Changing Identities and Practices? Transitioning from the Role of Supervisor to Placement Tutor in Initial Teacher Education.

Author(s):

Rose Dolan(presenting / submitting)Thomas Walsh(presenting)

Conference:

ECER 2016

Network:

10. Teacher Education Research

Format:

Paper

Session Information

10 SES 08 B, Role Change within Teacher Education and Beyond

Paper Session

Time:

2016-08-25

09:00-10:30

Room:

NM-Theatre N

Chair:

Ingrid Helleve

Contribution

Moving from an era of policy development to its translation into practice within initial teacher education (ITE) in Ireland, the roles and responsibilities of the various partners in schools and higher education institutions are in transition. ITE for post-primary teachers has been extended to a two-year Professional Master of Education (PME) programme from 2014, allowing additional focus to be placed on the central component of school placement. Within this context, the traditional role of ‘supervisor’ has been changed to that of ‘placement tutor’ with a defined and nationally agreed set of responsibilities provided by the Teaching Council (2013).

Recent developments in Ireland are reflective of wider European and international developments in ITE which sees the role of teachers as ever-changing and increasingly challenging (Sahlberg et al. 2012; European Commission, 2014; Teacher Education Group, 2016).The role of teacher educators is under-researched both internationally and specifically in Ireland (Dolan, 2011), referred to as an “unexamined occupational group” by Martinez (2008). Swennen et al. (2010) note the multiple professional identites of teacher educators, with many identifying as school teachers, teachers in higher education, researchers or teachers of teachers. This identity is often developed and revised within the role as teacher educator and can be challenged as roles and responsibilities change (Murray and Male, 2005).

This study explores the perspectives and identity of current placement tutors on the PME course in Maynooth University in relation to their role, past and present. The key research question is: “What impact have the recent changes to ITE and a change in role title had on the professional identity of current placement tutors?” The research was undertaken with tutors who previously worked as ‘supervisors’ and then as ‘placement tutors’ to explore the similarites and differences between the roles and the shifts in identity they perceived as they transitioned between the roles. Specifically, the objectives of the research were to examine the views of placement tutors on their overall role and identity, their role and identity in the context of placement schools and their role and identity in terms of the university course.

The research is situated within a theoretical frame pertaining to the development of teacher educator identity. It builds upon Murray (2002) in relation to the professional development of second order practicitoners, Murray and Male’s (2005) changes in professional identity, knowledge and understanding, Loughran’s (2014) theory of professional development of teacher educators and Berry’s (2007) tensions in teaching about teaching.

The research is timely as it captures the perspectives of placement tutors on their identity as they transition between their previous and current roles in 2015. As the quality and professional development of teacher educators is also an important concern for teacher workforce development in Europe and internationally (Snoek, Swennen & van der Klink 2011), it also fits into the wider European agenda (European Commission, 2013) of exploring and developing the professional awareness and identity of teacher educators.

Method

Seven placement tutors who have worked on both the Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PDE) programme as supervisors of teaching practice and on the PME as placement tutors were interviewed for this research. Semi-structured interviews were used with research participants to elicit their perspectives. Semi-structured interviews were chosen as the preferred methodology as this allowed core content to be covered with each of the research participants while also allowing the interviewee the opportunity to develop ideas and speak more widely on the issues raised by the interview. Arising form the literature, questions were designed in the following areas: o View of placement tutor role o Role and identity of placement tutor within context of school o Role and identity of placement tutor within context of university All interviews were transcribed and then returned to the respondents for review. In the first instance, they were organised and analysed on a thematic basis, using the interview questions as the initial categories for coding. Subcategories arising from the interview questions were identified and data were reanalysed in light of this. Following this, each transcript was reread and codified freely, using a grounded theory approach, to elicit themes that might not have been visible when using the interview themes. This allowed the coding categories to be adjusted in light of emergent categories. Data were then triangulated by document analysis, including analysis of core documents related to placement and of reports written by the research participants when they were supervisors and in their new positions as tutors.

Expected Outcomes

The main expected outcome of the research is to gain an insight into the shifting identity of current placement tutors as their roles and responsibilities change in light of recent developments in ITE. It is envisaged that this will impact positively on the professional development of placement tutors, present and future, as they begin to articulate aspects of their professional identity. Data will be used at the monthly professional development meetings with placement tutors as a basis for dialogue and discussion on their role, with a view to deepening the community of practice (Wenger, 1998 ) that is emerging among the group. It is also envisaged that the research into identity will be replicated with current and future placement tutors to examine the impact of evolving changes in ITE on their professional identity. This will impact on the recruitment and induction procedures in place in Maynooth University for placement tutors and support the identification of the ongoing continuing professional development needs of placement tutors into the future. Initial results from the analysis show that there have been some small changes to identity and practice arising from the change in role. There are also tensions within the role, some similar to Berry’s (2007) tensions and others that have not previously been described.

References

Berry, A. (2007) Tensions in Teaching about Teaching. Verlag: Springer. Dolan, R. (2011) A Step away from where you used to be – The Development of Teacher Educators’ Professional Knowledge in an Irish University. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Cambridge University. European Commission (2013). Supporting Teacher Educators for Better Learning Outcomes. Brussels: European Commission. European Commission (2014). Initial Teacher Education in Europe: An Overview of Policy Issues. Brussels: European Commission. Loughran, J. (2014). Professionally Developing as a Teacher Educator. Journal of Teacher Education, Volume 65 (4), 271-83. DOI: 10.1177/0022487114533386. Martinez, K. (2008). Academic Induction for Teacher Educators? Asia-Paciﬁc Journal of Teacher Education, 36(1), 35-51. Murray, J. (2002). Between the Chalkface and the Ivory Towers? A Study of the Professionalism of Teacher Educators working on Primary Initial Teacher Education Courses in the English Education System. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Institute of Education, University of London, London. Retrieved from Collected Original Resources in Education (CORE), 26(3), 1–503. Murray, J. and Male, T. (2005). Becoming a Teacher Educator: Evidence from the Field. Teaching and Teacher Education, 21, 125-42. Sahlberg, P., Munn, P. and Furlong, J. (2012). Report of the International Review Panel on the Structure of Initial Teacher Education Provision in Ireland: Review conducted on behalf of the Department of Education and Skills. Dublin: DES. Snoek, M., Swennen, A. & van der Klink, M. (2011) The quality of teacher educators in the European policy debate: actions and measures to improve the professionalism of teacher educators. Professional Development of Education, 37 (5), 651-664. Swennen, A., Jones, K. and Volman, M. (2010). Teacher Educators: their Identities, Sub-identities and Implications for Professional Development. Professional Development in Education, 36 (1–2), 131–48. Teacher Education Group (2016). Teacher Education in Times of Change. Bristol: Policy Press, University of Bristol. Teaching Council (2013). Guidelines on School Placement – 1st Edition. Maynooth: Teaching Council. Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Author Information

Rose Dolan (presenting / submitting)

Maynooth University

Education

Maynooth

Thomas Walsh (presenting)