Research, theory and practice in initial teacher education: new contexts, new challenges

Teacher Education – Theory, Policy and Practice Research, theory and practice in initial teacher education: new contexts, new challenges1 Maria Assunção Flores University of Minho Abstract In this chapter, I look at the post-Bologna framework by highlighting new contexts and new challenges with regard to the tensions in teacher education curriculum and structure or organisation. Next I will focus on the research dimension in ITE which remains a controversial issue in existing literature. Inquiry-based teacher education has been advocated in more recent literature, but it is far from representing a common approach and it faces various challenges. This chapter also includes a brief overview of the teacher education model at the University of Minho mainly in regard to its approach to practicum in the context of post-Bologna. Keywords: teacher education research practice student teachers 1. This chapter draws on a keynote address at the TEPE (Teacher Education Policy in Europe) 2016 conference, held at the University of Malta, Malta. It is also based on Flores (2015, 2016). 25 Research, theory and practice in initial teacher education:... Introduction Theory and practice in initial teacher education (ITE) have been widely discussed in existing literature over the years. The separation between these two essential dimensions in the process of becoming a teacher and the need to overcome a technical rationality perspective have been identified as persisting challenges in teacher education in many contexts (Korthagen, 2010; Van Nuland, 2011; Flores, 2016). More recently, the importance of research in teacher education has also been advocated even though different perspectives of research may co-exist (see, for instance, Flores, 2017a; Sancho-Gil, Sánchez-Valero & Domingo-Coscollola, 2017; Valeeva & Gafurov, 2017; Marcondes, Leite & Ramos, 2017). My argument is that a redefinition of university and school roles in teacher education is needed within the context of strong, coherent and supportive partnerships. This perspective is crucial if we are to move beyond the binary of theory and practice in teacher education in which research may be seen as the linking element. In other words, combining ‘teaching and research, theory and practice’ in a more consistent way may represent a move towards teacher education as a space of transformation, one which goes beyond a mere process of adaptation or of application of theory to practice (Flores, 2016). Of course the ways in which teaching and research, theory and practice in teacher education are organised is dependent upon the philosophy and structure of a given teacher education model. It may include a more radical perspective, starting with practice at the very beginning of the teacher education programme or by incorporating a gradual contact with the teaching contexts through, for instance, short-term internships, or through research projects led by universities and schools. It may also include a philosophy of teacher education which lies in the articulation between university and school, teaching and research throughout a given programme. In this chapter, I look at the post-Bologna framework by highlighting new contexts and new challenges with regard to the tensions in teacher education curriculum and structure or organisation. Next I will focus on the research dimension in ITE which remains a controversial issue in existing literature. Inquiry-based teacher education has been advocated in more recent literature, but it is far from representing a common approach and it faces various challenges (Flores et al., 2016). This 26 Maria Assunção Flores chapter also includes a brief overview of the teacher education model at the University of Minho mainly in regard to its approach to practicum in the context of post-Bologna. The importance of quality teacher education Teacher quality is dependent upon quality teacher education. Existing literature, however, points to different understandings of teacher quality and teacher education quality in diverse contexts (DarlingHammond & Lieberman, 2012a; Hilton, Flores & Niklasson, 2013; Laurie, Nonoyama-Tarumi, McKeown & Hopkins, 2016). What do we mean by teacher quality and quality teacher education? As a dynamic concept, quality needs to be understood in context as it relates to different expectations of various stakeholders (Flores, in press). In some contexts, concerns with performativity, funding and external compliance have had implications for academics and for teacher educators: “competition rather than cooperation came to be seen as a key driver of quality with accountability measured by performativity and compliance with raising achievement as key” (Alcorn, 2014, p. 447). Similarly, in England, Maguire (2014) highlights the need to ensure teacher quality “by reforming teaching at source by regulating and controlling initial teacher education” (p. 779). She discusses the “technology of erasure” which relates to “the erasure of the work of progressive and reforming teacher educationalists