Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences
Graduate School of Childhood Development and Education
Teaching: a method or a mission?
Perceptions about the theory – practice relation in a teacher
education programme for primary education
Research Master Educational Sciences Thesis 2
Selma Janssen
First supervisor: Dhr. dr. J.Ax
Second supervisor: Dhr. Prof. dr. S. Karsten Amsterdam, 15th of April
Table of Contents Abstract p. 3 Introduction p. 4 Theoretical framework p. 5 Method p. 16 Results p. 19
Conclusion and discussion p. 39
Recommendations p. 43
Abstract
Recently, the University of Amsterdam and the teacher training institute of one of the higher professional education institutes of Amsterdam (HvA Pabo) started together a new teacher education programme in order to improve the level of teachers in primary education. The four year programme is supposed to be an integrated study programme, leading to a degree in a Bachelor of Education and a Bachelor in Educational Sciences. This study aimed to explore the perceptions of teacher educators and student teachers about the theory – practice relation in the teacher education programme in Amsterdam. Fourteen teacher educators and 25 student teachers were interviewed about their perceptions with regard to the profession of teacher and educational scientist, the relation between these two professions and the way the programme contributes to the training for both professions. The data were analysed on basis of two traditions that represent the theory-practice relation in the educational sciences: the technical and intentional model. Results show that most of the teacher educators have perceptions about the theory-practice relation that could be related to the technical model. However, what student teachers think they need for their future profession implies a programme that is based on the intentional model as well. A programme that is not only designed on basis of the technical model, but also on basis of the intentional model will have the best chance to add value to the development of the profession of teacher.
Introduction
In the Netherlands, there is a social need to improve the level of teachers in primary education. As a consequence, the quality of the traditional teacher training programmes, educating for the profession of teacher in primary education, is under pressure. The University of Amsterdam (UvA) and the teacher training programme of one of the higher professional education institutes of Amsterdam (Pabo HvA) recently started a new teacher education programme together. This four year programme educates for both a bachelor in educational sciences and a teaching license for primary education1.
In the last years other universities have started teacher education programmes for primary education as well. They offer a four or five year programme in which courses of the original two programmes are followed parallel or after each other. In contrast, the new teacher education programme of the UvA and Pabo HvA aims at the integration of two originally different programmes into one programme.
The socially relevant question concerning this new teacher education programme is in what way the programme can contribute to the development of the profession of teacher. Moreover, one might ask whether the programme also contributes to the
1
Teacher education in the Dutch higher education: In the Netherlands the higher education is divided into higher professional education institutes (HBO) and universities (WO). The universities focus on theoretical understanding and knowledge production by means of research. Universities are only directly accessible to students with a secondary education diploma in pre-university education (VWO). The HBO institutes aim at the application of the theoretical knowledge that has been developed in university. They focus on the translation of theory into practice. The HBO institutes are accessible to students with a diploma in general secondary education (HAVO) and higher. Teacher education for primary education is seen as an application of theoretical knowledge in practice and is therefore situated in the HBO institutes, the so called teacher training institutes. Student teachers are a great part of their studies involved in the teacher practice where they apply theories they have acquired at the institute. As a counterpart, universities offer a bachelor in Educational Sciences. N.B.: In the Dutch situation these studies are also known as ‘Pedagogical sciences’. It means that students are taught in general theoretical knowledge about education, learning and child development and general research methods that they have to apply in a research project. They are educated to become an educational scientist. N.B.: In the international context one can compare educational sciences to educational studies and educational scientist to educational scholar or academic scholar.
development of the profession of educational scientist. In other words, what will be the future profession of the student teachers that will be educated and in what way does the programme contribute to the training for this profession? These socially relevant questions demand for a profound evaluation of the programme. This study aims to support the further development of the programme by means of a formative evaluation as part of a larger evaluation of the teacher education programme in Amsterdam.
Theoretical framework
I will focus on the theory- practice relation in the educational sciences in order to get an insight into the contribution of the programme to the development of the profession of teacher and educational scientist.The theory-practice relation is defined as the relation between science and it object (Wardekker, 1986). According to Wardekker (1986) scientific activity is aimed to improve the ways in which we represent the world in the systems of meaning or in the conceptual systems. Science distinguishes itself from other endeavours to establish conceptual systems, by the legitimization of the way proposed concepts are established (Soeters, 1988). Wardekker (1986) argues that the basis for this entire scientific enterprise forms the theory – practice relation, or in other words, the relation between science and its object.
Scientists have preliminary notions about the character of their object that determines the way they see the theory-practice relation. In the educational sciences the preliminary notions about the character of the object are subject to different ideas about education and child development. From one approach, like in the natural
sciences, the scientist is being considered as independent from the object he or she is researching. While from the other approach, like in the social sciences, the relation between science-subject and science-object, and the societal usefulness of science, is seen as all interrelated in the theory – practice relation. This means that the science-object is a production of the science-subject (Soeters, 1988).The way the theory-practice relation, or the relation between science and object, is interpreted could be called a tradition (Soeters, 1988). For centuries, generally two traditions, which correspond to the above-mentioned approaches, have been dominating the educational sciences debate (see Dewey, 1986; Lunenberg, Ponte, & van de Ven, 2007; Broekkamp & van Hout-Wolters, 2007; Biesta, 2007: Biesta, 2010).
In the following paragraphs, I will provide information about the different aspects of the theory-practice relation in the first and the second tradition. I will describe in what way the conception of educational scientists, who follow the one or the other model, about the nature of knowledge influences their ideas about research, the relation between research and teaching and the educational approach. These different aspects of the theory-practice relation will be considered within the context of the education of teachers.
