Practical Theorising in Teacher Education: Holding Theory and Practice Together

Description

This insightful collection offers a timely contribution to the body of research on practical theorising in teacher education. Acknowledging the importance of experience and reflective practice in teaching, this book simultaneously embraces the essential need for teachers at all career stages to engage effectively and critically with evidence from research. Drawing together a range of perspectives from university-based and school-based teacher educators, this book examines the challenges and critiques advanced when practical theorising was first proposed, as well as recent tensions created by the performative culture that now pervades education. It illustrates the constant renegotiation and renewal necessary to sustain such an approach to beginners’ learning, investigating a range of tools developed by teacher educators to help beginning teachers navigate these demands. Demonstrating the value of practical theorising and therefore promoting powerful professional learning for practitioners, this book is essential for teachers at all career stages, including trainee teachers and student teachers. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of illustrations List of contributors Introduction The structure of the book References Section 1: The nature of practical theorising Chapter 1: The role of practical theorising in teacher education: Formulation, critique, defence and new challenges The relationship between theory and practice in ITE – a perennial topic of debate Claims that theory is unnecessary: practice can be learned through apprenticeship Claims that theory should precede the practice to which it is to be applied Claims that practice should precede theory: establish competence before acknowledging complexity The necessity of both theory and practice Practical theorising as a means of combining practice and theory in the context of ITE Critiques advanced in direct response to the initial elaboration of practical theorising Re-iteration and wider acceptance of the principles of practical theorising The wider influence of the concept of practical theorising and the structures that support it Recurring critiques of practical theorising and ongoing practical challenges Why persist with practical theorising when it’s so much easier in theory than in practice? Note References Chapter 2: An international perspective on practical theorising Introduction Perspectives on the knowledge needed for teaching and how it is to be acquired Contributions and limitations encountered in the international research literature The fragmented nature of the spaces where teachers learn The theory vs practice debate The notion of practical theorising The knowledge needed for teaching The role of theory The role of action research The integration with practice and the role of a core curriculum Additional approaches Conclusion Notes References Section 2: Negotiating the challenges of practical theorising for beginning teachers Chapter 3: Practical theorising in learning to teach history: A shifting process of negotiation Introduction History curriculum programme context A mentor’s perspective What were the challenges that I encountered and how did I negotiate them? In light of this experience, what is the value of practical theorising as a model for student-teachers’ professional learning? A student-teacher’s perspective What did the scheme’s commitment to the process of practical theorising mean for my practice as a student-teacher over the course of the PGCE year? What were the challenges I encountered and how did I negotiate them? In light of this experience, what is the value of practical theorising as a model for beginning teachers' professional learning? Tutor’s concluding commentary Note References Chapter 4: Practical theorising in a changing context: Enabling beginning science teachers to negotiate different expectations in the reality of schools Introduction Practical work and its role in science education ‘Miss, Miss! Are we doing a practical today, Miss?’ Practical theorising about practical work in initial science teacher education Assessment of practical work in a changing context Project Calibrate Conclusions and implications for collaboration in changing context Acknowledgements References Chapter 5: Developing teacher agency Through the use of Theory and reflection when teaching students to produce written responses to text Introduction Essay-writing structures The relationship between praxis and practical theorising The specific contexts in which this research was conducted Student-teachers' experiences in the context of practical theorising Early career English teachers engaging in praxis How do ECTs understand essay writing, and how do they use scaffolding structures? The role of praxis Conclusions References Chapter 6: Preservice teachers’ ways of addressing challenges when teaching reasoning-and-proving in their mentor teachers’ mathematics classrooms Introduction Research context Method Process and data sources Unit of analysis Developing the analytic framework Findings Discussion Acknowledgements References Chapter 7: Theorising practices of inclusive pedagogy: A challenge for initial teacher education Introduction SEND and inclusion: policy and practice The special school placement Learning from special education Learning to observe/to notice Learning to hypothesise and problem-solve Conclusion References Section 3: Tools to support practical theorising Chapter 8: The use of visual models to support practical theorising in mathematics Introduction The complexity of mathematics teaching and its implications for student-teachers’ developing practice Visual models as representations of practice Examples of student-teachers working with the two models Results Implications for our practice as teacher educators References Chapter 9: Assignments as tools for practical theorising: An exploration of affordances, limitations and possibilities Introduction Outline of the chapter Vignette 1 – Joanna Vignette 2 – Molly Vignette 3 – Nico Discussion The affordances of written assignments as tools for practical theorising Tensions experienced by student-teachers when developing practical theorising via assignments Pressure and performativity School context Structure as scaffold or stranglehold Legacy Conclusion References Chapter 10: The use of assessment in sustaining student-teachers’ engagement in practical theorising to support professional learning Introduction The socially situated student-teacher Conceptualisation Recontextualisation Assessment in ITE Teacher knowledge and assessment To what extent can different forms of ITE assessment promote practical theorising? Peer assessment and practical theorising The formative assessment activity Scaffolding practical theorising through formative assessment Summative assessment and practical theorising Raising the profile of practical theorising Conclusions References Chapter 11: Developing the practice of teacher educators: The role of practical theorising Introduction Teacher educators’ knowledge and learning The knowledge base of teacher educators Teacher educator learning Practical theorising in the learning of teacher educators The design of the MSc in Teacher Education: the course rhetoric The taught course – from rhetoric to reality The reality: Year 1 Vignettes The reality: Year 2 Vignettes Analysis Is this practical theorising? In what ways is practical theorising different for teacher educators? Practical theorising for teacher educators – a final reflection References Section 4: Practical theorising beyond initial teacher education Chapter 12: Sustaining practical theorising as the basis for professional learning and school development The limitations of learning from experience alone The Oxford Education Deanery: extending practical theorising beyond initial teacher education Matthew Arnold school: a case-study of practical theorising within the Oxford Education Deanery The school's rationale for joining the Deanery The work of research champions across the Oxford Education Deanery The work of creating a research culture and promoting research-informed professional development at Matthew Arnold School The nature of teachers' engagement in and with research across the school Conclusion References Chapter 13: Practical theorising in the professional development of primary teachers: Outcomes of the ‘Thinking, Doing, Talking Science’ project Introduction Practical theorising The context and crisis for teachers teaching science in primary school Developing expertise in primary science teaching The TDTS approach The TDTS approach in detail TDTS strategies and constructivism Teachers practically theorising how to implement the TDTS strategies Conclusion References Chapter 14: Curriculum: Practical theorising in the absence of theory What is curriculum? Curriculum theory The absence of curriculum theory in curriculum development Curriculum development outside curriculum theory England Australia Adopting a practical theorising mindset in relation to curriculum References Index