With the recognition that education is a complex, interrelated and emergent phenomenon (Ovens et al, 2012), interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary ways of approaching educational topics are becoming more prevalent (Klein, 2018). Heterarchical ways of working, in which all participants are engaged in the learning and development process, are gradually replacing the linear, top-down hierarchies that have long dominated. Within this non-linear and more inclusive landscape, developing shared visions for the future have become a significant component of many educational developments (Huffman & Hipp, 2001). However, as this development process is a collaborative and dynamic endeavour, creating shared visions is not straightforward because it requires all those involved to be suitably equipped to effectively contribute to this joint process (Augsburg, 2014). Constructing a personal vision for the future, aligned with the ability to articulate and share their vision with others, is subsequently an important attribute for teachers as they engage in these future-oriented discussions (Shulman & Shulman, 2004). In addition, while part of this collaborative venture, personal vision also has an important role in helping teachers’ shape the nature of their own professional development.

In North America, teachers’ personal vision has become recognised as a key component of their initial and continuing teacher education (Hammerness, 2006). A teacher’s personal vision is an image of what they aspire to achieve in their classroom, school, and community and, in some cases, even society (Hammerness, 2001). This personal vision can guide the negotiation of policy, become a mechanism for reflecting on experience to inform future professional learning (Shulman & Shulman, 2004) and can also help teachers contribute to the wider development of departmental, school and community visons. Initiating the vision-making process with student teachers in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) has been identified as the most productive but most challenging place to begin this process (Hara & Sherbine, 2018). Developing vision at this early career phase helps student teachers think strategically, which later avoids confining them as teachers ‘gathering endless strategies, practical tips, and curriculum information’ (Kosnik & Beck, 2011, p. 122). Visioning in ITE can instead initiate a process to support the clearer articulation of beliefs and values about teaching and learning, foster a critical awareness about policy directives and explore an activist stance in relation to dominant discourses.

With this background in mind, ‘Vision and Voices’ is a multi-layered longitudinal project being developed as part of a four-year undergraduate Physical Education initial teacher education programme at the University (Munro et al, 2022). Involving almost 400 full-time students, efforts are being made to interweave the development of personal vision across the programme. Threading personal vision across the programme, however, is a complex process and requires collaborative and connected efforts by university staff to include vision-related activities within their own practice. Consequently, while the tracking of student teacher’s evolving visions is ongoing (Jess et al, 2021), the project is also investigating how university staff can work together to incorporate the development of student’s personal visions across the different courses that make up the programme.  This is important because teacher educators are an under-researched, poorly understood, and ill-defined group (Murray, 2014) and physical education teacher educators even more-so (McEvoy et al., 2015).Consequently, this study seeks to explore personal vision within a European context and make a contribution to future practice. To do this, three related research questions are addressed:

1. What are the personal visions of teacher educators working on the PE programme?
2. How do these visions inform their teacher educator practice on the PE programme?
3. How should the ‘Vision and Voices’ project progress in the future?

This study takes a qualitative and interpretivist approach with the aim of analysing teacher educators’ perspectives and practices in relation to student teacher’s visions. Following ethical approval from the University, the participants received an information sheet about the research and a consent form in which the rights of the participants were specifically outlined (Wiles, 2013). Twelve teacher educators working in the university participated: 8 female and 4 male participants. The participants had been teacher educators from 4-31 years and had different roles at the university (see Table 1). The study took place over two phases. In phase one, the research team analysed validated programme documentation and course artefacts e.g. teaching materials and assessments, for vision-related information. Phase 2 consisted of 4 semi-structured focus groups that were audio recorded and lasted between 40 to 60 minutes. These took place during the 2022-23 academic year. Each focus group was conducted with 3 participants (see Table 1) and data was gathered from conversations based on pre-prepared questions focussed on the teacher educators’ views about vision, their current practices and how they perceived the way the project should progress in the future. Table 1. The Participants Pseudonym Role Years as Teacher Educator Focus Group Natalie Deputy Head of Institute 10 1 Peter Programme Leader 14 2 Maurice Senior Lecturer 31 3 Martin Lecturer 12 1 Wendy Teaching Fellow 20 2 Joan Teaching Fellow 18 1 Jenny Teaching Fellow 20 3 Sally Teaching Fellow 10 3 Kirsty Teaching Fellow 4 1 Dorothy Teaching Fellow 7 3 Benjamin Teaching Fellow 4 2 Reliability and validity were an ongoing consideration, particularly as the participants had a vested interest the vision project. The focus groups were purposefully arranged with participants who taught on different courses to minimise social desirability. Audio recordings were securely stored in accordance with GDPR regulations (ICO, 2018). Data were transcribed and analysis was a deductive and inductive process undertaken collectively by the research team. One focus group transcript was initially read by all the research team and deductively analysed to identify participant perspectives and practices on visions. Emergent themes were compared with relevant literature (Punch, 2009). A second round of data analysis of all focus groups was carried out by all members of the research team. This analysis process enabled patterns, similarities and differences to be explored and synthesised to identify points of convergence and divergence.

Analysis of the focus group data will take place between May-June 2023. Following informal discussions over the last three years, the expectation is that participants will generally be in agreement with the project’s goal of supporting the development of student teachers’ vision. However, as a relatively new element within the programme, there is also an expectation that the participants’ understanding of the vision-making process will range from limited to in-depth. Therefore, tutors will include vision-making in a range of different ways, ranging from minimal to significant focus. This diversity is likely to come about because of the extent to which the participants have been engaged in the project to date, the student year groups they currently tutor and also the extent to which they believe student’s personal visions should weave through the programme. In terms of future developments, there is an expectation that the participants will raise issues about the different ways that students can be supported to work collaboratively to develop their visions, how resource materials can be developed for use across the programme and beyond, and also the ways in which the students’ school placement experiences can directly include aspects of their vision-making. This final point will also raise issues about the ways that the university can work more closely with schools to expand the ‘Vision and Voices’ project.

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