The first tradition: the technical model
The first tradition is based on the principle that there is a reality that exists independent of the ideas and actions of human beings. In other words, there are universal laws or law-like connections that rule reality and human actions do not exert influence on these connections (Soeters, 1988). The nature of knowledge about these connections is thus objective, descriptive and conceptual. An example of such knowledge is what we know about the psychological development of children. The
educational scientists who follow this tradition contribute to the knowledge of specific relations between human actions (Soeters, 1988). They try to search for general validity of the relations between human actions, such as which teaching styles influence students’ motivation. With this knowledge educational scientists aim to make human actions more efficient (Soeters, 1988). They provide evidence about the effectiveness of specific interventions in education. The variables that are tested in order to provide this evidence are isolated from the context. They are formalised and generalized (Biesta, 2007). The educational scientists provide knowledge about general rules that exist outside of the context and can be applied in all situations.
The so-called Evidence-Based Research (EBR) is a good example of a type of research educational scientists use to provide evidence about effective interventions. The EBR stems from usage in medicine, agriculture and some social sciences in which it is important to find out the effectiveness of treatments intended for applied use. EBR takes as a basic principle causal analysis by means of experimental research in order to provide secure evidence about what works. Some even say that only randomized experiments can provide this secure evidence (Broekkamp & van Hout-Wolters, 2007). An example of a research question that can be investigated with EBR is whether a specific teacher instruction can improve the student performance of children with attention-deficit disorders. As a method several randomized-control trials of which some focus on a particular teacher instruction programme will be compared to each other. Eventually, the research results will show whether pupils who where exposed to the program will have significantly better student performances than similar pupils in similar settings who did not had the instruction programme (www.behaviouralinstitute.org). The evidence that is produced with EBR is called Evidence Based Practice (Biesta, 2007). The teachers in schools are
supposed to apply this Evidence Based Practice into particular lines of action in order to bring about certain effects (Biesta, 2007; 2010).
Within this first tradition, research and teaching, as expressions of the relation between theory and practice in science, are seen as dichotomous activities (Cole & Knowles, 2004). The educational scientist defines the criteria by which a relation can be studied: he defines the empirical constraints for testing the theory (Soeters, 1988). These constraints are that the research should be objective and reproducible since the results should be generalizable to the population (Brew, 2001). The educational scientist needs a distance from the practice, the teaching, in order to fulfil these empirical constraints. The implication is that researcher and the teacher are seen as separate roles: the educational scientist conducts the research and the teacher applies the knowledge in his teacher practice.
The relation of theory and practice within this tradition has implications for the educational approach in a teacher education programme. Since conceptual knowledge is acquired and applied in practice, we talk about a theory into practice approach. For teacher education this means that the educational institute provides knowledge, theory and skills about teaching and the school provides the setting where the knowledge is applied. The beginning teacher himself is responsible for the integration of theory and practice (Britzman, 1991). In the Netherlands, this theory into practice approach is commonly used in the teacher training institutes as part of the HBO.
In this first tradition one could say that the principle is to learn about teaching in a technical sense and as a result to improve teaching in a technical sense. Therefore I will call the first tradition a technical model.
The second tradition: the intentional model
The second tradition holds the principle that social reality only exists on the basis of ideas and actions of human beings. Human beings are agents that create their own connections and as a consequence their own reality. From this principle it follows that situations are perceptual and as a consequence the nature of knowledge is perceptual (Biesta, 2007). Within education the connection between actions of human beings can be seen as a symbolically mediated interaction: students interpret and make sense of what they are being taught (Biesta, 2007). The educational scientists within this second tradition try to provide knowledge about possible relations between actions and consequences within this interaction. The knowledge they provide is descriptive and perceptual: it is personally relevant and closely linked to concrete contexts (Korthagen, 2001). In addition, the knowledge is prescriptive since the human actions in education are seen as intentional activities; teaching for example is considered as an activity that aims at a specific goal. Educational researchers have called this praxis (Ponte, 2002a; Ponte, Ax, Beijaard & Wubbels, 2002; Lunenberg et al., 2007).
Praxis is a concept that originates from Aristotle and is defined as intentional activities that are aimed at the achievement of a particular goal through own efforts. For Aristotle teaching was aimed at educating moral goods (Lunenberg et al., 2007). Nonetheless, teachers these days might have other goals that determine their intentional activities, depending on the current climate or the context they are teaching in. Their intentional activities are thus context and culturally bound (Lunenberg et al.,2007). For example, when a teacher wants to know how to increase the level of reading of low-ability pupils, he might have this intention for different reasons, for example because the school demands it or the teacher himself has the
personal ideal to educate all pupils to the same level. The way the teacher performs this intention, his intentional activity, is based on the context, since this teacher teaches in a specific school with a specific group of pupils and with specific reading material.
The conception about the nature of knowledge within this second tradition leads to research in which educational scientists aim at a description of rules that could be adequate for a specific target group under specific circumstances (Soeters, 1988; Biesta, 2007). What counts as effective in education from this tradition is depended on the judgment about what is desirable, what an intervention should work for and under which circumstances for which students it works (Biesta, 2007). As a consequence, when conducting research the constraints for the research are interpretations of the persons being researched (Soeters, 1988).
From the interrelated relation between the researcher and its object it follows that research and teaching are seen as closely related activities (Cole & Knowles, 2004). It means that teachers can construct new knowledge by understanding theory and praxis as mutually constitutive elements. Conceptual theory is then used as a hypothesis or possibility that, through deliberation and judgment about not only the means and techniques of educations but also about the end of education, is being tested (Biesta, 2007). Since research in this tradition has a goal to provide knowledge that could help practitioners to acquire a different understanding of their practice, practitioners themselves are more involved in this kind of research (Lunenberg et al., 2007; Biesta 2010).
In the Netherlands, these days, there is an increased attention for Action Research (Lunenberg et al., 2007). It is method that was used in the United States in the educational field at the beginning of the last century to bridge the gap between theory
and practice (Ponte, 2002b). In this type of research teachers try to find evidence for their assumptions about causes and consequences of their actions in a systematic way. The knowledge construction takes place in and through praxis. Teachers (sometimes together with researchers) explore and improve practical situations and interpret their findings in the light of their educational goals. Theory facilitates teachers to perceive their own practice from different perspectives (Lunenberg et al., 2007; Ponte, 2002b).
