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Primary teachers: initial teacher education, continuing professional development and school leadership development

Chapter

Primary teachers: initial teacher education, continuing professional development and school leadership development

DOI link for Primary teachers: initial teacher education, continuing professional development and school leadership development

Primary teachers: initial teacher education, continuing professional development and school leadership development book

Primary teachers: initial teacher education, continuing professional development and school leadership development

DOI link for Primary teachers: initial teacher education, continuing professional development and school leadership development

Primary teachers: initial teacher education, continuing professional development and school leadership development book

ByOLWEN MCNAMARA, ROSEMARY WEBB, MARK BRUNDRETT
BookThe Cambridge Primary Review Research Surveys

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Edition 1st Edition
First Published 2010
Imprint Routledge
Pages 53
eBook ISBN 9780203121672

ABSTRACT

This survey of the teacher education and training in England has been structured into three sections covering the key areas of initial teacher education (ITE), continuing professional development (CPD) and the training of education leaders. The final section looks across these and draws out some common themes. Each of the authors has chosen to work on one of the three areas reviewed and contributed to the analysis which gave rise to the themes and issues identified in the concluding comments. The survey covers an area so extensive as to make systematic review an unrealistic prospect; whole books, indeed entire series of books, have been written on each of these individual strands. The chapter thus does not therefore purport to be exhaustive but will present an overview of the professional learning landscape. Even within these parameters, the challenge faced by the authors in mapping out the

particular area in which they were working was considerable. Firstly, in terms of identifying appropriate navigational tools that would render the accounts accessible, not only to ‘insiders’ but also to a generalist audience with an interest in education. Secondly, in terms of identifying aspects of broad relevance within the field that could be meaningfully and coherently addressed in such a short treatise. Such constraints and the disparate nature of the areas meant that the authors each took a different approach, as is explained in the individual sections, to delineating the breadth and scope of their enquiry. However, having determined the parameters of the enquiry, carrying out the literature review itself brought its own challenges. The main data sources that have been drawn on include academic research and

professional literature together with official reports, databases and electronic publications. Searches certainly revealed a wealth of research evidence. However, obtaining a coherent overview from it was often challenging: none more so than in the case of evaluating the effectiveness and outcomes of CPD for primary teachers. For example, surprisingly in these days of financial accountability, no single organisation is responsible for publishing and collating such data in order that policy decisions can be informed and cost effectiveness evaluated. Bolam (2000) is critical of the inadequate knowledge base on CPD resulting in a lack of facts about ‘the scale of provision, who does what, costs, numbers on courses, how the considerable sums now spent on CPD are actually spent and how value-for-money is measured’ (2000: 275). The evidence base is very diverse and fragmented, and usually grounded in individual self-report that

generally relates solely to the quality of the CPD experience. Much of the research occurs summatively, after the CPD experience, rather than formatively, and evaluation processes are not sophisticated enough to track multiple outcomes, both intended and unintended, and different levels of impact. Where outcomes are reported, the relationship between teacher, school and pupil benefits are not unpicked. Additionally, surveys and larger studies frequently focus on teachers in all phases of mainstream and special schooling and inadequately differentiate between them. Similar themes emerge in respect of ITE, where the lack of a systemic, robust and cumulative evidence base means we are as yet unable to answer many questions about the effectiveness of our teacher education programmes – questions such as those posed in the United States by Wilson et al. (2001) about: the content of course and instructional methods best suited for particular aspects of teacher preparation; the relative contributions of centre-based learning, assignments and teaching experience to trainees’ progress; the importance of their particular school experience contexts on the outcome of their practice; and the importance of consistency between school and centre-based training. A data-rich environment in the US, supported by initiatives such as ‘no child left behind’, means that a number of high profile research programmes are beginning to attempt to answer such questions. The evidence base relating to primary leadership programmes is, surprisingly, little more comprehensive. Raw data on completion of leadership programmes was released by the National College for School Leadership (NCSL) on request but, beyond gender and phase, individual profile detail was not available to support a more sophisticated level of analysis. Furthermore, phase categories extended only to ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’; no data was available for the ‘special education’ sector. Yet such fundamental information is vital to support strategic workforce planning, at a time when the age profile in special education is such that, overall, 60 per cent of classroom teachers are over 45 years of age and 40 per cent of these are over 50. Additionally, the career progress to headship positions of successful completers of the soon to be mandatory National Professional Qualification for Headship is not tracked, meaning the opportunity to gather systematic data on gendered and ethnic patterns in leadership appointments is lost.

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