who have in different times attempted to produce new ways of using school-based experiences to produce new forms of teacher (and trainee teacher) knowledge” (p.780). As Mayer (2014, p. 471) argues, it is essential to overcome a “naïve view of teacher quality” which has been associated with “a linear relationship between policy and educational outcomes without accounting for school culture, resources and communities.” Teacher education is seen paradoxically as essential and as irrelevant (Sancho-Gil, 2014). In other words, teacher education has been understood as a crucial element to foster the quality of teaching and learning but at the same time there have been policies that undervalue the role of teacher education and teacher educators and in some contexts the role of universities and schools as sites for professional learning. However, there is consensus about two key features: i) teacher education can make a difference in quality teachers and quality teaching in schools; ii) teacher education needs to be seen as a continuum within 27 Research, theory and practice in initial teacher education:... a lifelong perspective (Flores, 2011, 2014; Imig, Wiseman & Neel, 2014). Drawing upon empirical research, Flores (in press) discusses the need to unpack teacher quality. She discusses issues such as motivation, innovation of practice, commitment and resilience as core elements around the concept of teachers as leaders of learning which stands at the core of being a teacher. Conway, Murphy, Rath, and Hall (2009), in a cross-national study of teacher education in nine countries, identified a number of principles underpinning quality teacher education, particularly the quality of knowledge integration, opportunities for observation, thoughtful feedback and critical reflection on classroom and school situations, and professional values and identity. If there is consensus on the importance of quality ITE for improving teaching and learning, there is less agreement on how to define and assess quality. Cultural differences, traditions and historical and social factors must be taken into account in order to understand how teacher education has evolved over the years in different contexts. In a recent paper, Darling Hammond (2017) analyses high quality systems leading to the preparation and development of high quality teachers, namely in Finland, Singapore, Canada and Australia. She argues that, despite their differences, these systems include “multiple, coherent and complementary components associated with recruiting, developing, and retaining talented individuals to support the overall goal of ensuring that each school is populated by effective teachers” (Darling-Hammond, 2017, p. 294). Among other issues are the recruitment of highly able candidates into high-quality programmes and the connection between theory and practice through thoughtful coursework and the integration of high-quality clinical work in settings where good practice is supported (Darling-Hammond, 2017). Thus, quality teacher education depends on the ways in which teacher competences and standards are defined (and who defines them and how) as well as on the wider social and cultural context and the policy environment in which it is embedded. Curriculum of initial teacher education: integrating theory and practice, teaching and research Although teacher education has been seen as a key element in efforts to improve teaching and student learning and achievement, diversity in its content and form, including different modes of government 28 Maria Assunção Flores intervention, emerges in Europe and beyond (Flores, 2011; Flores, Vieira, & Ferreira, 2014; Imig, Wiseman, & Neel, 2014; Goodwin, 2012; Hammerness, van Tartwijk & Snoek, 2012; Mayer, Pecheone & Merino, 2012; Darling-Hammond, 2012; Darling-Hammond & Lieberman, 2012b; Ellis & McNicholl, 2015). It is therefore possible to identify contradictory trends, for instance, a move towards higher qualifications for teachers at a Master degree level (e.g., Finland, Portugal, France, Malta), which, in many cases, has been associated with greater emphasis on the research component, and at the same time the development of a more pragmatic, short and school-based orientation (e.g., some ITE programmes in the UK, USA and Australia). This diversity in teacher education programmes is related to a number of factors among which are different ways of looking into the university and schools’ role in the process of learning to teach and different conceptions of school, curriculum, and teacher professionalism. In addition, the policy, economic and cultural contexts are influential. As Craig (2016) recently argued, the structure of education is not only shaped by history, culture and economics, but increasingly dictated by politics. The key components of teacher education curriculum depend on the structure and philosophy of education that underpin them. In other words, teacher education has been seen paradoxically as the panacea to improve education, and teaching and learning in schools and classrooms, and at the same time it has been subjected to criticisms