Within this tradition, the educational approach is considered as a practice into theory approach. The implication of this educational approach for a programme in teacher education is that student teachers get their experiences with teaching through their actions in the teacher practice. In dialogue with the teacher educator and peers these experiences are compared to already published research and theories (Carlson, 1999).
The aim of the educational scientist and teacher in the second tradition is to learn about teaching and improve teaching taking into account the specific intentions a teacher has. Therefore, I will call this second tradition an intentional model.
The teacher education programme
For the development of an educational programme within the field of the educational sciences, the teacher educators in the programme make implicit or explicit decisions about the theory-practice relation based on either the technical or the intentional model. These decisions form the basis for the further development of the programme. Table 1 gives an overview of the different aspects of the theory-practice relation based on the technical or intentional model within the context of the development of a teacher education programme.
Table 1: Aspects of the theory-practice relation according to the technical and the intentional model
Aspects Technical model Intentional model
Nature of knowledge Objective, conceptual, descriptive: students learn about theories, for example psychological learning theories
Perceptual, descriptive, prescriptive: students construct knowledge through deliberation and judgements about the means and ends of education
Nature of research Experimental: the research should be generalizable to the
(educational) population
Aim of educational research:
Search for general validity of specific relations between actions in education
Research method:
Causal analysis of large samples
Implication for teacher practice:
Application of general rules into particular lines of actions (Evidence Based Practice)
Interpretative: the research should provide information about a specific situation under specific circumstances
Aim of educational research:
To contribute to the development of the profession of teacher
Research method:
Systematic reflection that helps practitioners to acquire a different understanding of their praxis
Implication for teacher practice::
Conceptual theory is used as an hypothesis that through
deliberation and judgment about means and ends of education is being tested
Nature of the relation between research and teaching
Dichotomous activities: scientist needs distance from the teacher practice to research it
Closely related activities: teacher can be researcher, since research is always normative
Educational approach of the teacher education programme
From theory to practice: student teachers apply theory and skills learned at university in the teacher practice
From practice to theory: student teachers gather information from the teacher practice and compare this to already published research and theories in dialogue with the teacher educator and peers
In the new teacher education programme in Amsterdam, student teachers are trained to become both teacher and educational scientist. This means that students are not only trained to become a teacher, but they are also trained for an academic profession. This requires an academic educational programme. Since universities in The Netherlands have a responsibility in the production of knowledge (Visser-Wijnveen et al., 2009), an important aspect of the theory-practice relation that should be made decisions about in the academic educational programme is the vision on knowledge. When designing a curriculum, decisions about what one considers as the
nature of knowledge, the way knowledge is used, the way knowledge is developed and by whom this knowledge will be used, must be made. These decisions are responsible for the content of the programme and the way this content is being used.
In the following example I will show a possible manner of how the perceptions based on the technical or intentional model can influence the decisions teacher educators must make when designing their subjects. Teacher educators have to make decisions about their teaching methodology for the school subjects. A teacher educator that perceives knowledge as conceptual and descriptive, as something that human beings exert no influence on, uses general theories to explain teaching methodology. This can be for example theories about learning styles. The teacher educator expects student teachers to apply the knowledge from this theory in their teacher practice with regard to the organisation of their classes. In this case the student teachers learn to design a class in which the subject matter is being offered in different ways in order to adjust to pupils’ different learning styles. However, a teacher educator who perceives knowledge as perceptual and prescriptive, as something that is constructed in interaction, discusses real-life situations in which a certain teaching methodology worked or did not work with the student teachers. The teacher educator expects student teachers to find out in the teacher practice what works best in a specific situation under specific circumstances. The teacher educator might challenge student teachers to be aware of the intentions they have when teaching the subject matter and reflect upon these intentions. In addition, he or she might let student teachers compare the information they have gathered from their teacher practice to general theories.
The examples illustrate that when teacher educators or programme developers make decisions for the design and content of the school subjects, their perception on
the kind and use of knowledge plays an important role. The same holds for other components in the curriculum that have to be designed. In the teacher education programme in Amsterdam, teacher educators from the original teacher training programme, teachers from the original university programme and teacher educators from other educational institutions are brought together to design a new curriculum. This diversity in teaching experiences might be responsible for different perceptions about the theory-practice relation which lead to different ways in which the subjects in the programme will be developed. In addition, student teachers have an account in the way the programme further develops. Thus, to evaluate to what degree the programme contributes to the development of the profession of teacher, the perceptions about different aspects of the theory-practice relation of the teacher educators and student teachers, as the participants of the programme, are relevant to know in the first place.
The present study
This study aims to support the future development of the teacher education programme in Amsterdam by providing an insight into the perceptions of the participants of the programme. I will explore what the perceptions of teacher educators and student teachers in the teacher education programme are with regard to the theory – practice relation. These perceptions should be interpreted within the context of a programme that educates for a new profession. In other words, teacher educators and student teachers have perceptions about the future profession and perceptions about in what way the programme can contribute to that profession as well. In order to do justice to this context, I will use the following sub-questions as part of the exploration:
1) In what way do teacher educators and student teachers perceive the profession of teacher and the profession of educational scientist in general?
2) In what way do teacher educators and student teachers perceive the relation between the two professions, or in other words what are their ideas about the future profession?
3) What are the ideas of teacher educators and student teachers about the way the teacher education programme contributes or should contribute to the education for the future profession?
I chose to use Stake’s (1995) responsive approach as a basic principle for this study that could be called a formative evaluation. Stake recommends the usage of this approach to evaluate educational programs on basis of what people do naturally to evaluate things: observing and reacting instead of researching pre-ordinate information. This means that the criteria and judgements for the evaluation will be developed during the research on basis of the perceptions of the persons involved. Those criteria and judgements form the result of the evaluation (Stake, 1995). As a result, the responsive approach will be particularly useful for formative evaluation since it makes it possible to support the teacher educators and programme developers in monitoring the programme on basis of what seems important for the persons involved in the programme. The choice for this responsive approach could be related to the intentional model; participants’ perceptions form the proceeds of this study instead of means to test pre-ordinate assumptions. As a consequence, my own position as a researcher for this evaluation is related to the intentional model.
