Session Information
10 SES 01 A, Research on Teacher Educators
Paper Session
Contribution
Action research in education is generally conceptualised as a democratic, collegial process, contributing to teachers’ professional development and improvements to practice. The involvement of ‘experts’ or ‘facilitators’ in action research projects is based on principles of collaboration, practitioner autonomy and open dialogue. However, tensions can arise from the different perspectives and vested interests of the collaborative partners ( Jones & Stanley, 2010)
The research reported in this paper focuses on a group of ten English primary and secondary schools engaged in a practitioner-led action research project where each school independently selected a focus for investigation and development, and was then supported by a University tutor. All the University tutors involved were teacher-educators who were thus positioned as ‘facilitators’ or ‘resource persons’ (Stringer 1999) for the various projects, rather than as ‘researchers’ or ‘partners’.
Day (2007) points to the ‘crisis of identity’ experienced by many teacher educators generated by UK government education reforms over the past two decades, that have shifted the traditional power balance between schools and Universities in terms of knowledge production and dissemination. The research focuses on the role of the ‘facilitator’ in this project, in terms of how this positions both the practitioner and the University tutor and how this impacts on, or is influenced by, the professional identity of the University teacher educator. The analysis draws on research into the professional identities of teacher educators. (Loughran, 2006; Murray 2008). These have been conceptualised as a form of ‘boundary crossing’ between two interacting activity systems (Boyd et al. 2006), and the facilitation of practitioner action research will be considered as a third activity system for negotiation by the University teacher educators within the study.
The nature and development of the professional identity of teacher educators is an area of relatively recent research across Europe, and concepts of teacher educator professionalism and professional development are under-developed in European policy documents ( Snoek et al. 2010) . An increased understanding of the role of the teacher educator in partnerships between schools and Universities, other than those involving student teaching placements, contributes to this debate on the development of teacher education as a profession.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Boyd, P., Baker, L., Harris, K., Kynch, C. & McVittie, E. (2006) “Working with Multiple Identities: supporting new teacher education tutors in Higher Education” [online] ESCalate. Available from http://escalate.ac.uk/2324 [Accessed 5th January 2011] Day, C (2007) ‘Ethical issues for consultants in complex collaborative action research settings: tensions and dilemmas’ in Campbell A. and Groundwater-Smith, S, (eds) An Ethical Approach to Practitioner research: London. Routledge. Jones M. and Stanley, G. (2010) ‘Collaborative Action Research: a democratic undertaking or a web of collusion and compliance?’ International Journal of Research and Method in Education: 33 (2) pp151-163. Loughran, J. (2006). Developing a Pedagogy of Teacher Education: understanding teaching and learning about teaching. London: Routledge. Murray, J. (2008) Teacher educators’ induction into higher education: work-based learning in the micro communities of teacher education, European Journal of Teacher Education, 31(2), pp.117–133. Snoek M, Swennen, A, and van der Klink, M.(2010) ‘The Teacher Educator: A Neglected Factor in the Contemporary Debate on Teacher Education’ in Hudson, B., Zgaga, P and Åstrand, B. (eds) Advancing quality Cultures of Teacher Education in Europe: Tensions and Opportunities. TEPE Available from: http://www.atee1.org/ [Accessed 10th January 2011] Stringer , E.T (1999) Action Research ( 2nd edition) Thousand Oaks: Sage.
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