Main Content
Session Information
10 SES 02 D, Teacher Educators’ Learning: Knowledge generation, policy change and professional agency
Symposium
Contribution
Australia has recently experienced a teacher education policy reform agenda characterised by implementing standards and high stakes accountability measures. The current policy reform agenda has mandated ‘partnerships’ and policy documents have placed a heavy emphasis on the professional learning of supervising teachers to solve the issue of preparing the next generation of ‘quality’ teachers. University based teacher educators as an occupational group are currently absent in such policy reforms. Their role however is arguably vital in establishing effective school-university partnerships and in working closely with supervising teachers. To better understand the impact of current policy reform and the professional learning needs of teacher educators, a qualitative study was conducted. The objective of the study was designed to consider the ‘partnership’ policy implications for teacher educators and to consider the professional learning needs of this occupational group. The study comprised two parts: first, a policy document analysis (Bowen, 2009) and second, a thematic analysis from semi-structured interviews of teacher educators currently engaged in partnership development. The call for mandated partnerships clearly heralds the need for a shift beyond the current status quo for stakeholders. The silence around the role of the university based teacher educator in much of the policy focus however, means that there is a missing piece to the collective puzzle of improving teacher education. The study offers insights into how teacher educators might be more active in turning policy reform knowledge into action. Findings from the two components revealed the need for a new set of professional learning support and career trajectory structures for teacher educators. The study importantly illuminates the professional learning of a key group often known as the ‘hidden profession’ (Snoek, Swennen & van der Klink, 2011). The study offers a more productive way forward for turning the current accountability policy into a more productive way to engage with schools and communities.
References
Bowen, G A. (2009) Document Analysis as a Qualitative Research Method [online]. Qualitative Research Journal, Vol. 9, No. 2. Snoek, M., Swennen A and 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 in Education, 36 (1-2) 131-14
Programme by Networks, ECER 2021
00. Central Events (Keynotes, EERA-Panel, EERJ Round Table, Invited Sessions)
Network 1. Continuing Professional Development: Learning for Individuals, Leaders, and Organisations
Network 2. Vocational Education and Training (VETNET)
Network 3. Curriculum Innovation
Network 4. Inclusive Education
Network 5. Children and Youth at Risk and Urban Education
Network 6. Open Learning: Media, Environments and Cultures
Network 7. Social Justice and Intercultural Education
Network 8. Research on Health Education
Network 9. Assessment, Evaluation, Testing and Measurement
Network 10. Teacher Education Research
Network 11. Educational Effectiveness and Quality Assurance
Network 12. LISnet - Library and Information Science Network
Network 13. Philosophy of Education
Network 14. Communities, Families and Schooling in Educational Research
Network 15. Research Partnerships in Education
Network 16. ICT in Education and Training
Network 17. Histories of Education
Network 18. Research in Sport Pedagogy
Network 19. Ethnography
Network 20. Research in Innovative Intercultural Learning Environments
Network 22. Research in Higher Education
Network 23. Policy Studies and Politics of Education
Network 24. Mathematics Education Research
Network 25. Research on Children's Rights in Education
Network 26. Educational Leadership
Network 27. Didactics – Learning and Teaching
Network 28. Sociologies of Education
Network 29. Reserach on Arts Education
Network 30. Research on Environmental und Sustainability Education
Network 31. Research on Language and Education (LEd)
Network 32. Organizational Education
The programme is updated regularly (each day in the morning)
Marginal Content
Search the ECER Programme
- Search for keywords and phrases in "Text Search"
- Restrict in which part of the abstracts to search in "Where to search"
- Search for authors and in the respective field.
- For planning your conference attendance you may want to use the conference app, which will be issued some weeks before the conference
- If you are a session chair, best look up your chairing duties in the conference system (Conftool) or the app.