Method
Description of the new teacher education programme
The first year of the teacher education programme is a combination of courses from the teacher training programme and the university programme. Most courses are developed and taught for the student teachers in the teacher education programme only, such as the school subjects (Dutch language, mathematics, geography, history and physics) and academic, communication and writing skills. Exceptions form the introduction courses in educational sciences and relating sciences and courses in methods and statistics. Student teachers participate in these courses within the regular university programme (bachelor in educational sciences). The seminars related to these introduction courses are organised for the teacher education programme only. Next to the theoretical part, students spend two days a week in the teacher practice at a primary school. One day they practice their teaching skills in class and the other day is meant to conduct research in the so called University-Teacher Practice (UTP). During the complete year, the UTP is the primary school where the student teacher learn to analyze situations in the school. In addition, the student teachers have to investigate and design solutions at pupil, class, school and management level (programme manual, May 2010).
Participants
The first sample for this study was drawn from the teacher educators’ team for the first study year of the teacher education programme. The teachers who provide classes in the bachelor at the UvA were not part of the sample. Fourteen teacher educators were contacted and they all responded positively. Eight of them provide
classes in the first semester within the school subjects or seminars related to the introduction courses at the UvA. Five teacher educators supervise a group with about eight students in the UTP, together with an academic educator in the primary school. One teacher educator in the sample is the initiator of the programme. All the respondents, except for one, have a university degree as educational background (either in educational sciences or in the subject they teach). Some teacher educators are also in the possession of a primary teacher licence (n=6), a secondary teacher license (n=3) or a PhD (n=2). Nonetheless, teacher educators’ teaching experiences differ (see table 2).
Table 2: teacher educators’ teaching experiences and the courses they teach in the programme
Teacher experience Courses in the programme
primary education only (n=1) Writing skills secondary education only (n=2) School subjects primary teacher training (in combination with
primary education, secondary education and/or secondary teacher education) (n=7)
UTP ( n=3),
communication skills (n=1), school subjects (n=3),
initiator programme/educational support (n=1) university only (n=4) UTP, seminars, academic skills
The recruitment for the second sample, the student teachers in the first year of the teacher education programme, had been done through the help of one teacher educator responsible for the daily affairs of the programme. All the student teachers in the programme (N=42) received an email saying that they were assigned to a group, place and time for a group interview. In total 25 students showed up (88% female; mean age: 19.03, SD= 1.59). All students are just graduated from pre-university education, except for two students. These two students have been doing other studies previously.
Procedure
A triangulation of methods was used to conduct the research. Firstly, a document analysis of all the relevant documents during the developmental stage of the programme was done. Special attention was given to the ideas about the occupational profile and the theory – practice relation in the programme. Second, together with another researcher, individual interviews with the teacher educators were conducted. The information from the document analysis was used as background information for the interviews. The interviews took place either at the University of Amsterdam, the institute for teacher training or at the location of the new teacher education programme. The interviews averaged one hour in length. During the interviews, Stake’s (1995) responsive approach was followed. This allowed the researchers to respond to emerging issues as well as to preconceived issues. Teacher educators were asked about their ideas concerning the future profession of student-teachers in this programme, their perceptions about knowledge and research and their experiences with the development and ideas about the design of the programme. The interviews were audio taped and transcribed. Thirdly, group-interviews were conducted with the student teachers. They were interviewed in 4 sessions of 2 parallel groups facilitated by one researcher each. The interviews averaged 45 minutes in length. The researchers went through a protocol that consisted of four parts: ideas about their future profession, what they learn right now in the programme on different parts (theory, practice, subjects and theory) and what they think is relevant for their future profession and the positive aspects and aspects that should be improved in the programme. In addition, the students had to fill in short questionnaires relating to the three parts of the interview. The interviews were audio taped and transcribed. The questionnaires were used as a clarification of the audio data.
Analysis
According to Stake’s (1995) responsive approach, which leaves room for emerging issues, an iterative process of inductive and deductive analysis was followed. It means that in the process of analysis data were consolidated, reduced and interpreted (Stake, 1995). For the analysis of the teacher educators’ interviews a qualitative analysis computer program (MAXqda) was used. An operationalization of the two models (see table 1) was used as a starting point for the analysis. According to this framework different case-ordered-displays (Miles & Hubermann, 1994) were being made.2 The results of the teacher educators’ perceptions were valued according to differences in previous teaching experiences. The complete process of analysis led to a descriptive construction about teacher educators’ and students teachers’ perceptions about the theory-practice relation within the context of the new teacher education programme.
Results
The results with regard to teacher educators’ and student teachers’ perceptions about the theory-practice relation will be discussed in three sections based on the three sub-questions. In order to provide information about the differences in previous teaching experiences of the teacher educators, a distinction between four categories will be used3. Examples of quotations could be found in the boxes throughout the text. At the end of every section, I will provide a sub-conclusion about what the results mean for the aspects of the theory-practice relation as operationalized in table
2 When one is interested in these displays, please contact selmajanssen@gmail.com 3
1. In what way do teacher educators and student teachers perceive the profession of
teacher and the profession of educational scientist in general?
Teacher educators
The profession of a teacher
When teacher educators talked about the profession of teacher, two different views on this subject could be distinguished: one view directed to the competences of the teacher and one directed to the type of person a teacher is. Six teacher educators [prim.(1), sec.(1), teacher tr.(3), univ.(1)] talked about the competences of a teacher. One teacher said that a teacher should have a pedagogical didactical repertoire. The other teacher educators mentioned that a teacher should be able to transfer the knowledge in an appropriate way, support pupils in their learning, and know how to get along with pupils and their parents. Five teacher educators [teacher tr.(4), sec.(1), univ.(1)] talked about the teacher as a person. They mentioned that the teacher should be a warm person and/or closely involved with children. One of those five teacher educators mentioned that the teacher is someone who has a vision and ideological backgrounds. Another one (teacher tr.) talked about the pedagogical task of a teacher. In addition, three out of the five teacher educators talked about the personality of a teacher as well as about the competences of a teacher.
