This paper considers changes in expectations of initial teacher education programmes, particularly in relation to mitigation of inequalities and responsiveness to diverse learners in schools, and the translation of broad intentions into practice in a local context.

Internationally, teacher education is in transition, both in relation to its organisation and political expectations for teacher education to address inequalities for diverse learners. With growing student diversity, there has been an increasing expectation that education systems and schools will serve to “ameliorate effects of complex social processes, including disparities between social groups” (Robertson, 2005, p. 115). Teacher education has been identified as a site for change, in order to support transformation of schooling and teacher practice. As in many European and OECD countries, the New Zealand government has been re-envisioning education with an expectation that “all students will have the opportunity to develop knowledge, competencies and values required to be successful in a world that is increasingly complex and uncertain” (Ministry of Education, 2013, p. 3). The New Zealand Ministry of Education has called for initial teacher education providers to ensure that graduates have “the knowledge and adaptive expertise to work effectively with an increasingly diverse student population” (p. 3).

The notion of “adaptive expertise” has become a centralising concept and a goal for initial teacher preparation. Derived from the seminal work of Hatano and Inagaki (1986), a distinction is drawn between two contrasting types of expertise. One form of expertise emphasises relatively routinised responses to teaching and practice challenges; the other emphasises more flexible and adaptable approaches to such challenges. The development of adaptive expertise is understood to involve a sense of disequilibrium, which provides impetus to question assumptions and current practices and to “let go” when necessary (Schwatz, Bransford & Sears, 2005). Education scholars who call for an intentional focus on the development of teacher adaptive expertise argue that this supports more equitable educational outcomes for socially, culturally and linguistically diverse learners.

It is at the local level, though, that teacher educators are charged with attending to the broad goals of creating more equitable educational practices and supporting the development of adaptive expertise. Locally, what is understood to constitute good teaching and equitable practice is defined in cultural context. In New Zealand, pre-service teacher competence is defined through a range of policy documents, including Graduating Teacher Standards and Cultural Competencies for Teachers of Māori Learners  (New Zealand Teachers Council, 2011, nd), and informed by culturally grounded research (for example, Bishop & Berryman, 2009). Those engaged in teacher preparation are challenged to reflect the aspiration for teachers to better serve the needs of Māori and ‘priority learners’, including Paskifika, speakers of languages other than English, and those who experience particular learning needs.

The authors of this paper have been involved in the development of a professional Masters programme for initial teacher preparation at the University of Canterbury. We describe key synthesising features and structures of the programme that give local and cultural expression to understandings of what it is that pre-service teachers need to be able to know and do in the development of adaptive expertise. In particular, we examine the development and use of Te Poutama Kaiwhakaako (representing steps to teaching knowledge and understanding) as an aspirational, unifying and culturally encompassing framework for effective teaching that outlines programme partners’ understanding of the development of pre-service teacher growth and the development of adaptive expertise and action competence.

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