2010, The KBC Odyssey, KBC structures for knowledge fusion (relationships) in teacher education

This paper explores the experiences of preservice teachers as they embarked upon an alternative model of teacher education known as the Knowledge Building Community Project (KBC) at the University of Wollongong. The KBC Project was initiated as a response to research that suggested preservice teachers needed more experience with the day-to-day operation of schools, and how the daily work of teachers related to the culture of schools and classrooms. A series of revisions now means that the KBC model is underpinned by four outcomes to support knowledge fusion: (i) Community Collaboration, (ii) Taking responsibility for own learning, (iii) Professional problem solving using the principles of PBL and (iv) Reflective practice. The research showed that the students involved in the KBC Project benefited from the support of a community triad (the KBC facilitators, school based teachers and each other). The data showed that being members of a community triad enabled students to develop friendship and trust, which made working in collaborative school groups advantageous. The paper demonstrates that there are key components needed in order to implement a KBC in teacher education. The key feature highlights the importance of a structure to promote social interaction between the main participants. When students are given the opportunity and support of the community triad, they can develop an ownership and responsibility for their learning. A key trait is the ability of the students to link theory to practice as well as developing an increased understanding about the culture of schools and the way that they operate

An examination of the enablers and inhibitors surrounding the establishment of a school university partnership: The Grays Point Project

Collaboration between academics, staff and students is promoted as a way to foster professional relationships, foster change and develop common understanding across both the school and university contexts. In a time when education is under frequent criticism it is necessary to break down the barriers between the two contexts and work together collegially. It is within this climate that a small team of academics from the Faculty of Education at the University of Wollongong and teachers from Grays Point Public School (a southern suburb of Sydney) have launched a collaborative research project. As we begin this professional journey we have begun to identify the specific roles and responsibilities for each party. We recognise that personnel from both the school and the university contexts have tremendous knowledge they are able to share. As we embark on this partnership, it is our aim to weave value-added, mutually beneficial and collaborative relationships into our on-going professional interactions. However, this partnership has not come easily. In our articulation of our journey as we establish this professional relationship, we are able to identify a number of enablers and inhibitors that have impacted upon the experience

Understanding and exploring the relationships of a knowledge building community in teacher education

This paper explores the relationships ofpreservice teachers as they embarked upon an alternative model of teacher education known as the Knowledge Building Community Project (KBC) at the University of Wollongong. The KBC Project was initiated as a response to research that suggested preservice teachers needed more experience with the day-to-day operation of schools, and how the daily work of teachers related to the culture of schools and classrooms. A series ofrevisions since the Project\u27s inception now means that the KBC model is underpinned by four outcomes to support student learning: (i) Community collaboration, (ii) Taking responsibility for own learning, (iii) Professional problem solving using the principles of PBL and (iv) Reflective practice. The research showed that the students involved in the KBC Project benefited from the support ofa community triad (the KBCfacilitators, school based teachers and each other). The data showed that being members of the community triad enabled students to develop friendship and trust, which made working in collaborative school groups advantageous. The paper demonstrates that there are key components needed in order to implement a KBC in teacher education. The key feature highlights the importance of a structure to promote social interaction between the key stakeholders. When students are given the opportunity and support of the community triad, they can develop an ownership and responsibility for their learning. A key trait is the ability of the students to link theory to practice as well as developing an increased understanding about the culture of schools and the way that they operate

The knowledge building community project: a grounded theory of an alternative teacher education model

This research explores the experiences of a group of preservice teachers in the first two years of their experiences in an alternative model of teacher education known as the Knowledge Building Community Project (KBC) at the University of Wollongong in 1999. The KBC Project was initiated as a response to research that suggested preservice teachers needed more experience with the day-to-day operation of schools, and how the daily work of teachers related to the culture of schools and classrooms. The KBC model was based upon the intersection of three sources for learning; (i) Community Learning, (ii) School-based Learning and (iii) Problem-based Learning. The research project uses qualitative methodologies encompassing formal and informal interviews, participant observation and the use of e-mail correspondence over a period of three semesters with the 22 pioneer students of the 1999 KBC Project. The thesis proposes a constructivist grounded theory that emerged as a result of seeking meaning from the students\u27 experiences. It was found that implementing an alternative model for teacher education based on Problem-based Learning was difficult but the data showed that the students involved benefited from the support of the community triad (the KBC facilitators, school-based teachers and each other). The data showed that being members of the community triad enabled students to develop friendship and trust which made working in collaborative school groups advantageous. The students said that the community triad supported their learning. The thesis concludes with a chapter arising from this study that shows that there are key components needed in order to implement a KBC in teacher education. The key feature of the grounded theory highlights the importance of a structure to promote social interaction among the main participants. When students are given the opportunity and support of the community triad, they can develop an ownership and responsibility for their learning. A key trait is the ability of the students to link theory to practice as well as developing an increased understanding about the culture of schools and the way that they operate

