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We welcome new blogs on teacher educators and teacher educator development (500-750 words). For more information see our Blog submission policy or contact your national moderator.
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April 7, 2019
As a teacher educator, I felt frustrated for a long time by the gap between teachers' desire to help their pupils become independent learners and their own unwillingness to be independent learners themselves. In the following, I wish to share with you a course that attempted to help "traditional" teachers adopt current teaching methods and use them themselves and with their pupils.
March 31, 2019
One aspect of social change is how conceptions about good government and governance change. It is reported that teacher educators and teacher education in general experience that government policy is constraining their pedagogical space for professional discourse , diversity and curriculum development by rolling national agendas of standardisation and centralisation and by their focus on standardized test scores (Swennen & Volman, 2016; Zeichner, 2016).
March 23, 2019
Reflective practice is a common dimension of initial teacher education programmes throughout the world and the benefits of developing reflective teachers have been well documented (please see McGarr & McCormack, 2014 for more detail). While differing approaches to reflection exist, Brookfield (1995) argues that unless reflective practice is critical in nature, challenges hegemonic assumptions and power relations, it is largely ineffective.
March 18, 2019
Teacher education takes place in two learning arenas, the university and the practice field. It is however the practicum that is most valued among student teachers (Korthagen 2010, Kvernbekk 2012). We, the three authors of this text, wanted through a study to learn more about what and how students learn during field practice and to understand how practice can interact with the university coursework to enhance professional competencies.
March 10, 2019
Collaborative teaching and learning approaches are gaining in popularity, and an "Online Collaborative Learning" (OCL) theory has been developed to better reflect the skills required in the information age (Harasim, 2012). Collaborative learning had been implemented in schools since the 80's. However, today collaborative learning involves interaction between learners through both social and professional...
March 5, 2019
Current literature suggests that while teacher educators perform a multitude of complex roles, they receive minimal preparation or possibilities for professional development to fulfil these roles. As a result, they need to acquire relevant knowledge and skills after taking on the position of teacher educators. Therefore, it is important to learn what skills and knowledge teacher educators need and...
February 24, 2019
Unless research is valued for its capacity as a tool of professional learning by all stakeholders in teacher education, we risk the marginalisation and eventual disappearance of a theory-informed future teaching profession. Peiser (2015) reminds us that education policy can, in some cases, prioritise instrumental knowledge over a wider professional understanding of teacher education and...
February 9, 2019
In September 2010, a major reform of the Irish post-primary mathematics curriculum was introduced nationally on a phased basis. The reform, known locally as ‘Project Maths’, involved changes to the syllabus, the way in which the content was taught, and also how it was assessed (Prendergast & O’Donoghue, 2014).
January 20, 2019
Student experience has a central focus in higher education as institutions strive for retention, attainment, and growth; acknowledging students as both consumers and participants (Muijs et al. 2017). Consequently, universities pursue active engagement of student voice to inform quality enhancement as a route toward improving educational experiences. Within the Scottish sector, quality enhancement is defined in part as the deliberate steps taken...