tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/teaching-standards-5112/articlesTeaching standards – The Conversation2023-09-28T20:35:50Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2101642023-09-28T20:35:50Z2023-09-28T20:35:50ZEducation for reconciliation requires us to ‘know where we are’<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/education-for-reconciliation-requires-us-to-know-where-we-are" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>On a sunny morning in <a href="https://infoedmonton.com/article/amiskwaciwaskahikan-%E2%80%89%E1%90%8A%E1%92%A5%E1%90%A2%E1%91%B2%E1%90%A7%E1%92%8B%E1%90%8B%E1%90%A7%E1%90%A2%E1%91%B2%E1%90%A6%E1%90%83%E1%91%B2%E1%90%A3%E2%80%89-the-land-as-history/">amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton)</a> last October, more than 100 university students, the two of us and other university instructors gathered near the banks of <a href="https://chrs.ca/en/rivers/north-saskatchewan-kisiskaciwani-sipiy-river">kisiskâciwan-sîpî (North Saskatchewan River)</a> in the Riverdale neighbourhood. </p>
<p>Joining our group were <a href="https://concordia.ab.ca/tipi-teachings-with-elder-philip-campiou-virtual/">Cree Elder Phillip Campiou, a cultural knowledge keeper,</a> and members of the Riverdale Community League <a href="https://riverdalians.ca/contact">Truth and Reconciliation Committee</a>. </p>
<p>The gathering was an event called “Knowing Where You Are.” We conceived and planned this experiential learning activity as instructors of foundational courses in the bachelor of education program at Concordia University of Edmonton.</p>
<p>We wanted to take our students out of the classroom to ground their learning about Indigenous Peoples and histories in an understanding of the importance of place, and to put students in a position where they could learn about where they live, study and work. </p>
<h2>Importance of place</h2>
<p>We chose this activity at this place because of the layered history of the bridge site, which has significance as a meeting place among First Nations, Métis and settler people.</p>
<p><a href="https://riverdalians.ca">Riverdale</a> is situated on <a href="https://cityarchives.edmonton.ca/uploads/r/city-of-edmonton-archives/f/1/6/f16fa6b48895d0a208a7ed4d684177d9e2af3f1c64e7d2da536edec0f4f1f418/EAM-3.jpg">Métis river lots 18 and 20</a> in what is now central Edmonton. Part of the <a href="https://indigenouspeoplesatlasofcanada.ca/article/communities/">Métis homeland</a>, Edmonton is at the centre of Treaty 6 territory. </p>
<p>We also wanted to foster students’ habits of wondering about knowing where they are as a starting point for their learning. We sought to cultivate and nurture habits of mind and body to inform how students enter and approach their future classrooms. </p>
<p>Importantly, we hoped this unique activity would instil a sense of confidence with — and commitment to — education for reconciliation. </p>
<h2>Education for reconciliation in Alberta schools</h2>
<p>We and other educators have been responding to four of the <a href="https://ehprnh2mwo3.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf">94 Calls to Action</a> released by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada in 2015. </p>
<p>The intent of education for reconciliation is to include opportunities for students in kindergarten to Grade 12 to learn about the histories, experiences, knowledges and contributions of Indigenous Peoples to Canada. </p>
<p>Call to Action No. 62 calls for government funding to enable post-secondary institutions “to educate teachers on how to integrate Indigenous knowledge and teaching methods into classrooms.” Alberta signalled its commitment to this partly through developing and implementing <a href="https://www.alberta.ca/professional-practice-standards#jumplinks-1">a new Teaching Quality Standard</a>, which outlines six competencies for teachers. </p>
<p>The competencies are interconnected sets of knowledge, skills and attitudes. They provide guidance to practising or aspiring teachers, as well as those who supervise and evaluate them. One of six competencies is entirely dedicated to the development and application of “foundational knowledge about First Nations, Métis and Inuit for the benefit of all students.” </p>
<h2>Decolonial approaches to education</h2>
<p>For us, knowing where you are is both an expression of our willingness to fulfil a mandate defined by the <em>Teaching Quality Standard</em> and of our commitment to a decolonial approach to teacher education.</p>
<p>We take the competencies and associated indicators as only a starting point, and as minimum descriptors of quality teaching in a field that is typically cautious in its approach to change. </p>
<p>We strive to de-centre the physical university as the necessary site of learning, and to take an Indigenous teaching and learning approach that is a meaningful step toward decolonized teacher education.</p>
<h2>Where do you stand?</h2>
<p>As a decolonial approach to education for reconciliation, “knowing where you are” has been inspired by different methods of investigation, each crucially determined by local history, knowledge, conditions and purposes. </p>