Three out of the four teacher educators with experience in university only and two other teacher educators [teacher tr.(1), sec.(1)] were not explicit about their ideas about the profession of a teacher. They did not mention any competencies or characteristics of the teacher.
Box 1: teacher educators’ quotes about the profession of a teacher
Competences
‘The craft of a teacher is to work with a group and support pupils to develop from learning situation A to B with regard to the subject-matter. This subject-matter could be knowledge, skills or a certain attitude you want to develop with children. Besides that they have to know how to get along with parents.’ (teacher educator 1, teacher tr.)
Personality
‘The teacher is a creator who has vision, an autonomous thinker who can develop and who also has ideological backgrounds.’ (teacher educator 10, teacher tr.)
‘ A good teacher is enthusiastic and involved with children. The first goal of a teacher should be: to prepare children for society.’ (teacher educator 13, teacher tr.)
‘A teacher has an important pedagogical task. In Amsterdam, many parents ignore the rearing of their children.’ (teacher educator 13, teacher tr.)
The profession of an educational scientist
Except for two, the teacher educators with no experiences as a teacher in the bachelor in educational sciences at the UvA (n=9) mentioned that they did not have a vision about the profession of educational scientist. The two teacher educators who did have an idea [teacher tr.] talked about the educational scientist in different ways: one talked about someone who has no prejudices and can observe well and the other one mentioned that the educational scientist is someone that is a sociologist and psychologist as well.
The teacher educators with teaching experiences in the bachelor in educational sciences at the UvA (n=4) were better able to express themselves about the profession of educational scientist. They talked about someone that can take a critical stance or view a phenomenon from different perspectives.
Box 2: teacher educators’ quotes about the profession of educational scientist
‘I think that an educational scientist is someone with common sense, someone that has no prejudices, but is able to observe well.’ (teacher educator 7, teacher tr.)
‘I think that when we talk about educational scientists, we should talk about a broad notion of the scientist. In fact it is also a sociologist and psychologist.’ (teacher educator 10, teacher tr.) ‘A scientist is someone that can take a critical stance.’ (teacher educator 5, univ.)
Student teachers
The profession of a teacher
Most of the student teachers did not have very clear ideas about the profession of a teacher; they mentioned that the teacher is someone who is teaching in class. Two of the four student teachers who did express an idea about the profession of a teacher talked about the teacher as someone that transmits knowledge. The other two student teachers emphasized the importance of the relational aspect of teaching when they talked about what they think is important for them to learn for their future profession.
Box 3: student teachers’ quotes about the profession of teacher
‘A teacher is someone who teaches in class and children need to listen to the teacher’ (student teacher 1)
‘I want to learn how you can build up a good relationship with you students and the way you can transform this into good learning and social results for the students.’ (student teacher 12)
The profession of educational scientist
Student teachers made a distinction between the scientist in general and the educational scientist. They associated a scientist with doing research. When talking about the educational scientist, most student teachers (n=10) told that they saw an educational scientist as someone who has knowledge about the development of children, knowledge about the way children learn and knowledge about the rearing of children. Two student teachers described the educational scientist as someone who has a pedagogical task.
Box 4: student teachers’ quotes about the profession of teacher
The profession of educational scientist
‘As an educational scientist you have more knowledge and you are able to recognize the symptoms and consequences, you can make the links.’ (student teacher 10)
‘As an educational scientist you optimize situations when the development of children and the way they are reared does not go as normal as with other children.’ (student teacher 5)
Sub-conclusion
The teacher educators and student teachers who have explicit notions about the profession of teacher primarily talked about the teacher as someone that possesses certain competences. It seems that these teacher educators and student teachers have a technical perception about teaching: the perception that teaching is something that can be learned. However, there are also some teacher educators and student teachers who talked about specific personality characteristics of a teacher and the social responsibility of a teacher. These teacher educators and student teachers seem to think about not only the means of education but also about the ends of education. In addition, these perceptions take into account a vision on the teacher as someone that has also social responsibilities. Teacher educators with teaching experience in university only had in general less specific ideas about the profession of teacher than teacher educators with teaching experience in teacher training.
On the contrary, teacher educators with no experiences as a teacher in the bachelor in educational sciences seem to found it more difficult to explain what it means to be an educational scientist than teacher educators who do have teaching experiences in the bachelor in educational sciences. However, the latter described the profession of educational scientist in terms of general, technical, competences of a scientist or researcher. Not one teacher educator talks about what it contains to be an
educational scientist. On the contrary, student teachers seem to have a more profound
idea about the educational scientist. They primarily talked about the knowledge base of educational scientist. Nonetheless, a couple of student teachers mentioned that the educational scientist, like the teacher, has a social responsibility.
3. In what way do teacher educators and student teachers perceive the relation
between the two professions, or in other words: what are their ideas about the future profession?
Teacher educators
Teacher educators’ perceptions about the future profession will be divided into a paragraph about their perceptions with regard to the added value of the future teachers who participated in the teacher education programme in Amsterdam in comparison to the future teachers that participated in the regular teacher training programme, a paragraph about in what way teacher educators expect the future profession will get form in the schools, and a last paragraph about teacher educators perceptions with regard to educational research. These perceptions might be of relevance for the way teacher educators perceive the relation between research and teaching takes form in the future profession.
