ABSTRACT
Preceding the recent teacher training Government reforms included within Circular 9/92 (DFE, 1992) the structure of both postgraduate and undergraduate courses in initial teacher education largely placed schools in a supportive yet subsidiary role, with higher education institutions (HEIs) such as universities and colleges overseeing the overall professional development of the studentteacher during the school experience (Miles, Everton and Bonnett, 1994). Although both the school and HEI were frequently in negotiation, the partnership arrangements put forward under the Government Circular 24/89 (DES, 1989) did not legally specify that ‘schools should play a much larger part in initial teacher training as full partners of HEIs’ with ‘a leading responsibility for training’ (p. 4). It was the responsibility of the university to initially select students, to plan and manage the course of training, and to monitor and assess trainees throughout their degree course. The school was largely concerned with the supervision of the student’s school experience. Circular 9/92 (DFE, 1992) changed the emphasis and weighting of responsibilities and it is now the school and university’s dual role to not only deliver, but recruit, prepare, evaluate and review courses under the new partnership schemes.
