Session Information
10 SES 13 B, Preparing Pre-School Teachers for Family School Partnerships: International perspectives
Symposium
Contribution
Global trends, such as flexibility, acceleration and skills shortage lead to constant reforms in the field of education. These reforms cause a high demand for curriculum innovation in teacher education. In the context of a current teacher shortage in Switzerland, an innovative model of teacher training was created for second career teachers. The model comprises three innovative components: admission for non-traditional students, validation of non- and informal learning and workplace learning. The Zurich University of Teacher Education has offered training programs for candidates over 30 years of age with a bachelor’s degree and former experience in the labour market. The candidates’ competences acquired in their first career and life experience are assumed to be transferable to the teaching profession within a short period of time. The training program is being evaluated in a longitudinal mixed methods study based on the following theoretical framework: Firstly, the policy aspect related to alternative certification and life-long learning (Cochran-Smith, 2014), and secondly, the learning aspect, including previous experience (Chambers, 2002; Mayotte, 2003), biography (Crow, Levine & Nager, 1990), (in)formal learning processes (Consuegra, 2014), and workplace learning (Billett, 2004; Beaten & Meeus, 2016). The research question is: How do participants perceive their workplace learning and professional development? The study includes participants who started studying between 2012 and 2014. It comprises four measurement points within a time period of four years in order to monitor participants’ competence development (N=403). For the qualitative analysis, we used 15 group interviews (N=54) that were evaluated with MAXQDA. We used content analysis to develop the category system containing aspects of workplace learning. The quantitative analysis shows that second career teachers show a substantial growth of competences within the first years of teaching. However, competences increase at the beginning and tend to stay on the same level for the subsequent years. Second career teachers attribute a high amount of their workplace learning to coaching. Results from the group interviews reveal that participants show a high amount of trial-and-error strategies and favour inputs they can immediately transfer to teaching. They mainly show task-oriented and interactive learning, whereas goal-oriented workplace learning is rare. However, they show a clear commitment to teaching. Their passion and the school climate particularly have a strong impact on their intentions to stay in the profession. Our research contributes to the debate on different pathways into teaching and innovative forms of curriculum for second career teachers’ workplace learning.
References
Beaten, M., & Meeus, W. (2016). Training second-career teachers: A different student profile, a different training approach? Educational Process: International Journal, 5(3), 173-201. Billett, S. (2004). Workplace participatory practices: Conceptualising workplaces as learning environments. Journal of Workplace Learning, 16(6), 312-324. Chambers, D. (2002). The real world and the classroom: second-career teachers. The Clearing House, 75, 212-217. Cochran-Smith, M., & Villegas, A. (2014). Framing teacher preparation research: An overview of the field, part 1. Journal of Teacher Education, 65(4), 1-15. Consuegra, E., Engels, N., & Struyven, K. (2014). Beginning teachers’ experience of the workplace learning environment in alternative teacher certification programs: A mixed methods approach. Teaching and Teacher Education 42, 79-88. Crow, G., Levine, L., & Nager, N. (1990). No more business as usual: Career changers who become teachers. American Journal of Education, 98(3), 197-223. Gruber, H., Jansen, P., Marienhagen, J., & Altenmüller, E. (2010). Adaptations during the acquisition of expertise. Talent Development & Excellence of Expertise, 2(1), 3-15. Mayotte, G. A. (2003). Stepping stones to success: previously developed career competencies and their benefits to career switchers transitioning to teaching. Teaching and Teacher Education, 19, 681-695.
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