The added value of the future teachers
When teacher educators were asked about the added value of the future teachers that have been trained in the teacher education programme in Amsterdam, they all talk about the added value of the student teachers for the profession of teacher and not for the profession of an educational scientist. They almost all emphasized that the student teachers will be teachers in the first place when they have finished the programme. When the teacher educators compared the future teachers who participated in teacher education programme in Amsterdam to the teachers that participated in the regular teacher training programme, they expected that the future teachers that participated in the teacher education programme will be able to do
research and or have an academic level. The teacher educators explained this academic level as a teacher who is critical, analytical and able to justify his or her answers. In addition, five teacher educators [univ.(3), teacher tr.(2)] mentioned that the teachers who are trained in the teacher education programme in Amsterdam will have more knowledge than teachers who are trained in a regular teacher training programme. This extra knowledge, or scientific knowledge as some teacher educators called it, was seen as a combination of general educational theories and knowledge from scientific research. The teacher educators emphasized that this extra knowledge did not concern the subject matter for the school subjects.
Box 5: teacher educators’ quotes about the added value of the student teachers
‘ We want them to be teachers. They are expected to not start with their Masters after this programme, but first learn and work in the teacher practice and apply what they have learned.’ (teacher educator 10, teacher tr.)
‘They [future teachers] evaluate everything in a critical way and they find reasons for actions. To do this they need theory. They relate their choices to scientific research and are able to translate it to the school practice’ (teacher educator 14, univ.)
The organisation of the future profession in school
Nine teacher educators [univ.(4), teacher tr.(4), sec.(1)] mentioned that they perceive the future profession for the student teachers as a combination of teacher and researcher. Some teacher educators [univ.(3), teacher tr.(2)] perceived the double role of teacher and researcher as a task differentiation, meaning that the future job for the student teachers will be a part-time job as a teacher and a part-time job as a researcher, others [teacher tr.(2), sec.(1)] mentioned that they wish to see a new position for this teacher. In addition, four out of the nine teacher educators [teacher tr (3), uni.(1)] mentioned that the future teachers can use their research skills to support colleagues, for example in translating research results into individual action plans.
The other five teacher educators who did not talk about a double profession [teacher tr.(3), prim.(1), sec.(1)] saw the student teachers in the first place in a job as a teacher. Two out of these five teacher educators [sec.(1), teacher tr.(1)] emphasized that teaching and research have to be seen as two separate activities. These two teacher educators explained that they do not see in what way a teacher can do research while teaching. They were sceptical about whether scientific research or scientific insights would have an added value for the teaching.
Box 6: teacher educators’ quotes about the organisation of the future profession in school
The future profession
‘The teacher is a teacher and next to that he will perform other tasks. It means that will be moments that he will not be present in the classroom but is doing other work in the school.’ (teacher educator 11, univ.)
‘I would like to see a new position for these teachers. There should be more knowledge in school and theory should get a more dominant role. There should be another position for this teacher. At this moment there are ‘IB’ and there is a position in consulting, but this position should be focusing on class development and school development. I have not seen such a position yet.’ (teacher educator 7, teacher tr.)
‘I can not imagine how one can think scientifically, or conduct scientific research, next to teaching. There is no time for it.’ (teacher educator 3, sec.)
‘I doubt whether this scientific attitude will contribute to the teaching. In his daily practice the teacher observes, asks and reacts. So there is not a strict investigating attitude.’ (teacher educator 13, teacher tr.)
Perceptions about educational research
Seven teacher educators [univ.(4), teacher tr.(2), sec.(1)] considered as the goal of educational research to find out whether interventions work or to find standard solutions for problems. Three teacher educators with teaching experiences in university explained that research should aim at drawing general conclusions. These three teacher educators described big samples drawn from definable populations as the ideal situations for conducting research. One of them mentioned experimental research as a possible research method. All seven teacher educators mentioned that
they find it important that the research results should be applicable to the school situation.
Four teacher educators [univ.(1), teacher tr.(3)] mentioned that research can or should be done within the own teaching practice. Nonetheless, three of them seemed to view the added value for the future teachers more in the fact that they can do research on the school level. One of these four teacher educators, who is the initiator of the programme, mentioned that results from research in school should contribute to the development of teacher education programmes.
Box 7: teacher educators’ quotes about research
‘In the ideal situation you have a standard solution with specific solutions for the schools in
Amsterdam, since you can not develop a standard solution for all school. However, you can develop a protocol and with that you can solve specific problems’(teacher educator 2, teacher tr.)
‘You can conduct an experiment, when you apply something on certain schools and you do not apply it on other schools. When this is not possible, you can look at what works best, in order to say it is likely that this is what works best.’ (teacher educator 11, univ.)
‘The teacher should research himself, his own teaching, but also the effects of his own education and rearing, his learning and development. With that knowledge he can investigate the school practice, for example the content of mathematics education.’ (teacher educator 11, teacher tr.)
Student teachers
Student teachers’ perceptions about the future profession will be divided into the same paragraphs as the teacher educators’ perceptions, for the same reasons.
The added value of the future teachers
Almost all student teachers expressed that they would like to be a teacher in the first place when they have graduated. Nonetheless, ten student teachers explicitly mentioned that they do not have the intention to be a teacher for the rest of their life. These ten student teachers plus three other student teachers stressed that they want to do a Masters in child development or education studies. Most student teachers
mentioned that they expect to possess more educational background knowledge and other didactical knowledge than the teachers in primary education who participated in the regular teacher training programme. They think that the possession of this knowledge forms the added value for them as teachers. Two student teachers expressed that the added value for them as teachers is that they will be able to justify their actions.
Box 8: student teachers’ quotes about the added value of the future teachers
‘ I want to do a Masters in child development or education studies. Afterwards I want to have a job about education outside the school or I want to support children with special needs in school.’ (student teacher 3)
‘We have more pedagogical background knowledge than regular teachers. We have a different vision on children.’ (student teacher 20)
‘We perceive children from an individual perspective, we are ale to differentiate.’ (student teacher 18)
The organisation of the future profession in school
Almost all student teachers have the idea that they will be teachers in combination with another job in school. Twelve student teachers mentioned that they will be educational scientist and teacher. Seven of these twelve student teachers described the role of educational scientist as a child care worker; someone who supports children with problems. The other five student teachers described the educational scientist as a researcher; someone that does research about problematic behaviour or in order to improve the educational quality in school. Most of these twelve students (n =7) mentioned that they expect to be part-time teacher and part-time researcher or child care worker. On the contrary, three student teachers stressed that they believe the role of teacher and educational scientist or researcher should be integrated. In addition, some student teachers (n=3) mentioned that they expect to support colleagues in their future profession.
