We've just had yet another review of teacher education. The group convened to examine how well (or not) we do as teacher educators, contained one person qualified to talk about it from a teacher education point of view: the others were from schools. They were qualified to discuss the issue from one side of the coin. But coins have two sides- they are equal and go together to make a whole. The imbalance in what is proposed (well, almost finalised) is marked. For those of us who teach people to be teachers, introduce them to pedagogy, theories of learning and what it means to be a reflective practitioner, open up the field of ethical behaviour as an educational professional, visit them on practicum and provide evaluative feedback, help them explore notions of curriculum, learning processes and puzzles of practice, must now get a teaching certificate - because this certificate proves we can do our jobs.
As someone who is both passionate about supporting people to become secondary teachers, and tries to model what I preach, I find this insulting. This is especially since I know that when our students go on prcticum, it is quite likely they will hear comments from teachers that we- those of us in teacher education- don't know what we're talking about. That 'them and us' mentality is really sad. From where I'm standing, such a belief appears to assume that because I'm not in front of a class of adolescents every day, that I don't know about curriculum, thinking, ethics, professionalism, classroom mangement, assessment - and all the other things that go to make up a school day. There is, it seems, a view that reading, research, thinking, experimentation about pedagogy and how it might manifest itself for the benefit of learners, don't matter as much as being in a classroom. I'm tired of that argument. I was in secodnary school classrooms for 20 years- I know there's more to education and effective practices than jsut being there.
On the other hand, I've also heard from others (such as PD providers or conference organisers) that teachers only want practical things - and some do. This is partly a workload thing - there is an urgency to get on and do stuff - considered, informed, evidence-based thinking and preparation doesn't get much of a look-in. But if professional development is only ever about about practical stuff, how do teachers continue to learn and grow in their profession? Opportunities to learn about theory and research and provocative ideas - these can feed the mind, inspiring really good practices. If it's only about practice, then it trivialises and undermines the reality of teachers being knowledge workers.
So, the insistence on a current Teacher Registration certificate (I let mine lapse after 3 years as a teacher educator - it didn't seem to accommodate my role) to be the guarantee of my ability to do my job - including visiting students on practicum - is therefore, an insult. It's an insult to my experience, knowledge, practices, and commitment.
I feel a bit better now.
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