Professional development of teacher educators De State of the Art in het onderzoek door en naar lerarenopleiders en verder Professional development of teacher educators Three steps forwards and two steps backwards Annual conference, Birmingham, 3-4 November 2015 Anja Swennen, VU University Amsterdam 1

Why focus on teacher educators? They are responsible for the education of (future) teachers and therefor for the education of all pupils and students They are the “linchpins” of educational reform (Cochran-Smith, 2003). They also contribute to the continuing professional development of Europe’s six million serving teachers. Teacher Educators Matter

A general definition Teacher educators are those who contribute formally to the development of teachers in pre-service and in-service education 3

Variety in TEors Institution based, academic TEors Traditional universities, academic, focus on teaching and research Institution based, professional TEors Higher and further education, experience as a teacher, focus on educating teachers and increasingly on research School based professional TEors/mentors Schools, focus on teaching their subject Educators involved in professional development for teacher educators, in universities, FE colleges or others Darling-Hammond & Liebermann, 2012

Mission UCET UCET's Vision ….to enhance the quality of the educational experience of learners in schools, colleges and universities in the UK, to contribute to the raising of standards of achievement of children, young people and adults, and to enable them to realise their best potential so that they can lead satisfying lives both personally and as members of the community. UCET seeks to pursue that aim by ensuring that the nation’s teachers and educators are effectively prepared for their professional responsibilities, that they acquire the skills, understandings and dispositions necessary for effective professional performance, and that they receive programmes and other forms of continuing support that will enable them to respond effectively to changing circumstances. Teachers must undergo a rigorous professional formation that is of the highest quality. To that end UCET, acting in close collaboration with partners in schools, colleges and other settings, promotes programmes that are quality-assured to the highest international standards that are formally accredited at higher education level; that are informed by research, and that involve the examination of the values which underpin teaching as a profession. 5

Why is the attention for TEor still limited? Teacher educators are not recognized as a separate professional group The lack of attention for the quality of teacher educators in (inter)national policies (Snoek, Swennen, Van der Klink, 2009) A lack of experts in the field of (professional development of) teacher educators

Four identities in the literature Teacher – as they once were as a general identity Teacher in Higher Education Teacher of teachers Researcher Swennen, Jones & Volman, 2010

The core identity of all TEors Teachers are first order practioners TEors are second order practioners: they should be aware of the second order context of TE and the first order context of teacher 8 Murray & Male, 2005

To complicate things….. TEors in professional types TE are second order practioners in a second order context TEors at schools are second order practioners in a first order context TEors in FE are a bit of both?

Specific knowledge of TEors Are always aware of the second order context of TE and the first order context of the (student) teacher and can move easily between those two contexts Have knowledge of pedagogy of teacher education Are able to model, be explicit and legitimize their own teaching and that of other novice and experienced teachers Loughran, 2007; Field, 2012; Murray & Czerniwski, 2012

Specific PD of TEors Induction Communities Developing courses/curricula Sharing in publications Research Explore possibilities to be a second order practitioner Contribute to the development of a useful pedagogy of teacher education Contribute to the body of knowledge for and about TEors

There is an emerging knowledge base for teacher educators, but it is not easily accessible for TEors

8,7 % of all 46 papers are about teacher educators Themes 46 papers UCET 2015 Student teachers 9 ITE (reform) 8 Teachers 5 Teacher educators 4 Partnership 4 Pupils 3 Assessment 2 Coaching/mentoring 2 FE 2 Math 2 Research 2 CPD 1 Head teachers 1 Policy 1 8,7 % of all 46 papers are about teacher educators David Powell (Huddersfield): FE Teacher Educators, modelling and their practice Matt Walker (NFER): The importance of enhancing teachers’ research literacy: what teacher educators need to know about research in schools, and how you can help prepare your trainees Diane Swift and Marie Bateman (Keele and North Staffordshire Primary SCITT): 'Developing the role and status of Teacher Educators (Mentors) within a primary partnership Charmaine Brown (Greenwich): Teacher educators’ perceptions of the FE professionalisation agenda 13

Good teachers need good teacher educators Motto Good teachers need good teacher educators