which call into question its effectiveness in preparing high quality teachers for the 21st century (Flores, 2016). So, the question is: what kinds of teachers are to be trained? Teachers may be seen as doers of the curriculum within a more technical and top-down orientation. Conversely, they may also be understood as key players in the enactment of the curriculum and agents of change in the contexts in which they work. Thus, in order to fully understand teacher education it is essential examine the political, social, cultural and economic contexts in which it is embedded along with the conceptual and epistemological assumptions underpinning its curriculum models and organisational systems (Flores, 2016, 2017b). By and large, teacher education programmes include studies in education, subject matter along with pedagogical content knowledge, and practice. Yet, Kansanen (2014, p. 281), focusing on the Finnish context, alerts that “how to build a dynamic and successful curriculum 29 Research, theory and practice in initial teacher education:... founded on these elements is apparently the key to getting good teachers into the education system of the country.” In Europe and elsewhere globalisation has been a major driver of change along with governmental pressure to enhance the quality of teachers and teaching, in many cases associated with the results of international assessments. It is therefore possible to identify both convergences and divergences in ITE curriculum internationally, for instance related to a great diversity in terms of structure, focus and pedagogy worldwide (with varying modes of governmental involvement). A report on teacher education curricula in the European Union points to considerable variation in terms of the skills and competences required for the teaching profession in the official documents in different countries (Piesanen & Valijarvi, 2010). The same report indicates that subject competences, pedagogical competences, and the integration of theory and practice are mentioned in all the EU countries’ relevant documents, whereas quality assurance, mobility, leadership, and continuing and lifelong learning are often left out. The same report also suggests that whereas in most EU countries, national documents, laws and regulations stipulate general guidelines and frameworks for the organisation of teacher education, higher education institutions are granted a degree of autonomy to develop their own curricula. Both consecutive and concurrent structures carried implications for the ways in which curriculum components were integrated, but all included some kind of field experience in a school setting. In recent research, Zuzovsky and Donitsa-Schmidt (2017) compared the effectiveness of these two models of ITE programmes in Israel. They claim that graduates of the consecutive model outperformed graduates of the concurrent model in most of the measures used in the study. The authors put forward two possible explanations: the profile of the students in each model and the layered manner in which the curricular components are organised in the two models. The fragmentation and/or integration of ITE curriculum components and the articulation between schools and universities as sites for professional learning have been widely discussed in the literature (e.g., Cardoso, 2012; Flores, Santos, Fernandes, & Pereira, 2014; Elstad, 2010; Duda & Clifford-Amos, 2011; Clarke, Lodge, & Shevlin, 2012; Goodwin, 2012; Aydin et al., 2015). Research has found discrepancies between what student teachers learn in their programmes and their experience 30 Maria Assunção Flores in clinical practice (Wang, Odell, Klecka, Spalding, & Lin, 2012) pointing to a binary opposition between schools and universities (Wilson & l’Anson, 2006) in the education of teachers-to-be. A brief glimpse of the international literature pertaining to ITE curriculum reveals that subject knowledge, subject didactic knowledge, general education studies and practicum are generally present in ITE programmes, but there is great variation in regard to its location in the programme and to their interaction to enhance student teachers’ professional learning. In most cases, it is up to student teachers to make the necessary links between the different components of the ITE curriculum. Related to this is the prevalence of the academic logic in detriment to the professional one (Canário, 2001; Formosinho, 2009) along with the nature of the academic culture. Departmental organisation within the university and the valorisation of research can be detrimental to teaching in terms of Faculty career progression. Individualistic working patterns rather than cooperation is often associated with issues of promotion. In this context, it is difficult to foster curriculum articulation and coherence in ITE. The fragmentation between ITE components has also been associated with the historical curricular separation between foundations and methods courses within ITE and in particular the disconnect between theoretical and practical knowledge (Grossman, Hammerness & McDonald, 2009), and to the tensions between the