Lessons from the classroom: first year teachers report about their perceptions of life as a beginning teacher

The Knowledge Building Community (KBC) Program at the UOW was designed as an alternative model of teacher education and an intention of its underpinning framework was that it would produce beginning teachers who were confident with problem solving and collaboration. It was hoped that by exposing the students to contextual based learning and a mentoring culture they would be equipped to cope and or seek support in order to deal with the rigours and demands of the primary school classroom. This paper will look at four school and classroom features identified as significant to beginning teaching success namely: Total Responsibility, Behaviour Management, Time Management and Mentor Support

The knowledge building community program: a partnership for progress

In 1999 the Faculty of Education at the University of Wollongong trialled an alternative model of teacher education known as the Knowledge Building Community (KBC) Project. This alternative model of teacher education was a joint venture of the Faculty of Education the NSW Department of Education and the NSW Teachers’ Federation. As the KBC Project evolved a triadic partnership between preservice teachers, school-based mentor teachers and university facilitators developed. This partnership became known as the “community triad” This paper will examine the history of the formation of the joint venture from the planning to the implementation phases and the role each of the community triad stakeholders plays in this alternative model for teacher education

Re-organising and integrating the knowledge bases of initial teacher education : the knowledge building community program

In a Report submitted to the NSW government in 2000, Gregor Ramsay made a claim that should challenge pre-service teacher educators in all Western democracies: “…it is possible to reorganise the knowledge bases of undergraduate teacher education subjects so that they are more integrated with school and classroom culture, and therefore more relevant, more meaningful, better appreciated by student teachers, with less duplication across subject areas” (Ramsay, 2000, p57) While such rhetoric sounds appealing, it begs the question of how pre-service teacher educators might realise such rhetoric in practice, given the entrenched transmission of information + practicum model of program delivery inherent in most western universities. In this chapter we will describe how one team of university -based pre-service teacher educators reorganised the knowledge bases of the primary teacher education course by forgoing compulsory lectures, tutorials and exams to create a knowledge building community which had a strong identity, which was professionally empowered enough to take control of its own learning. We shall describe the “nuts and bolts” of the reorganization process

Replacing traditional lectures, tutorials and exams with a Knowledge Building Community (KBC): a constructivist, problem-based approach to pre-service primary teacher education

This paper reports on a journey that begun in 1997 when a small group in the Faculty of Education at the University of Wollongong agreed to trial an alternative model of teacher education known as the Knowledge Building Community (KBC) Project. This alternative model of teacher education was based upon three learning principles, community learning, school-based learning and problem-based learning. Since the first students began in 1999 the original model has undergone several revisions and is now best described as a ?negotiated-evaluation-of-a-non-negotiable-curriculum-based-on-a-constructivist-model-of-learning-and-knowledge-building?. The aim of the KBC Program has been to deal with the perennial problem of contextualising students\u27 professional learning, by linking abstract theory as closely as possible to the contexts and settings to which it applies, that is, the primary school classroom

Reforming how we prepare teachers to teach literacy: Why? What? How?

This chapter is about reforming the preparation of pre-service teachers to teach literacy. It addresses three specific reform questions: Why reform how we prepare teachers to teach literacy? What aspects of this preparation need reform? How can such reforms be implemented? In the process of addressing these questions we explore the implications of paradigmatic change to traditional ways of organizing, delivering, and assessing professional knowledge in a typical higher education setting. We draw on a regional Australian university\u27s ten year experiment to reform its pre-service program to inform this exploration