupational group through a survey of 1680 school-based teacher educators (SBTEs) conducted in 12 countries. While the findings from this study reveal that most SBTEs receive some form of preparation for their role, they require that preparation to be more collaborative and target the pedagogic and research-related aspects of their work. The findings also indicate how much more needs to be done to recognise, address and support SBTEs’ learning needs in relation to the rapidly-changing socio-economic, cultural and technological contexts that underpin the work of all teacher educators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proposals made by the European Commission in 2007 led to the Education Council adopting, for the first time, a European agenda for improving the quality of teaching and teacher education. This article reports on a small-scale longitudinal interview-based study with teachers in England, Norway and Germany demonstrating that while opportunities for professional development are increasing in all three countries, dissatisfaction is expressed by most teachers in relation to its quality and outcomes.

At a time when "trust" is argued by many to be on the wane within post-industrial societies this article examines a case study of pupil voice brought about through collaboration between a secondary school (for pupils aged 11-16) and a university located in a large conurbation in southern England. Building on data from focus groups and individual interviews with pupils and teachers, the author suggests that for pupil voice to be truly effective and transformative, policy-makers, academics and practitioners need to move away from the "synthetic trust" that typifies many pupil voice initiatives to one where authentic trust forms the cornerstone of all professional relationships in schools.

Within the context of globalisation, this article problematises some of the literature on teachers' professional identities in which a convergence and homogenisation of the profession is implied. It achieves this by focusing on the early experiences of 32 newly qualified teachers in Norway, Germany, and England. The article explores conceptions of identity, deployed for this research, relating these to high- and low-trust forms of trust and accountability in teaching. Aspects of similarity and difference between the three education systems are then used to focus on generic as well as culturally specific issues raised by some of the interview extracts. (Contains 5 notes.)

This article reports on a recent study of teacher educators in England which aimed to explore teacher educators' constructions of their own identities in the academic communities within two university schools of education. Findings show that teacher educators constructed repertoires of identities for themselves, deploying these to achieve credibility and recognition or to reflect personal change, depending on the particular context and "audience". Many saw their foundational identity as once-a-school teacher, but entry into the university often triggered changes and the (re)construction of identity around practice as a teacher educator and research engagement. Findings also showed a diversity of identity constructions and resistances around the idea of research engagement and having an identity as an academic. These findings are discussed in relation to the rapidly changing and contested field of teacher education at the beginning of the second decade of the twenty-first century.

Many countries in the "developed world" are engaging in what has been described as a "systemic" reform of their education systems, due in part to the competitive economic pressures of globalisation. Much literature has been generated about globalisation, exploring the dynamic interrelationship said to exist between economic convergence and integration, education systems, institutions and social actors at local levels. Explanations that connect the processes of globalisation to what takes place in the classroom abound. This article problematises such overly deterministic themes in the literature on globalisation as applied to the teaching profession in which a convergence and homogenisation of the profession are implied. It focuses on the early experiences of 32 newly-qualified teachers in Norway, Germany, and England and is part of a more extensive study that posed three research questions: (1) What values do "becoming" teachers hold in relation to their proposed occupation?; (2) What similarities and differences in teachers' values are evident in the three national settings under examination?; and (3) What part is played by national pedagogic traditions, national policy contexts and institutional settings in the changing values of newly-qualified teachers? Based on a grounded analysis of interview data with teachers at the end of their teacher training courses and throughout their first two years as qualified teachers, the study shows how their professional values are mediated in different ways through key values surrounding the process of becoming a teacher. The article emphasises the role of the institutional setting and individual agency in professional identity formation that other literature has glossed over when addressing theories of globalisation. The article first examines some of the value ambiguities, tensions, conflicts and dilemmas that many writers argue make up this most dramatic period of teachers' careers. After presenting the methodology used in the study, aspects of similarity and difference, convergence and divergence between the three education systems are then used to focus on generic as well as culturally specific issues raised by some of the interview extracts. These extracts reveal important similarities and differences between the teaching profession in the three countries under examination. (Contains 1 figure and 4 tables.)

For some sociologists--Durkheim or Talcott Parsons, for example--the real function of education is to act as a means of promoting consensus, by socialising people into the norms that are seen [...]

