Hyde, Rosalyn

English

Southampton (e-Prints Soton)

Adams. G. (Ed.) Proceedings of the British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics 34(2) June  2014 From Informal Proceedings 34-2 (BSRLM) available at bsrlm.org.uk © the author - 1 The views of pre-service teachers on the school-based learning component of their mathematics teacher preparation programme Rosalyn Hyde  University of Southampton Teacher preparation is a highly contested area in England with a range of epistemological  approaches  potentially  being  promoted  through  the availability  of  a  range  of  preparation  routes.  The  dominant  model  of teacher  preparation  used  by  programmes  led  by  university  education departments is that of developing reflective practitioners. However, other models,  including  those  coined  as  ‘craftworker’  and  ‘executive technician’  in  Winch,  Oancea,  &  Orchard  (2013),  are  increasingly promoted by government policy. Aspects of professional training such as learning  from  a  more  experienced  mentor,  learning  as  part  of  a ‘community  of  practice’  (Lave  &  Wenger,  1991)  and  the  need  for practical  experiences  are  all  characteristics  that  parts  of  teacher preparation share with models of vocational learning and with those in other professions. This paper seeks to explore some of the views of those on secondary mathematics teacher preparation programmes with regard to the characteristics of their school-based learning and their experiences on school  placement.  Data  collected  from  those  on  a  well-established university-led  Postgraduate  Certificate  of  Education  programme  is compared  with  that  from  those  on  a  new  school-led  School  Direct programme  indicates  some  commonality  of  experiences  and  suggests possibilities for future work.  Keywords: teacher preparation, pre-service mathematics teachers, school-led initial teacher training  Introduction Teacher  preparation  in  England  is  currently  undergoing  a  re-invention  following significant change in government policy requiring most of it to be provided through school-led  programmes  rather  than  through  well-established  university-led programmes. In the new programme, called School Direct, pre-service teachers are based in schools and spend at least 80% of their time in school, compared to the university-led  routes  where  67%  of  the  time  is  spent  in  schools.  School  Direct programmes  are  offered  as  a  training  route  (requiring  the  payment  of  fees  but attracting a training bursary) or a non-fee paying salaried route, available to those with three year’s work experience, where the school employs the pre-service teacher as an unqualified teacher for the year. The move towards a heavily school-based and school-led  model  of  teacher  preparation  is  premised  on  views  that  increased experience  in  schools  for  pre-service  teachers  necessarily  leads  to  better  learning outcomes for school students (this view is critiqued in Burn & Mutton, 2013, for example) and on learning to teach through an apprenticeship model (suggested in Gove,  2010).  A  massive  increase  in  the  number  of  teacher  preparation  places allocated to School Direct programmes has led to a corresponding decrease in the Adams. G. (Ed.) Proceedings of the British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics 34(2) June  2014 From Informal Proceedings 34-2 (BSRLM) available at bsrlm.org.uk © the author - 2 number of places allocated to universities for more traditional routes, and this has led to significant change within university education departments. This  study  reports  on  data  from  a  well-established  university  education department offering the traditional university-led programme and also working with local schools to offer the School Direct route for secondary school mathematics. The data reports from 25 pre-service teachers on a traditional university-led route and 17 on a School Direct route, most of whom were salaried employees of schools. In terms of the university provision, parts of the taught programme were delivered jointly, with those  on  the  salaried  and  training  routes  for  School  Direct  following  the  same programme. Literature Review Models of teacher learning Underpinning  the  debate  surrounding  the  move  to  school-led  teacher  training  are notions regarding the purpose of teacher preparation and, indeed, conflicting views as to the nature of teaching. One way of exploring the shift in teacher preparation in England  instigated  by  government  policy  is  by  considering  the  possible  different intentions of teacher preparation routes and differing perceptions of the purposes and outcomes of such programmes. Kansanen (2014) suggests that there are two levels of teacher education, the first of which he describes as basic and which “…deals with everyday practice with all possible standard teaching methods and activities in practice” (p.280). He suggests that, whilst it is commonly believed that it is possible to learn much of this in school, his view is that “Teacher education ensures that pre-service teachers have the support to develop competences systematically and with confidence” (ibid. p.281). Kansanen calls the other type of teacher education conceptual and says that this is “…aimed at the sustained development of a teacher’s work” (ibid. p.282) requiring discussion, thinking, reflection and research and that the key principle in this approach is that of metacognition.  