<p>One of these methods for examining local history begins with the metaphor of <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/721036/dig-where-you-stand-by-sven-lindqvist/">digging where you stand</a>, named and inspired by the work of Swedish author Sven Lindqvist. </p>
<p>Another that has guided us is Cree scholar <a href="https://jcacs.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/jcacs/article/view/16868">Dwayne Donald’s adaptation of a phenomenon known as “pentimento</a>.” Pentimento refers to the re-emergence of earlier layer or layers of paint on a canvas, which Donald explores in his 2004 article, “Edmonton Pentimento: Re-Reading History in the Case of the Papaschase Cree.” </p>
<p>Inspired by the work of <a href="https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/american-pentimento">historian Patricia Seed</a>, Donald proposes “‘pentimento re-reading’ as a way to recover stories and memories that have been ‘painted over.’” </p>
<p>This involves “the acknowledgement that each layer mixes with the other and renders irreversible influences on our perceptions of it.” The tendency <a href="https://theconversation.com/leaked-alberta-school-curriculum-in-urgent-need-of-guidance-from-indigenous-wisdom-teachings-148611">to separate the stories of Indigenous and settler Canadians</a> is one symptom of the legacies of colonialism and paternalism that have characterized Canadian society. </p>
<h2>Continuous presence of the past</h2>
<p>We wanted to engage with a Cree principle of seeking knowledge and understanding in our teaching.</p>
<p><a href="https://edst.educ.ubc.ca/kovach-margaret/">Nêhiyaw (Cree) and Saulteaux scholar Margaret Kovach</a> writes that <a href="https://utorontopress.com/9781487525644/indigenous-methodologies">“we know what we know from where we stand</a>” in her discussion of Indigenous research methodology. </p>
<p>This idea speaks to a notion of knowledge that emerges from the places and times we find ourselves. To us, it implies that teacher education informed by Indigenous approaches to teaching and learning ought to be pursued in a way that is aware of the continued presence and relevance of the past.</p>
<h2>People who have made commitments</h2>
<p>At the fall 2022 event, students cycled through three activities. </p>
<p>They visited the <em>tipi</em> (lodge) erected every summer on a prominent hilltop in a community park by Elder Phillip Campiou, and learned from him.</p>
<p>Students also walked to the nearby Tawatinâ Bridge to view <a href="https://transforming.edmonton.ca/tawatina-bridge-connecting-people-to-downtown/">a public art installation by Métis artist David Garneau</a>. The installation includes 400 individual pieces of art intended as “an homage to the history, nature, and First Nations and Métis presence in the region.” We asked students to choose an art piece as a starting point for further learning. </p>
<p>Finally, students visited with members of the Riverdale Truth and Reconciliation Committee, who spoke of the personal and collective commitments they have made in support of truth and reconciliation.</p>
<h2>A model for learning</h2>
<p>This event is a model we hope students carry with them in their future careers, no matter where they live and work.</p>
<p>We were encouraged by how engaged the students were on the day of the activity, as well as by evidence of learning revealed in work submitted later in the term. Feedback we received tells us students enjoyed and appreciated the activity. </p>
<p>We are optimistic that such activities matter, though we know translating specific insights, experiences and understanding into deep learning requires ongoing commitments. </p>
<p>The layered nature of places — their “pentimento” quality — applies everywhere. When we understand this, possibilities unfold. </p>
<p>Through this approach, these future teachers — indeed, all teachers — can come to understand the importance of recognizing the continuous presence and ongoing relevance of the past in stories they tell about people and places.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210164/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Experiential learning took students in a bachelor of education program out of the classroom for their own learning about truth and reconciliation and to prepare them for future classrooms.Lorin Yochim, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education, University of AlbertaChristine Martineau, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education, Concordia University of EdmontonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/362372015-01-14T13:11:51Z2015-01-14T13:11:51ZCollege of Teaching will be an opportunity for teachers, not a threat to their independence<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68996/original/image-20150114-3871-8fgthe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The teachers need teaching too. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-198926588/stock-photo-teacher-and-pupils-in-high-school-science-class.html?src=pp-same_model-198926993-sLnKXVofZNEY0Mam2fFZqA-3&ws=1">Students in class via Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As politicians get out of their <a href="https://theconversation.com/when-miliband-comes-a-knocking-will-anyone-be-home-35924">starting blocks early</a> this year now campaigning for the general election has begun, it’s hard not to be sceptical about new education policy announcements. Politicians on both sides of the aisle are making <a href="https://news.tes.co.uk/b/news/2015/01/08/nine-out-of-10-parents-think-all-teachers-should-be-qualified-survey-reveals.aspx">teacher quality</a> and standards a policy battleground. But one relative point of agreement has emerged: <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jan/11/labour-license-teachers-raise-standards">Labour</a>, the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/dec/09/college-of-teaching-will-give-teachers-professional-equality-nicky-morgan">Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats</a> have all voiced interest in the idea of establishing a College of Teaching. </p>
<p>I read with interest what the University of Nottingham’s Howard Stevenson <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-teachers-should-be-sceptical-of-a-new-college-of-teaching-35280">had to say on The Conversation</a> about the latest proposals by secretary of state for education, Nicky Morgan, for <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/383987/DfE_cons_overview_document_template_for_World_Class_Teachers_Consultation_voo3BR.pdf">a College of Teaching</a>. Stevenson claims there are many reasons to be sceptical. But I seem to have understood the announcement very differently to him. </p>
<h2>Not looking back</h2>
<p>While I agree it will be hard to get something like this off the ground, the case for scepticism remains unproven. His comparisons with the General Teaching Council for England (GTCE), which was abolished in 2010 by Morgan’s predecessor Michael Gove, are like comparing the proverbial apples and pears – the concepts are so very different. Comparisons with similar bodies in the medical field, for example the British Medical Association, are much more relevant and make the case for the College much more compelling.</p>
<p>A College of Teaching which raises the status of teaching as a profession and promotes public confidence in, and respect for, teachers can surely only be a good thing. Unlike the GTCE, voluntary membership of a College of Teaching would be positively based on teachers’ own aspirations, development and recognition, rather than being concerned with regulation and striking off.</p>
<h2>Picking polls</h2>
<p>In his article, Stevenson cites a <a href="http://schoolsimprovement.net/todays-poll-confident-college-teaching-drive-standards">Twitter poll</a> showing that 64% of respondents expressed a lack of confidence that a College of Teaching would drive up standards – as opposed to 36% who thought it would. As the basis of scepticism, this is pretty weak and seems to be a sign of a healthy unwillingness to commit to a fairly narrow question until the College’s mission is more clearly defined by a teacher-led development and consultation process. </p>
<p>Another <a href="http://www.princes-ti.org.uk/CollegeofTeaching/">survey conducted by the Princes Teaching Institute</a> in February 2014 found 82% of just over 900 teachers surveyed either agreed or strongly agreed that there is a role for a “new, independent, member-driven College of Teaching”. This went up to 87% among the 288 headteachers surveyed. Another poll published by <a href="https://news.tes.co.uk/b/news/2014/05/08/teachers-not-convinced-by-college-of-teaching-plans.aspx">the Sutton Trust</a> showed that approximately 40% of teachers were in favour of the College while 40% wanted to know more – but just 20% were unfavourable.</p>
<h2>No ‘web of control’</h2>
<p>Stevenson’s more substantive point is about the independence of the organisation. I absolutely agree this is of utmost importance – its independence must be jealously guarded. David Bell, the former permanent secretary in the Department for Education and now vice-chancellor of the University of Reading, has since called for <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-30711726">less political interference in schools</a>. This is spot on. </p>
<p>But I think to view the College of Teaching – a membership organisation by teachers, for teachers – as part of a “web of control” is wide of the mark. The independence of the organisation will need to be ensured through the open election of teachers to a body that is led and overseen by teaching professionals, not government officials. </p>
<p>Some may question whether the College will have any real power if it is not able to set policy or operate as a regulatory body – but we need to remember that there are other professions, mainly in medicine, where chartered status is an accepted standard.</p>
<p>As a teacher-led independent body, it’s actually more likely than not to be quite fiercely independent. There is often talk of trusting teachers, but little follow-through. The College presents a great opportunity to do that and do that well. I see no reason to doubt that this body cannot work in this way if the profession has an appetite to take it seriously – and there are early signs that it does.</p>