In BERA's 50th anniversary, this special issue of the Curriculum Journal recognises the debt to the work of Lawrence Stenhouse, former BERA President, and founder of the British Curriculum Forum (BCF), and his influence on teachers' work in researching and developing the curriculum. Papers in this issue address what Stenhouse called the central problem of evidence‐informed practice: ‘the gap between our ideas and our aspirations and our attempts to operationalise them’ (Stenhouse, 1975, 2–3). Stenhouse's legacy for curriculum models and thinking, both within the four home countries and internationally, highlights the methodologies and theoretical perspectives that inform teachers as researchers and how we understand and evaluate such frames of reference. Approaches to involving teachers as researchers examined in this collection resonate with BERA's strategic plan to build on its links with practitioners, set in the context of BCF and its work to support teachers' curriculum research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Have you ever wondered why, when going to school in the morning, most students enter the building through a different door to the one used by parents, governors, teachers and [...]

Whether globally, nationally or locally, pressure groups (or interest groups) tend to be concerned with single issues, or a set of issues, and they are not interested in seeking election […]

The point of doing sociology is to 'know what the social world is really like, to understand more about society and human action. In order to do this, sociologists use […]

Many feminists argue that religion can be seen as a mechanism of social control (see Box 1). The patriarchal structure in most religions (male mullahs, bishops, priests and rabbis) enforces […]

Current literature suggests that while teacher educators perform a multitude of complex roles, they receive minimal preparation or possibilities for professional development to fulfil these roles. As a result, they need to acquire relevant knowledge and skills after taking on the position of teacher educators. Therefore, it is important to learn what skills and knowledge teacher educators need and how they acquire such skills and knowledge throughout their career. The purpose of this study is to describe the professional development needs and activities of 61 teacher educators across six national jurisdictions (England, Ireland, Israel, Norway, Scotland and The Netherlands) and to reveal influencing factors and affordances conducive to professional development. Semi-structured interviews constituted questions on professional learning opportunities and teacher education and research. Results from the interviews convey themes around the areas of (i) self-initiated professional development, (ii) the importance of experiencing professional development through collaboration with peers and colleagues, (iii) accessing opportunities to improve teacher education teaching practices, and (iv) the inextricable link between teaching and research and, consequently, the need to upskill in research skills. Discussion points that arise include the induction period, frustration and tension in navigation, haphazard professional learning and learning with, and from, each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the role of the teachers in a curriculum development and presents contributions from the British Curriculum Forum (BCF) conference related to it. Topics include importance of teachers thinking and acting as a researcher in their classrooms, pedagogies, and intervention of the Building Research in Primary Schools project.

Against a rapidly changing policy landscape for teacher education, exacerbated by 'Brexit' in the UK, findings are presented from an electronic survey of 272 higher-education based teacher educators in England, the Republic of Ireland and Scotland about their experiences of, and priorities for, professional learning. While the data generated were mainly quantitative data, qualitative features were embedded within the survey design. Both types of data have been used to draw out complexities that emerge when exploring a professional group of educators responsible for the preparation of a future generation of teachers. The findings are presented and discussed in relation to the professional demographics of the sample, research expectations placed on them and teacher educators' priorities for professional learning. Given the unique occupational position of teacher educators, their importance in the quality of teacher education and the lack of formal focus on their professional development, our starting point for teacher educators' professional development lies in their practice situated and positioned within global, regional, national and local policy contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an increasingly globalised world, war, terrorism, declining birth rates and the changing demand for international labour explain, in part, why people decide to get up and move, often alone, [...]

