Teacher education curricula: a comparative study of two European higher education institutions

Author(s):

Filomena Rodrigues(presenting / submitting)Maria João Mogarro(presenting)

Conference:

ECER 2015

Network:

10. Teacher Education Research

Format:

Paper

Session Information

10 SES 02 E,

Paper Session

Time:

2015-09-08

15:15-16:45

Room:

101.Oktatóterem [C]

Chair:

Jane Abbiss

Contribution

Initial teacher education (ITE) plays an important role in the (re)interpretation of personal values and experiences (Feiman-Nemser, 2008; Alarcão e Tavares, 2010), which occur both inside and outside the school context, enabling the development of a professional identity (Flores & Day, 2006). The European Union highlights, in some of its documents (TNTEE, 2000; CEC, 2007; ETUCE, 2008), the importance of ITE for training qualified professionals that have the necessary professional competencies to teach in our ever-changing global societies.

Despite the plethora of teacher education institutions the goal of ITE is the same throughout Europe (Snoek & Žogla, 2009) – train (competent) teachers. The variable is the training contexts (Flores, 2011; Lopes & Pereira, 2012), which bear significant curricular differences. It is important to underline that the main differences occur in the distribution and duration of praxis (school placements). The implementation of the Bologna process is a recent attempt to mitigate those differences and create a common European educational space.

Nowadays, to be able to teach in Portugal one must have a Master’s degree in teaching (Decree-Law 43/2007), but it was not always so. With the implementation of the Bologna process, the previous five year graduation in the teaching subject area(s) that granted qualification to teach in (lower and upper) secondary was replaced by a 3+2 model (Graduation + Maters degree). In Sweden, the implementation of the Bologna process entailed some changes, but the structure of the programme was not replaced by a 3+2 model. According to the Government Bill 2009/10:89, one can teach in Sweden if one has a degree in subject education.

With a comparative analysis we intended to comprehend in what way curriculum, specifically praxis, influences the pedagogical and professional quality of student teachers trained by these new Bologna ITE programmes. This study focused on secondary student teachers of the field of natural sciences of two European higher Education institutions – University of Lisbon (UL) and Malmö University (MU) – located in two countries – Portugal and Sweden, respectively – that have, according to OECD (2012), significantly differentiated educational indicators. Considering the literature review of the area we could not find any research study that studied the influence of specific ITE programmes on pedagogical and professional growth of student teachers they are training. So, we think that this study is relevant for the development of scientific knowledge on teacher education.

A qualitative research methodology of multiple case studies (Yin, 2003) was used in the empirical study. We have defined four research questions: how do ITE curricula and praxis of the area of natural sciences in UL and MU can be characterized? What are the similarities and differences between these two curricula? What kind of teaching/learning methodologies are used in UL and MU to prepare student teachers to teach sciences? In what way do curricula and praxis of these ITE programmes influence professional and pedagogical growth of natural sciences’ future teachers?

With this research we intended to: a) characterize natural sciences’ ITE curricula of the previously mentioned institutions: b) characterize natural sciences’ ITE praxis of UL and MU; c) compare both curricula regarding its structure and importance given to praxis; d) characterize teaching/learning methodologies used in natural sciences’ ITE programmes in UL and MU; e) relate natural sciences’ ITE curricula and praxis with the construction of future teachers’ professional identity; f) relate natural sciences’ curricula and praxis of UL and MU with the readiness of student teachers to enter the teaching profession.

Method

In both institutions, the data were gathered during the months of March and April of 2013. The main data gathering instrument were semi-structured interviews. Considering the study’s objectives, in each higher education institution we interviewed the following educational stakeholders: a) student teachers (one at UL and two at MU – one for lower secondary school and another for upper secondary school); b) supervisors (one at each institution); and the coordinators of the ITE programmes. For this purpose six interview guides were made. These guides were similar in content but were adapted to the specificities of the stakeholders and ITE programmes. Before conducting the interviews, the interview guides were duly validated by and an external researcher in order to provide consistency to the study. All interviews were entirely transcribed and this transcription was sent to the interviewees for verification and approval. Some data were also gathered through the observation of lectures. Two seminars have been observed by the researcher in each higher education institution with the intent to find out what were the teaching/learning methodologies used to train student teachers. Therefore, observations have a secondary significance. The data gathered by this research method were used to triangulate some of the data gathered by interviews. Considering the small number of observations and its shortness, extra caution was taken into account when these data was analysed to avoid false conclusions that could compromise the validity of the study. Through documental analysis we were able to complement the information gathered in interviews. Official internal and external documents were analysed, specifically legislation, statistics, information available at institutional websites, statutes and other internal documents that became important throughout the investigation. For data analysis four domains were created based on data categorization. Two of these domains concern the study contextualization (participants’ characterization and teaching degree’s characterization). The other two domains regard data comparative analysis (ITE characterization and relation between ITE and the transition to the teaching profession reality). The previous explanation of the research design and data analysis, and the data and methodological triangulation provides validity, reliability and credibility to this study.