<p>Teaching unions have had mixed reactions to the idea of a new College of Teaching. The Nation Union of Teachers <a href="http://www.teachers.org.uk/node/22895">has said the proposals</a> are a “positive step in the right direction” but the <a href="http://www.politics.co.uk/opinion-formers/nasuwt-the-teachers-union/article/nasuwt-comments-on-college-of-teaching-poll">NASUWT union</a> has expressed more caution – supporting the principle but questioning the credibility and value of a College. </p>
<p>Stevenson raises the question whether teachers already have a professional voice, through these unions. But my understanding is that the College of Teaching is absolutely not about curtailing the unions, but about working alongside them. It is not an attempt to “take over” any territory either – unions will continue to focus on pay and conditions as well as contributing strongly to the debate on professional practice, and they will continue to provide professional development too.</p>
<h2>Teachers are hungry for ‘what works’</h2>
<p>I am also slightly disappointed in Stevenson’s criticism of a likely focus the College of Teaching may have on “what works?” While I do accept there may be a risk of “asking teachers to focus on what works, and privileging the methods often associated with such questions” in a way that is “contingent on implementing what others have decided is ‘good’, or what constitutes ‘best practice’”, this is making assumptions about who potentially owns the right to both ask and answer such questions.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68997/original/image-20150114-3874-ilgneu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68997/original/image-20150114-3874-ilgneu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68997/original/image-20150114-3874-ilgneu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68997/original/image-20150114-3874-ilgneu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68997/original/image-20150114-3874-ilgneu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68997/original/image-20150114-3874-ilgneu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/68997/original/image-20150114-3874-ilgneu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">What works is what teachers want.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-103006829/stock-vector-check-mark-vector-illustration.html?src=Wyz1QR1aJbCV1YHYcz-jVg-1-73&ws=1">Check mark via djdarkflower/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To most teachers, what really matters is the quality of learning and the teaching that supports it. My own research shows the <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0031910410001693245#.VLY-wns2UW4">strong correlation</a> between research and the quality of evidence-based, enquiry-driven teacher development and standards. This means interrogating a broad range of evidence on education policy and practice – and of course, situating it in broader complex socio-economic contexts. </p>
<p>Stevenson talks of spaces for debate in education research being closed down. But surely the College of Teaching presents an opportunity to create a new space that will foster those debates between practitioners and academics. A key role for universities and other academic organisations might be to help provide that broad evidence base and in doing so help guard the College of Teaching’s independence. </p>
<hr>
<p>Next read: <a href="https://theconversation.com/counting-the-costs-of-moving-teacher-training-out-of-universities-23157">Counting the costs of moving teacher training out of universities</a></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/36237/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Samantha Twiselton does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As politicians get out of their starting blocks early this year now campaigning for the general election has begun, it’s hard not to be sceptical about new education policy announcements. Politicians on…Samantha Twiselton, Director of Sheffield Institute of Education and Professor of Education, Sheffield Hallam UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/338582014-11-07T11:33:47Z2014-11-07T11:33:47ZHow to make teaching great<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/63868/original/hbb9n6t4-1415276634.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Bringing education to life.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/s/teaching+children/search.html?page=2&thumb_size=mosaic&inline=77073661">Students in class via Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>An article we wrote last week for The Conversation on <a href="https://theconversation.com/seven-great-teaching-methods-not-backed-up-by-evidence-33647">Seven “great” teaching methods not backed up by evidence</a> prompted a large amount of comment and discussion. One of the main questions has been, ok so what <em>does</em> make for great teaching? It was this question that <a href="http://www.suttontrust.com/researcharchive/great-teaching/">our recent evidence review for the Sutton Trust</a> set out to address, alongside how teachers can improve their teaching and so bring about better learning for their students. </p>