Conceptualising teacher preparation in a different way, Winch et al. (2013) use  three  interconnected  and  complimentary  aspects  of  teachers’  professional knowledge: situated understanding, technical knowledge and critical reflection. They assert that getting the balance between the three wrong leads either to the model of a teacher  as  a  craft  worker,  which  “…overplays  the  value  of  situated  professional knowledge at the expense of technical knowhow and critical reflection” (ibid p.1) putting  faith  in  common  sense  and  experience,  or  an  executive  technician,  which “…foregrounds  the  contribution  of  teachers’  technical  knowledge  of  effective classroom practice at the expense of situated professional judgement” (ibid p.1) i.e. ‘what works’. Winch et al. further assert that professional practice requires a balance of all three aspects of professional knowledge. It becomes clear, then, that different epistemologies of teaching are likely to lead to qualitatively different outworkings of teacher preparation. Teacher preparation – an apprenticeship? Apprenticeship is generally defined in the literature about workplace learning as a form of preparation for work of a vocational nature, with a close tie to a specific occupation  and  is  provided  through  programmes  with  a  substantial  element  of workplace learning (Grubb & Lazerson 2006, Fuller and Unwin 2008, Ryan & Unwin Adams. G. (Ed.) Proceedings of the British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics 34(2) June  2014 From Informal Proceedings 34-2 (BSRLM) available at bsrlm.org.uk © the author - 3 2001). Unsurprisingly, research on learning through apprenticeship is often premised on the work of Lave & Wenger (1991) on ‘communities of practice’ and this basis provides  further  justification  for  exploration  for  connections  between  aspects  of teacher preparation and apprenticeship. Of course, apprenticeships exhibit a range of features and Fuller and Unwin’s study of apprenticeships in the steel industry led to their development of a model of expansive and restrictive approaches where “…an apprenticeship characterised by the features listed as expansive will create a stronger and richer learning environment than that comprising features associated with the restrictive end of the continuum” (Fuller & Unwin, 2003 p.411-12). In terms of apprenticeship learning, a restrictive experience is characterised by limited opportunities, a narrow focus for learning and a sharp attention to the immediate need of the employer. An expansive approach is characterised by breadth of learning opportunities, understanding of the apprentice as a learner and an appreciation of the apprentice as an individual. Such features resonate with the experiences of pre-service teachers on teaching placement; hence, expansive and restrictive features may provide a lens for viewing these experiences. Research design School-led School Direct programmes are too new, as yet, for there to be evidence on their effectiveness as a teacher preparation route and space prohibits a discussion here about literature regarding the effectiveness of similar existing programmes. Therefore more bounded questions investigated here are: •  How  do  pre-service  mathematics  teachers  on  school-led  and  university-led routes view their experiences in schools? •  What are the differences between the experiences of those on the two routes? •  What are the similarities? Data  collection  was  undertaken  by  asking  pre-service  mathematics  teachers  to indicate their position on eight continuous scales relating to the following categories:  •  status (from learner to employee); •  breadth (variety of learning experiences in school from broad to narrow);  •  transition to teaching (how rapidly they started teaching classes); •  aim (of school placement in terms of competence as a classroom practitioner or for their life long journey as a teacher); •  ‘participative memory’ (previous experience of school placement in working with pre-service teachers); •  balance  (in  terms  of  whether  there  is  sufficient  time  for  training  and reflection),  •  access (to opportunities to develop the necessary skills and knowledge); •  participation (opportunities to work with other teachers in school).  