A universal lack of attention to the professional learning needs of teacher educators is the driver for this study, which considers the most effective ways to support the professional learning of higher education-based teacher educators. At a time when many industrialised countries are engaged in systemic educational reform, this study provides an international and comparative needs analysis through a survey of 1158 higher education-based teacher educators in the countries participating in the International Forum for Teacher Educator Development: Belgium, Ireland, Israel, the Netherlands, Norway and the UK. Our results suggest that while teacher educators are only moderately satisfied with their professional development experiences, a strong desire exists for further professional learning. This desire, influenced by their professional context, relates to their current beliefs concerning ‘best practice’ in teacher education, the academic skills required to further their professional careers and knowledge of the curriculum associated with their fields of expertise. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article examines prison education in England and Wales arguing that a disjuncture exists between the policy rhetoric of entitlement to education in prison at the European level and the playing out of that entitlement in English and Welsh prisons. Caught between conflicting discourses around a need to combat recidivism and a need for incarceration, prison education in England exists within a policy context informed, in part, by an international human rights agenda on the one hand and global recession, financial cutbacks, and a moral panic about crime on the other. The European Commission has highlighted a number of challenges facing prison education in Europe including over-crowded institutions, increasing diversity in prison populations, the need to keep pace with pedagogical changes in mainstream education and the adoption of new technologies for learning. These are challenges confronting all policy makers involved in prison education in England and Wales in a policy context that is messy, contradictory and fiercely contested. The article argues that this policy context, exacerbated by socio-economic discourses around neo-liberalism, is leading to a race-to-the-bottom in the standards of educational provision for prisoners in England and Wales. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Proposals made by the European Commission in 2007 led to the Education Council adopting, for the first time, a European agenda for improving the quality of teaching and teacher education. This article reports on a small-scale longitudinal interview-based study with teachers in England, Norway and Germany demonstrating that while opportunities for professional development are increasing in all three countries, dissatisfaction is expressed by most teachers in relation to its quality and outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At a time when ‘trust’ is argued by many to be on the wane within post-industrial societies this article examines a case study of pupil voice brought about through collaboration between a secondary school (for pupils aged 11−16) and a university located in a large conurbation in southern England. Building on data from focus groups and individual interviews with pupils and teachers, the author suggests that for pupil voice to be truly effective and transformative, policy-makers, academics and practitioners need to move away from the ‘synthetic trust’ that typifies many pupil voice initiatives to one where authentic trust forms the cornerstone of all professional relationships in schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the context of globalisation, this article problematises some of the literature on teachers’ professional identities in which a convergence and homogenisation of the profession is implied. It achieves this by focusing on the early experiences of 32 newly qualified teachers in Norway, Germany, and England. The article explores conceptions of identity, deployed for this research, relating these to high- and low-trust forms of trust and accountability in teaching. Aspects of similarity and difference between the three education systems are then used to focus on generic as well as culturally specific issues raised by some of the interview extracts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports on a recent study of teacher educators in England which aimed to explore teacher educators' constructions of their own identities in the academic communities within two university schools of education. Findings show that teacher educators constructed repertoires of identities for themselves, deploying these to achieve credibility and recognition or to reflect personal change, depending on the particular context and 'audience'. Many saw their foundational identity as once-a-school teacher, but entry into the university often triggered changes and the (re)construction of identity around practice as a teacher educator and research engagement. Findings also showed a diversity of identity constructions and resistances around the idea of research engagement and having an identity as an academic. These findings are discussed in relation to the rapidly changing and contested field of teacher education at the beginning of the second decade of the twenty-first century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter is concerned with some of value positions and perspectives that London-based newly qualified teachers have identified as central to their professional identity. Interviews were carried out between 2001 and 2003 with nine London-based teachers from the end of their training into the first two years of their employment. The data is part of wider cross-national research carried out for a PhD thesis that was based on a grounded analysis of interview data with teachers working in cities in Norway, Germany and England as they moved through the process of becoming teachers from the end of their teacher training courses into the first two years as qualified teachers. The chapter shows how the professional values of newly qualified teachers are mediated in different ways through the situatedness of key values surrounding becoming a teacher in London. After clarifying what is meant by 'values' the chapter briefly describes the London context in which teachers and pupils are socialised. It then examines what Veenman has termed the 'transition shock' experienced by teachers as they move from training to employment. Extracts from the interview data are presented and discussed highlighting the role that critical incidents play in the authoritarianism that many believe is an essential (yet in some cases regrettable) aspect of becoming a teacher in London. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction to the journal is presented in which the editor discussed topics such as the seminar day of Higher Education Academy at Anglia Ruskin University, the implications of participation at a personal level, and the findings from one research project carried out in the East of England.