Preparing teachers for a research-based profession

One of my publications is

The book text has been made freely available: download Facilitating effective student learning through teacher research and innovation

Abstract

The UK government has an aspiration to make teaching a ‘master’s level profession’. That is, in the future it will be expected that teachers should be qualified to at least Master’s degree level. Initial teacher education courses in major UK universities now tend to be offered at post-graduate level, being seen as the first part of a master’s degree (as well as providing the training and experience necessary to meet the national standards for qualified teacher status). This means that those entering teacher education are expected to engage with research into teaching and learning during their initial training. This is seen as important so that, from the start of their careers, new teachers see themselves as evidence-based practitioners and part of a research-informed profession. However, the one-year initial teacher training course for graduates has traditionally been an intensive and highly demanding experience, and the additional requirement to learn about research methodology and develop classroom enquiry skills places extra demands on the trainee teachers, school-based mentors and university tutors. This chapter offers a case study from within the UK experience, as an example of how effective research training can be included in teacher education courses, in ways that are integrated with the development of other professional skills.

Key words:

• Teaching and learning;
• Professionalism;
• Research-based practice;
• Classroom-based research;
• Teacher education and development;
• Research training for teachers

Contents

• Introduction: teaching as a research-based profession
• The nature of teaching
  • • A constructivist view of learning
    • A constructivist view of teaching
• Teacher education for effective teaching
• A typology of teacher professionalism
• Exploring a nested case study of ITE [Initial teacher education]
• A case study of ITE for preparing teachers who are researching professionals
  • • The wider context of the case
    • The secondary partnership PGCE course at Cambridge
    • Introducing research training into ITE
• Conclusions

Review:

From a review of the book by Chris Husbands in the journal Teacher Development

"The focus of the book is in the relationship between effective learning and particular approaches to teacher development, and this focus is framed by the opening chapter in which Keith Taber, writing from an English perspective, explores the overall conception of teaching as a research-based, inquiry-oriented profession. As a summary of current innovation in initial teacher education (ITE) in England, Taber’s account is admirably clear and succinct, but his contribution makes the point – often implicitly – that the practices of teacher education are often highly culturally specific. The specific nature of teacher education, with the focus on [action] research and practice has emerged from a specific set of arrangements for ITE – post-graduate, one year, full time, based on formal university-led partnerships and in a context where school-based teacher research is well established."

Husbands, 2011

The book text has been made freely available: download Facilitating effective student learning through teacher research and innovation