Box 9: student teachers’ quotes about the organisation of the future profession in school
‘I will be teacher and often asked as a child care worker for ‘difficult pupils’ (student teacher 11) ‘I will be teacher in a disadvantaged school in the big city. Next to that I will be an educational scientist that does research on problematic behavior or situations and I will apply my results in practice. (student teacher 6)
‘Scientist and teacher is an integrated role. As a teacher you can do something with the results of research’ (student teacher 12)
The use of research for the future profession
Most student teachers explained that they think it is important that when they will be a teacher, they should be able do something with the results from research. Five student teachers had the opinion that research results should be interesting for more schools and three student teachers for the own school or class. However there are also about six students that mentioned that when one is able to do research, this can contribute to a specific way of perceiving things in class.
Sub-conclusion
It seems that the teacher educators perceived the added value for the future teachers in the addition of the general academic competences from the bachelor in educational sciences. They did not talk about specific characteristics of the educational sciences that can contribute to the development of the profession of teacher. In addition, not one teacher educator mentioned in what way the student teacher who participated in the teacher education programme in Amsterdam can contribute to the profession of educational scientist. They seem to think solely about the added value of the student teachers within the teacher education programme for the profession of teacher. Nevertheless, most student teachers do not see themselves as a teacher for their whole life and a majority want to do a Masters. The student teachers, like the teacher educators, mentioned technical competences as an added
value for them when they will be teachers. A majority of both teacher educators and student teachers seemed to perceive research and teaching as separate activities that should be performed separately in school. This distinction between research and teaching could be related to teacher educators’ perceptions about research. They had the perception that educational research should aim at general validity of interventions meaning that research should at least be done on the school level or over schools. Nonetheless, there are some teacher educators and student teachers that perceived research as a way to improve the own teacher practice. Teacher educators with teaching experiences in teacher training emphasized more often the possibility for teachers to do research about their own practice than the teacher educators with teaching experiences in university only.
4. What are the ideas of teacher educators and student teachers about the way the
teacher education programme contributes or should contribute to the education for the future profession?
Teacher educators
Teacher educators’ perceptions about the programme will be divided into a paragraph about in what way they experience the ratio between theory and practice in the programme, a paragraph about teacher educators’ perceptions about the content of the subjects in the programme and the educational approach in these subjects and a last paragraph about teacher educators perceptions about the relation between theory and practice in the UTP.
Theory and practice in the programme
When teacher educators described the programme, most of them distinguished between a theory (at the study location) and a practice (in the schools) part. They viewed the UTP as the place where student teachers learn to make the translation from what they get at the university to the school practice by means of research. Three teacher educators [univ.(2), teacher tr.(1)] explicitly mentioned that what student teachers have to practice in the UTP is different from the other day in the school practice. They described that the other day in practice is meant to acquire the teaching skills. One of them (univ.) stressed that, during the classes for vocational guidance, the student teachers have the possibility to reflect upon the acquirement of the teaching skills by means of a competence matrix that is developed for the teacher education programme. Nonetheless, four other teacher educators [teacher tr (3), prim.(1)] stressed that they have the feeling that not enough time in the programme is spent on the acquirement of teacher skills. They related this to their teaching experiences in the teacher training programme. The experienced lack of time in the programme to practice the teaching skills seems to be in contrast to the teacher educator, and initiator of the programme [teacher tr.], who mentioned to expect that after two years, student teachers will have the same teacher skills as in the teacher training programme.
Box 10: teacher educators’ quotes about the relation between the theory and practice parts in the programme
‘the one day in practice is focused on the acquirement of teaching skills, whereas the other day in practice the student teachers do research in the school from an other perspective.’ (teacher educator 5, univ.)
‘In the teacher training programme student teachers have 3 years to acquire their teacher skills. If I see this teacher education programme, I think we have forgotten to give those teacher skills a place in the programme’ (teacher educator 6, teacher tr.)
The subjects in the programme
Almost all teacher educators teaching in the school subjects, the seminars in educational sciences and the academic, communication and writing skills [teacher tr.(5), sec.(1), prim.(1), univ.(2)] seem to use a theory into practice approach in their subjects; they described that they use assignments in which student teachers need to show how they can apply, use or recognize these theories or scientific knowledge in practice. One teacher educator (univ.) for example mentioned that he or she provides the student teachers with information about educational ideologies and then asks student teachers to think about what educational ideology is used in student teachers’ own schools. Most teacher educators described general educational theories or knowledge from scientific research as the knowledge they use in their classes. Teacher educators teaching in the school subjects [teacher tr.(5), sec.(1)] mentioned that they primarily use psychological learning theories or developmental theories to explain teaching methodology. However, three teacher educators, with teaching experiences in teacher training, seem to have a practice into theory approach. One of them explicitly emphasized the importance of the integration of student teachers’ experiences in class. Another teacher educator, responsible for a group of students in the UTP, mentioned that he or she has the perception that it is important to relate the teacher practice to the class. Two of these three teacher educators emphasized that they think knowledge is constructed in the teacher practice.
The teacher educators had specific expectations from the student teacher in this programme that seems to be responsible for their teaching approaches in the subjects. Six teacher educators [univ.(3), teacher tr.(2), prim.(1)] mentioned that they believe that student teachers should be able to link theory to practice themselves, although three of them (univ.) mentioned that they experienced that it is difficult for the
student teachers to link theory to practice. About eight teacher educators [univ.(3), teacher tr. (4), prim.(1)] emphasized that they expect these student teachers to have more learning capacity, and to be more self-conscious, independent and reflective than students that did general secondary education as previous education. Some of these teacher educators described that in their classes they use a higher level of theory, more abstraction and they require from student teachers to justify their answers.
