Teacher knowledge and initial teacher education in the English learning and skills sector

Recent reforms of initial teacher education (ITE) in the learning and skills sector(LSS) in England are standards based and emphasise subject specialism. The reforms are underpinned by objectivist epistemological assumptions which are incompatible with socio-cultural theories of professional knowledge, and ignore the diverse teaching roles and contexts in the sector and wider systemic issues. A qualitative scoping study found that LSS in-service trainee teachers drew on three types of knowledge resources, or clusters of ‘rules’ for practice, in their teaching: these were related to their subject/vocational area, generic teaching and learning processes and specific learners and groups. Trainees generated knowledge resources through participation in their workplace, ITE course and other social contexts, and from embedded and encoded workplace knowledge. Trainees’ beliefs, values and prior experiences were both a knowledge resource and influenced their engagement with knowledge generation activities. It is argued that using a knowledge resources perspective, which recognises how trainees generate knowledge and seeks to bridge gaps in their access to knowledge resources, would be more effective in supporting trainees’ development than the current reforms

Malta’s specialist training programme in family medicine : a pre-implementation evaluation

Introduction: As a result of Malta’s EU accession in 2004, family medicine was accepted as a speciality and the Malta College of Family Doctors prepared a Specialist Training Programme in Family Medicine. To facilitate its launch, potential GP trainers and trainees participated in its preimplementation evaluation. Method: Participants’ views were gathered quantitatively through a questionnaire using scales to rate closed statements regarding the programme and its sections. Qualitative openended questions also allowed them to highlight strengths and provide constructive feedback regarding any required improvements and perceived barriers. Results: Nearly half the questionnaires (27/58: 47%) were returned. Although the majority of participants evaluated the programme and its sections as specific, attainable, relevant and timed, only a minority agreed that they were easily measurable. The strengths mentioned most were the various methods of assessment (41%), experience in relevant hospital specialities (37%), and preparation and updating of trainers (30%). The improvements seen as most needed were the identification of resources (22%), the acquisition of competences (19%) and their assessment (19%). The main barriers identified were the use of trainees just as locums (41%), poor attitudes among the various stakeholders (37%) and difficulties in coordinating assessment methods (26%). Discussion: To assist the programme’s implementation, the development of a well-supervised curriculum is needed, supported by the resources necessary for the preparation and updating of motivated trainers and the acquisition by trainees of the required community and hospital competences and their objective assessment. While a post-course evaluation of specialist training in family medicine in Malta is merited, preimplementation evaluation is of use in preparing to implement postgraduate training.peer-reviewe

Recollected in tranquility : FE teachers’ perceptions of their initial teacher training

"The main research question posed by the project was: ‘What are FE teachers’ perceptions of the effectiveness of initial training in helping them to teach and to support learning?’" -- page 1

Trialing project-based learning in a new EAP ESP course: A collaborative reflective practice of three college English teachers

Currently in many Chinese universities, the traditional College English course is facing the risk of being ‘marginalized’, replaced or even removed, and many hours previously allocated to the course are now being taken by EAP or ESP. At X University in northern China, a curriculum reform as such is taking place, as a result of which a new course has been created called ‘xue ke’ English. Despite the fact that ‘xue ke’ means subject literally, the course designer has made it clear that subject content is not the target, nor is the course the same as EAP or ESP. This curriculum initiative, while possibly having been justified with a rationale of some kind (e.g. to meet with changing social and/or academic needs of students and/or institutions), this is posing a great challenge for, as well as considerable pressure on, a number of College English teachers who have taught this single course for almost their entire teaching career. In such a context, three teachers formed a peer support group in Semester One this year, to work collaboratively co-tackling the challenge, and they chose Project-Based Learning (PBL) for the new course. This presentation will report on the implementation of this project, including the overall designing, operational procedure, and the teachers’ reflections. Based on discussion, pre-agreement was reached on the purpose and manner of collaboration as offering peer support for more effective teaching and learning and fulfilling and pleasant professional development. A WeChat group was set up as the chief platform for messaging, idea-sharing, and resource-exchanging. Physical meetings were supplementary, with sound agenda but flexible time, and venues. Mosoteach cloud class (lan mo yun ban ke) was established as a tool for virtual learning, employed both in and after class. Discussions were held at the beginning of the semester which determined only brief outlines for PBL implementation and allowed space for everyone to autonomously explore in their own way. Constant further discussions followed, which generated a great deal of opportunities for peer learning and lesson plan modifications. A reflective journal, in a greater or lesser detailed manner, was also kept by each teacher to record the journey of the collaboration. At the end of the semester, it was commonly recognized that, although challenges existed, the collaboration was overall a success and they were all willing to continue with it and endeavor to refine it to be a more professional and productive approach

Reviews

Francis Botto, Dictionary of Multimedia and Internet Applications ‐ A Guide for Developers and Users, Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, 1999. ISBN: 0–471–986240. Hardback, x+362 pages, £34.95

Study on Performance Appraisal Method of Vocational Education Teachers using PROMETHEE II

Evaluating vocational education teachers’ performance is an important link of teaching management and an important guarantee of improving teaching quality. In conducting teaching, research and community service, vocational education teachers should weight more on quality than quantity. In this context, individual habit reacts to the demanded jobs which are influenced by his/her knowledge, attitude, and skill. Teacher’s performance evaluation is nothing but a Multi Criteria Decision Making Problem (MCDM). There are several quality attributes that influence the efficiency of a potential vocational education teacher while guiding his/her students towards a positive and value added academic outcome. However, the importance of quality attributes may differ from individuals’ perspective. In other words, different attributes may have different weightage according to their priority of significance while evaluating quality/performance level of a vocational education teacher. This paper makes the vocational education teachers’ performance appraisal quantitative and determines the evaluation index based on academic performance. Criteria for performance are: teaching load, publication, research, conferencing, consultancy, services, teaching attitude, teaching content, teaching method, and teaching effect. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and PROMETHEE (Preference Ranking Organisation METHod for Enrichment Evaluations) II analysis were used in performance appraisal. Application feasibility of this method approach and guidelines in solving such a multi-attribute decision making problem has been described illustratively in this paper. It is also observed that this MCDM approach is a viable tool in solving the teacher selection decision problems. It allows the decision maker to rank the candidate alternatives more efficiently and easily. Keywords: performance, teaching, Analytic Hierarchy Process, PROMETHEE II