An example of one of the scales used to collect data is shown in Figure 1. Figure 1: Example of a scale used for data collection  The categories and scales were developed and adapted from some of the features of expansive and restrictive apprenticeships in the work of Fuller & Unwin (2003), Adams. G. (Ed.) Proceedings of the British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics 34(2) June  2014 From Informal Proceedings 34-2 (BSRLM) available at bsrlm.org.uk © the author - 4 selecting those features that were most appropriate for pre-service teachers to respond to  and  adapting  them  into  scales  for  them  to  report  a  response.  The  features considered to be expansive were placed at the left-hand end of the scales in each case. Data collection was carried out as a part of normal course evaluation processes and took  place  in  mid-May.  Data  were  collected  from  19  pre-service  teachers  on  the traditional university-led programme, representing all those remaining on the course at this point, and from 14 out of the 17 on the School Direct programme. In order to analyse the data, the distance indicated along each line was measured and then used to produce boxplots and 1-variable statistics.  Findings and discussion Figure 2 shows an example of a boxplot produced with the data. This is for the item asking about the balance of pre-service teachers’ experience in school with regard to the time that they had for training and reflection.   Figure 2: Boxplot for question on ‘balance’. The plot shows a lower (more left) median for School Direct participants than for those on the university-led programme, indicating that pre-service teachers on the School Direct programme felt more satisfied with the time they had for training and reflection. This may be a consequence of the point at which the data was collected, as those  on  the  university-led  programme  had  only  1.5  weeks  of  teaching  practice followed by two weeks in university remaining and the School Direct  pre-service teachers  had  more  than  eight  weeks  in  school  remaining.  Hence,  those  on  the university-led programme may have been feeling under considerably more pressure. Figure 3 provides a summary of the results as a whole with the mean results from those on university-led programme shown in red, and those for School Direct participants in blue. The diagram clearly shows a similar pattern for the first six items, with  pre-service  teachers  on  the  university-led  programme  consistently  reporting slightly more expansive experiences on school placement than those on the School Direct programme.  However, there is a change in pattern for the final two items. Item 7 was about the perception of pre-service teachers as to the aim of school experience. On this item, the School Direct programme was reported as being more expansive. This result was unexpected, but may relate to pre-service teachers on the university-led programme feeling that being a competent practitioner is the purpose of their placement with the Adams. G. (Ed.) Proceedings of the British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics 34(2) June  2014 From Informal Proceedings 34-2 (BSRLM) available at bsrlm.org.uk © the author - 5 university parts of the course supporting them with aspects more related to their life-long journey. Item 8 was about the opportunities that pre-service teachers have to work with other teachers in school. It may be that School Direct pre-service teachers indicate that they have more opportunities to work with other groups of teachers than those on the university-led programme because they had been in the same school since at least the beginning of September. Those on the university-led programme had only been in their current school placement since the middle of January.  Figure 3: Comparison of results from pre-service teachers on university-led and School Direct programmes In summary, Figure 3 demonstrates a close matching of the results from the two secondary mathematics programmes. This could be a consequence of the way that the institution concerned has closely developed the two programmes in parallel and perhaps this makes the School Direct experience as ‘expansive’ (using Fuller and Unwin’s term) as  the university-led  experience because of HEI involvement. One could conjecture that the nature of being on a School Direct programme developed in partnership with a university, with the same tutor team working on both programmes, joint teaching etc. has limited the potential divergence between the two – so that the university acts a limiting factor on School Direct for the school partnerships it works with. The data, in particular the boxplots, offer some (limited) evidence of variation in practice – an increasing concern expressed by teacher educators (see, for example, Whitty, 2013).  Exploring  variability  using  these  sorts  of  criteria  seems  a  potentially interesting way of examining aspects of school placement experience, but some facets are missing and it should be noted that does not reflect the full experience necessary for  successfully  starting  teaching.  