When it concerns the content of classes, one aspect seems to be of no interest to any teacher educator. It is the discussion about the normative dimension of teaching or education: the discussion about what good education or teaching is. When teacher educators were explicitly asked about whether they address the discussion about good education or teaching in their classes, they responded that in the subjects the different perspectives on what good education is or on what is thought to be relevant for a child, could be presented.
Box 11: teacher educators’ quotes about the subjects in the programme
‘Student teachers need to relate everything the do to theory, they need to be able to reason out everything. This is the academic aspect in my subject and that is where it ends as well.’ (teacher educator 3, sec.)
‘The theory I teach for teaching methodology is for example the theory of Gardner. I will tell my student teachers: with this knowledge about the theory of Gardner you will design a class in which you will refer to different sorts of intelligences.’ (teacher educator 3, sec.)
‘The programme is based on the principle that when students read a theory they are better able to link this to the way the theory is useful for the teaching practice.’ (teacher educator 1, teacher tr.)
‘I think that with these student teachers we can start immediately with theory and then send them to practice. With the students in the traditional teacher training institute in order to arrive at the theory we first needed to provide concrete examples.’ (teacher educator 7, teacher tr.)
‘I always talk about the practice of [subject]. It could happen that students experience certain things in their school practice that they want to have an answer at or discuss with the group. Then I first get into that experience. The teaching practice is a central element in my classes.’ (teacher educator 13, teacher tr.)
‘We expect from student teachers to ask questions about what they experience around them in the class room and what they want to learn. It relates to our vision on the development of people in which they give meaning to their learning.’ (teacher educator 6, teacher tr.)
The University Teacher Practice
As already said, most teacher educators viewed the university teacher practice (UTP) as the place where by means of research theory is related to practice. Almost all teacher educators mentioned that it is important that research questions in the UTP are based on problems or questions schools deal with. Nonetheless, teacher educators have different ideas about the role the programme should play in formulating the research questions. Two teacher educators that are responsible for a group in the UTP, with teaching experiences in university only, stressed that it is important that student teachers practice with the application of research skills in practice. They mentioned that the assignments for the UTP should be pre-structured and that research questions deriving from schools should be adjusted in order to make sure that the relevant skills will be applied and that the research is related to the theory. However, two of the other three teacher educators, responsible for a group in the UTP, who have teaching experiences in teacher training, mentioned that it is (also) important that the research questions are formulated by the student teachers themselves in order to connect to their needs when they are in class or school. These two teacher educators did also consider research as a way to improve the own teacher practice.
Box 12: teacher educators’ quotes about the University Teacher Practice
‘I will check (up) what research techniques students should be able to do and make sure that nothing else will be required from them than those techniques.’ (teacher educator 12, univ.)
‘In the programme it is very strictly pre-defined at which moment what kind of research should be done. I would like to have some more freedom to get into conversation with students about what they experience in practice, what they would like to learn and connect that to what happens in the
Student teachers
Student teachers’ perceptions about the programme will be divided into the same paragraphs as the teacher educators’ perceptions. However, there will be focused on in what way student teachers experience the programme and in what way the programme reflects what they think they need to learn for their future profession.
Theory and practice in the programme
About half of the student teachers (n= 12) had an opinion about the different parts in the programme. Eight of them made a distinction between the parts of the teacher training programme (school subjects and school practice) and the university (theory and research). One student teacher perceived the programme as existing of a theory (at study location) and practice (in school) part. However, three student teachers mentioned that they had the feeling that it is one programme. About five student teachers mentioned that they have too little to time to practice and/or reflect on their teaching skills or they explained that they miss the support in acquiring the teacher skills.
Box 13: student teachers’ quotes about the relation between the theory and practice parts in the programme
‘ There are two different studies which are difficult to combine. You can clearly recognize the traditional teacher training part and the university part.’
‘I miss the support to reflect on my teacher skills’
The subjects in the programme
Almost all student teachers mentioned that in the introduction courses in the educational sciences they get theories and basic knowledge about the educational sciences. As an example, one student teacher mentioned that they get knowledge about the way children perceive the world around them. Most student teachers
mentioned that in the school subjects they get teaching methodology relating to the different school subjects or about the way a class can be arranged. A majority of the student teachers stressed that they are expected to apply theory or recognize theory they get in the school subjects or introduction courses, in practice. Most of them (n=8) mentioned that they have difficulties with it. Two student teachers seemed to have no problems with it. Moreover, two student teachers found the research they need to conduct in the school subjects of low quality. When the student teachers were asked explicitly whether they were able to relate their experiences in the teacher practice to the theory in the programme, most of them (n=7) indicated that in the programme there is little possibility to link experiences from the teacher practice to theory. On the contrary, two student teachers mentioned that they feel they can express their teaching experiences and they are happy with the feedback.
Box 14: student teachers’ quotes about the subjects in the programme
‘We learn the basic knowledge relating to the school subjects and in what way this knowledge helps you to deal with arranging a class.’ (student teacher 19)
‘I think it is difficult to apply theory. For some themes such as segregation it is possible, but for a lot more it is not possible.’ (student teacher 24)
‘The research in the school subjects is on a teacher training programme level. The research is abused by the school subjects’ (student teacher 3).’
‘At Tuesday we talk about experiences in the teacher practice, but there are no educational scientists with us then, so the feedback and relation to the theory does not take place’ (student teacher 22) ‘At this moment we only have 15 minutes available to talk about teaching experiences’ (student teacher 20)
When student teachers were asked about what they think they need to learn in the programme for their future profession with regard to theory, seven student teachers mentioned that they want to learn theories they can apply in practice. Other student teachers (n=11) talked about specific information or general information about development of children related to the teaching methodology. With regard to the school subjects a substantive amount of student teachers expressed that they want to