Expected Outcomes

We discovered that since the current ITE programmes of each institution are a result of the implementation of the Bologna process, both specializations have a strong research component. However, the curricular structure of these programmes is quite different. In UL the programme lasts for 2 years (but the students need to have a previous graduation on the subjects they will teach), and in MU the duration of the programme is 4,5 years for lower secondary school and 5 years for upper secondary school. Although there are great differences in praxis organization at both institutions (at UL there are 4 courses, but only 2 are school placements; at MU all 5 courses are school placements), a great emphasis is given to this curricular component. Active teaching/learning methodologies are privileged in both institutions. All of the interviewed student teachers revealed a strong identification with the teaching profession and admitted that the ITE programme had a preponderant influence for the development of their professional identity. All participants (student teachers, supervisors and coordinators) perceive these ITE programmes as being effective in training qualified teachers equipped with pedagogical and professional competencies, which will enable them to cope with the transition from school placement to school teaching reality. However, studies during the induction period are needed to verify this perception. We concluded that both ITE programmes have strong and weak points, which can be improved. Nevertheless, taking into account the specific contexts in which both ITE programmes are set we can determine that these programmes prove to be adequate, because they stimulate student teachers’ reflexion and professional growth allowing, from the contact with praxis, the development of a solid support of knowledge and experiences, which contribute to the development of their teaching identity. Thus, we consider that both ITE programmes under study train qualified teachers.

References

Alarcão, I., Tavares, J. (2010). Supervisão: conceitos e práticas [Supervision: concepts and praxis]. In Supervisão da prática pedagógica: uma perspectiva de desenvolvimento e aprendizagem [Pedagogical praxis supervision: a perspective of development and learning] (pp. 15-44). Coimbra: Almedina. CEC. (2007). Improving the quality of teacher education. Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament. Brussels: Commission of the European Communities. Decree-Law n.º 43/2007, of february 22nd. Diário da República, 1.st Series, 38, pp. 1320-1328. ETUCE. (2008). Teacher Education in Europe: An ETUCE Policy Paper. Brussels: European Trade Union Commitee for Education. Feiman-Nemser, S. (2008). Teacher learning: how do teachers learn to teach? In M. Cochran-Smith, S. Feiman-Nemser, D. McIntyre & K. Demers (Eds.), Handbook of research on teacher education: enduring questions in changing contexts (pp. 697-705). New York: Routledge / Taylor & Francis Group and the Association of Teacher Educators. Flores, M. A. (2011). Curriculum of initial teacher education in Portugal: new contexts, old problems. Journal of Education for teaching: International Research and Pedagogy, Vol. 37, No. 4, pp. 461-470. Flores, M. A. & Day, C. (2006). Contexts which shape and reshape new teachers’ identities: a multi-perspective study. Teaching and Teacher Education, 22, 219-232. doi: 10.1016/jtate.2005.09.002 Govt. Bill 2009/10:89, presented to the Swedish Parliament on february 11th of 2010. Top of the class – new teacher education programmes. [On-line]. Fact Sheet U10.009, March 5th of 2010. Lopes, A. & Pereira, F. (2012). Everyday life and everyday learning: the ways in wich pre-service teacher education curriculum can encourage personal dimensions of teacher identity. European Journal of Teacher Education, Vol. 35, No. 1, 17-38. doi: 10.1080/02619768.2011.633995 OECD. (2012). OECD better life index. [On-line]. Retrieved from http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/ SCS 1993:100, February 4th of 1993. The Higher Education Ordinance. [On-line]. Translated to English on November of 2011; includes changes set by SCS 2011:946. Retrieved from http://www.hsv.se/lawsandregulations/thehighereducationordinance.4.5161b99123700c42b07ffe3981.html Snoek, M. & Žogla, I. (2009). Teacher Education in Europe; Main Characteristics and Developments. In Swenen, A. & Klink, M. (Ed.), Becoming a Teacher Educator: Theory and Practice for Teacher Educators (pp.11-27). Heidelberg: Springer. TNTEE. (2000). Green Paper on Teacher Education in Europe. High Quality Teacher Education for High Quality Education and Training. Umea: Thematic Network on Teacher Education in Europe. Yin, R. (2003). Case study research: design and methods. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, Inc.

Author Information

Filomena Rodrigues (presenting / submitting)

Institute of Education, University of Lisbon

Torres Vedras

Maria João Mogarro (presenting)

Institute of Education, University of Lisbon, Portugal

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