The  expansive/restrictive  continuum  is  not necessarily a dichotomy, and it should be noted that such models do not describe the nuances in teacher preparation, nor do they take into account all the relevant features. Implications and conclusions The data reported on here is from two small cohorts from a single subject in a single institution and therefore cannot be generalised. The process of analysis raised issues about how best to deal with such data and to the need to further refine the instrument from that more directly derived from Fuller and Unwin’s work. Comparison is clearly Red – university-led Blue - School Direct Adams. G. (Ed.) Proceedings of the British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics 34(2) June  2014 From Informal Proceedings 34-2 (BSRLM) available at bsrlm.org.uk © the author - 6 problematic,  and  this  also  makes  generalisation  difficult.  It  may  be  that  better comparison can be made during their first year in teaching.  This work is underpinned by concerns about the model of a teacher being promoted  by  current  government  policy  and  regulation  in  teacher  preparation. Adapting Fuller and Unwin’s continuum provides another lens with which to analyse the practical aspects of pre-service teachers’ professional learning and with which to consider the barriers and affordances to learning in a school environment for pre-service teachers.   References Burn, K., & Mutton, T. (2013). Review of research-informed clinical practice in teacher education,  paper submitted to the BERA-RSA Inquiry. London: BERA/RSA. Fuller, A., & Unwin, L. (2003). Learning as Apprentices in the Contemporary UK Workplace: creating and managing expansive and restrictive participation. Journal of Education and Work, 16(4), 407-426.  Fuller, A., & Unwin, L. (2008). Towards expansive apprenticeships: a commentary by the Teaching and Learning Research Programme. London. Gove, M. (2010). Speech to the annual conference of the National College for Leadership of Schols and Children’s Services.   Retrieved 09/08, 2013, from https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/michael-gove-to-the-national-college-annual-conference-birmingham Grubb, W., & Lazerson, M. (2006). The globalization of rhetoric and practice: the education gospel and vocationalism. In H. Lauder, P. Brown, J. Dillabough & A. Halsey (Eds.), Education, Globalisation & Social Change (pp. 295-307). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kansanen, P. (2014). Teaching as a Master's level profession in Finland: Theoretical reflections and practical solutions. In O. McNamara, J. Murray & M. Jones (Eds.), Workplace learning in teacher education: International practice and policy (pp. pp.279-292). New York: Springer. Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: University of Cambridge. Ryan, P., & Unwin, L. (2001). Apprenticeship in the British 'Training Market'. National Institute Economic Review, 178(1), 99-114.  Whitty, G. (2013). Educational research and teacher education in higher education institutions in England. In L. Florian & N. Pantic (Eds.), Learning to teach part 1: Exploring  the history  and role of higher education in teacher education (pp. p.20-23). York: The Higher Education Academy. Winch, C., Oancea, A., & Orchard, J. (2013). The Contribution of Educational Research to Teachers’ Professional Learning Philosophical Understanding. paper submitted to the BERA-RSA Inquiry. London: BERA/RSA.     

Apprenticeship in the British 'Training Market'.

Educational research and teacher education in higher education institutions in England. In

Learning as Apprentices in the Contemporary UK Workplace: creating and managing expansive and restrictive participation.

Review of research-informed clinical practice in teacher education, paper submitted to the BERA-RSA Inquiry.

Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge:

Speech to the annual conference of the National College for Leadership of Schols and Children’s Services. Retrieved 09/08, 2013, from https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/michael-gove-to-the-nationalcollege-annual-conference-birmingham

Teaching as a Master's level profession in Finland: Theoretical reflections and practical solutions. In

The Contribution of Educational Research to Teachers’ Professional Learning Philosophical Understanding. paper submitted to the BERA-RSA Inquiry.

Towards expansive apprenticeships: a commentary by the Teaching and Learning Research Programme.

The views of pre-service teachers on the school-based learning component of their mathematics teacher preparation programme

The views of pre-service teachers on the school-based learning component of their mathematics teacher preparation programme

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Southampton (e-Prints Soton)