Tack, Hanne

Vanderlinde, Ruben

English

Ghent University Academic Bibliography

 1  Teacher Educators’ Researcherly Disposition: Cleaning Up a Messy Construct Hanne Tack & Ruben Vanderlinde From the beginning of the 21st century the need for professional development of teacher educators is both nationally and internationally growing and widely recognised in policy literature (European Commission, 2013) and research literature (Bates, Swennen & Jones, 2011; Ben-Peretz e.a., 2013; Lunenberg e.a., 2013). Inherently in this demand is the major focus on teacher educators as researchers. In other words, in recent years teacher educators are expected to be excellent in both teaching about teaching and in researching (their own practice) at the same time (Berry, 2007; Murray, 2008; Rust, 2009). Taking into account this twofold focus, this paper discusses the professional development of teacher educators as the development of a “researcherly disposition” (Cochran-Smith, 2003; Munn, 2008). Despite its growing value in both literature and policy, a clear conceptualisation of this notion is absent.  Therefore, the purpose of this study is to provide a theoretical contribution to the emerging research field on teacher educators’ professional development by advancing insight into the concept of ‘teacher educators’ researcherly disposition’. Using Torraco’s (2005) guide for conducting integrative literature reviews the following research question is addressed: “What theoretical framework can be developed to describe teacher educators’ researcherly disposition based on available literature and empirical research in the field?”.  An integrative literature review has been (and is) conducted on the topic of teacher educators’ researcherly disposition between the years 1990 and 2013. Keywords used in the search were ‘teacher educator(s)’, ‘professional development’, ‘professional learning’, ‘inquiry’ and ‘research’. The final sample for this review includes both research literature, policy literature and existing standards and frameworks for teacher educators.  Preliminary results demonstrate that teacher educators’ researcherly disposition is divided into three aspects (1) a cognitive aspect, (2) a behavioural aspect and (3) an affective aspect. The (1) cognitive aspect refers to the fact that teacher educators need knowledge and understanding about educational research, research methods and practitioner research. The (2) behavioural aspect occurs when a teacher educator attempts to engage in research, plans to integrate the results into the own teaching practice, and tries to renew his or her practice based on (own) research findings. The (3) affective aspect concerns the fact that teacher educators value an experimental, research-oriented, evaluative and cooperative approach to the teaching profession and being a teacher educator. This initial conceptualisation of teacher educators’ researcherly disposition provides a necessary starting point for further discussion and empirical research on teacher educators’ professional development.  2  References  Bates, T., Swennen, A., & Jones, K. (2011). The Professional Development of Teacher Educators. USA & Canada: Routledge.  Ben-Peretz, M., Kleeman, S., Reichenberg, R., & Shimoni, S. (2013). Teacher educators as members of an evolving profession. United Kingdom: Rowman & Littlefield Education.  Berry, A. (2007). Tensions in teaching about teaching: Understanding practice as a teacher educator. Dordrecht: Springer.  Cochran-Smith, M. (2003). Learning and unlearning: the education of teacher educators. Teaching and Teacher Education, 5-28.  European Commission. (2013). Supporting Teacher Educators for Better Learning Outcomes. Strasbourg: European Commission.   Lunenberg, M., Dengerink, J., & Korthagen, F. (2013). Het beroep van lerarenopleider: professionele rollen, professioneel handelen en professionele ontwikkeling van lerarenopleiders. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam: Amsterdam.  Munn, P. (2008). Building research capacity collaboratively: can we take ownership of our future? British Educational Research Journal, 34, 413-430.  Murray, J., Swennen, A., & Shagrir, L. (2008). Understanding teacher educators' work and identities. In A. Swennen, & M. van der Klink, Becoming a teacher educator: theory and practice for teacher educators. (29-43). Dordrecht: Springer.  Rust, F. (2009). Teacher Education and the Problem of Practice. Teacher College Record, 1882-1893. Torrac, R. (2005). Writing Integrative Literature Reviews: Guidelines and Examples. Human Resource Development Review, 356-367. 

Teacher educators' researcherly disposition: cleaning up a messy construct

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Teacher educators' researcherly disposition: cleaning up a messy construct

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Ghent University Academic Bibliography