professional and academic logic of teacher education and the curricular organisation of the time and space of each component in ITE curriculum (Formosinho, 2009). A study in Spain highlighted a number of shortcomings in ITE - namely the lack of quality, inadequate practices, difficulties in promoting learning, and a lack of preparedness for entering the teaching profession (Sancho-Gil, 2014). These challenges are to be linked to the ways in which, in different ITE programmes, the role and responsibility of universities and schools is understood, namely in regard to the teaching practice component, ranging from schools playing a host role (work placement model) to shared responsibility between both institutions, through to schools providing the entire training (school-based training) (Flores, 2016). 31 Research, theory and practice in initial teacher education:... The research dimension in teacher education: configurations and variations internationally A look at international literature on curriculum of initial teacher education points to various ways of integrating research into teacher education programmes as well as ways of articulating it with teaching. For instance, the introduction of research into the curriculum in France has been seen as a strong feature (Lapostolle & Chevaillier, 2011) and the research (action-research) component in the practicum has been seen as a positive aspect of the Master Degree in Teaching in Portugal (Flores, Vieira, & Ferreira, 2014). In Europe and elsewhere the research component in ITE curriculum varies: in some cases it is non-existent; in other cases it is not explicit in the curriculum but it is up to the training institutions to foster the development of student teachers’ research competences, for instance during practicum; and, in other cases, an explicit curriculum unit on research methods is included in the ITE curriculum as well as an inquiry approach to the practicum (Flores, 2016). Great variation across programmes internationally exists ranging “from one compulsory methods course to a critical reading of research papers and use of databases for policymaking recommendations” (Niemi & Nevgi, 2014, p.132) to the development of a pedagogical intervention project with a research component (action research) during the practicum in a school (Flores, Vieira, & Ferreira, 2014). The most paradigmatic example of a research-based orientation to ITE is the Finnish case. It entails “well-balanced knowledge and skills in both theory and practice” (Sahlberg, 2012, p. 9) according to a “systematic continuum from the foundations of educational thinking to educational research methodologies and then on to more advanced fields of educational sciences” (p. 11). However, as Niemi and Nevgi (2014, p. 132) argued, “preparing for research-based work in the teaching profession can also be undermined because of the pressure to provide new teachers with skills that are measured through students’ learning outcomes in highstakes testing.” As such, the research component in ITE may take different forms in different countries. In Brazil, for instance, a national programme has been launched to foster the establishment of partnerships between schools and universities, to enhance the research dimension and to integrate theory and practice in ITE. The Pibid, as it is named in 38 Maria Assunção Flores References J Alcorn, N. (2014). Teacher education in New Zealand 1974-2014. Journal of Education for Teaching 40(5), 447-460. JAydin, S., Demirdogen, B., Akin, F. N., Uzuntiryaki-Kondakci, E. & Tarkin, A. (2015). The nature and development of interaction among components of pedagogical content knowledge in practicum. Teaching and Teacher Education, 46, 37-50. 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Reframing the practicum: Constructing performative space in initial teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 22, 353-361. J Zuzovsky, R. & Donitsa-Schmidt, S. (2017). Comparing the effectiveness of two models of initial teacher education programmes in Israel: Concurrent vs. consecutive. European Journal of Teacher Education, 40(3), 413-431. 43 Research, theory and practice in initial teacher education:... Biographical note: Maria Assunção Flores is an Associate Professor with qualification at the University of Minho, Portugal. She received her PhD at the University of Nottingham, UK. She was visiting scholar at the University of Cambridge, UK in 2008/2009 and at the University of Glasgow in 2016/2017. Her research interests include teacher professionalism and identity, teacher education and professional development, teacher appraisal, and higher education. She has published extensively on these topics both nationally and internationally. She was the Chair of the Board of Directors of the International Council on Education for Teaching (ICET) between 2011-2015 and she is currently the Chair of the International Study Association on Teachers and Teaching (ISATT). She is also executive director of the journal Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice and co-editor of the European Journal of Teacher Education.