New professionalism in austere times: the employment experiences of early career teachers in Scotland (original) (raw)

Beyond induction: the continuing professional development needs of early‐career teachers in Scotland

Professional Development in Education, 2011

CPD for teachers in Scotland, as in many other countries worldwide, is receiving increased attention. Within the Scottish context a gap in the CPD framework had been identified for early career teachers who have completed the induction year but are not yet eligible to embark on the Chartered Teacher Programme. Learning and Teaching Scotland, the school curriculum development body for Scotland, therefore commissioned a research project to explore the CPD needs and priorities of these early career teachers and the barriers to their participation. The project employed a three staged methodology: nominal group technique interviews with teachers in four local authorities; a national online survey; and a stakeholder consultation exercise. Results indicate that the early career teachers have a wide range of different needs, in terms of both content and mode of CPD, yet they do not appear to feel strongly about barriers to their participation. The article concludes by outlining policy and practice implications arising from the research.

Social trajectories or disrupted identities? Changing and competing models of teacher professionalism under New Labour

2010

Since the 1988 Education Reform Act, the teacher’s role in England has changed in many ways, a process which intensified under New Labour after 1997. Conceptions of teacher professionalism have become more structured and formalized, often heavily influenced by government policy objectives. Career paths have become more diverse and specialised. In this article, three post-1997 professional roles are given consideration as examples of these new specialised career paths: Higher Level Teaching Assistants, Teach First trainees and Advanced Skills Teachers. The article goes on to examine such developments within teaching, using Bourdieu’s concept of habitus to inform the analysis, as well as Bernstein’s theories of knowledge and identity. The article concludes that there has been considerable specialization and subsequent fragmentation of roles within the teaching profession, as part of workforce remodelling initiatives. However, there is still further scope for developing a greater sense of professional cohesion through social activism initiatives, such as the children’s agenda. This may produce more stable professional identities in the future as the role of teachers within the wider children’s workforce is clarified.

Move over Nelly: lessons from 30 years of employment-based initial teacher education in England

Teachers and Teaching, 2018

Recruiting, preparing and retaining high quality teachers are recurrent themes of local, national and international education agendas. Traditional university-led forms of teacher education continue to be challenged, and defended, as nations strive to secure a teaching force equipped to achieve high quality learning outcomes for all students. One commonly adopted policy solution has been the diversification of teacher preparation routes: the alternative certification agenda. In this paper we examine the entire history of one alternative route in place in England from 1997-2012, the Graduate Teacher Programme. Using one example of an employment based programme we argue that opportunities to engineer innovative and creative spaces in the face of the current teacher preparation reform agenda need to be seized. This case study, which is contextualised in both the international debates about alternative teacher certification routes and the current policy agenda in England, brought to you by CORE View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk provided by Repository@Nottingham 2 demonstrates the extent to which successive administrations have failed to learn from the lessons of the past in the rush to recycle policies and claim them as their own.

What does it mean to be a teacher? Three tensions within contemporary teacher professionalism examined in terms of government policy and the knowledge economy

2006

This article debates three tensions within the contemporary teaching profession in Great Britain, in terms of education policy after the 1988 Education Reform Act. The first is between prospective and retrospective identities, as defined by Bernstein (1996/2000). The second is between teachers’ expectations of professional status, and centralised and highly regulated school inspections. Finally, the article looks at vocation in the teaching profession, and how this comes into conflict with issues of self-interest amongst teachers. The article concludes by suggesting another tension that is evident throughout all three earlier strands of debate, between democratic professionalism (Whitty, 2002) and the post-1988 education landscape. The article closes by suggesting that a future education act in favour of a more humane education system may resolve this situation.

‘Endless patience and a strong belief in what makes a good teacher’: teacher educators in post-compulsory education in England and their professional situation

Endless patience and a strong belief in what makes a good teacher.' Teacher Educators in Post Compulsory Education in England and their professional situation. This research explores the professional situation of teacher educators in Post Compulsory Education. The article reports on a project which included the largest online survey of this particular group to date, and the results provided rich insights into their values, experiences and particular working context. The results significantly extend our understanding of the characteristics and beliefs of this under-researched professional community, and they have a powerful resonance as we move into a new era for UK teacher education. teacher education are varied and somewhat haphazard, and induction / support systems for this group are limited, if they exist at all. Research by (Harkin, Cuff and Rees 2008) articulates with Noel's. A number of the questions in my survey were modelled on those used in Harkin, Cuff and Rees (2008), which provided a sound structure for generic information, as well as enabling a degree of comparison. Research by Boyd, Harris and Murray (2007); Crowe and Berry (2007);

The experiences of early career teachers: new initiatives and old problems

Professional Development in Education, 2017

The task of supporting beginning teachers has received considerable attention in recent years, and numerous initiatives have been implemented. In this paper we investigate the experiences of early career teachers (ECTs) in New South Wales, Australia, at a time when their employing authority mandated the provision of mentors and reduction in face-to-face teaching for ECTs. This paper draws on ECTs' responses to survey items asking about their experiences as ECTs. It emerged that many of the issues of the early years that have caused problems for ECTs remain intractable, or at least unresolved for some. The research indicates that despite support that has been mandated by some employers, we cannot be complacent about the transition of ECTs into the profession. There remains a need to address the elements of school environments that impact on ECTs' experiences.