<p>Defining effective teaching is not straightforward. But it must surely be something like: “effective teaching is that which leads to high achievement by students in terms of valued outcomes”. Many current ways of assessing children, particularly those used in high-stakes exams or in existing research studies, do <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09243453.2014.885451#.VFtWNhbvbIo">not fully reflect</a> the range of important outcomes that a child’s education is trying to achieve. </p>
<p>Identifying good teaching is also a challenge because observing children and teachers provides very limited estimates of how much students actually learn from different practices. Whether studies are based on classroom observation, student surveys or scrutinising students’ work, their predictive power is usually not very high. Even in <a href="http://www.metproject.org/downloads/MET_Composite_Estimator_of_Effective_Teaching_Research_Paper.pdf">high-quality research studies</a>, it’s difficult to show clear results. </p>
<p>In practice this means that if we use classroom observation to identify teachers as “above” or “below” average in terms of their impact on student learning, we would get it right about 60% of the time, compared with the 50% chance we would get it right by just tossing a coin. Better than chance, but not much! </p>
<h2>Six good practices</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://www.suttontrust.com/researcharchive/great-teaching/">research we reviewed</a> suggests there are six common components that are signatures of good-quality teaching:</p>
<ol>
<li><p><strong>Content knowledge</strong>
This is when teachers have a deep knowledge of the subject that they teach and can communicate content effectively to their students. We found strong evidence for the impact of this on student outcomes. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>Quality of instruction</strong>
This includes teachers being skilled in effective questioning and use of assessment. Good teachers also deploy techniques such as reviewing previous learning and giving adequate time for children to practice and so embed skills securely. They also progressively introduce new skills and knowledge, a process known as “scaffolding”. Again, there is strong evidence of the impact of this on learning. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>Teaching climate</strong>
The quality of the teaching and learning relationships between teachers and students is important. Good teaching challenges students but develops a sense of competence: attributing success to effort, rather than ability. We found moderate evidence that the teaching climate in the classroom impacts student outcomes. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>Classroom management</strong>
Efficient use of lesson time, co-ordinating classroom resources and space, managing students’ behaviour with clear rules that are consistently enforced: we found moderate evidence of the impact of these on how children learn. These factors are perhaps the necessary conditions for good learning, but are not sufficient on their own. A well-ordered classroom with an ineffective lesson will not have a large impact. </p></li>
<li><p><strong>Teacher beliefs</strong>
There is also some evidence to show the importance of the reasons why teachers adopt particular practices and the purposes or goals that they have for their students. For example, <a href="http://musicmathsmagic.com/page4/files/EffectiveTeachersofNumeracy.pdf">research indicates</a> that primary school teachers’ beliefs about the nature of mathematics and their theories about how children learn – and their role in that learning – are more important to student outcomes that the level of mathematics qualification the teacher holds.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Professional behaviours</strong>
Developing professional skills and practice, participating in professional development, supporting colleagues and the broader role of liaising and communicating with parents also have a part to play in effective teaching. We found some evidence to show this has an impact on student outcomes. </p></li>
</ol>
<h2>Helping teachers help students</h2>
<p>Getting the results of this evidence to teachers is another matter. A comprehensive review by New Zealand education expert Helen Timperley and her colleagues <a href="http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/series/2515/15341">detailed the way teachers react</a> when they see that a particular practice leads to students learning more. Their analysis suggests that the way teachers learn about their own teaching can have a direct impact on student outcomes.</p>
<p>Overall, the evidence indicates that teachers who sustain the use of good practice do so by keeping a clear focus on improving student outcomes. Teachers should be given feedback about their teaching in a clear way by a mentor who sets them specific and challenging goals. School leaders also need to promote an environment of professional learning and support for teachers. This is a remarkably similar process to what we know about how <a href="http://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/toolkit/">students’ learn in schools</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Next, read this: <a href="https://theconversation.com/seven-great-teaching-methods-not-backed-up-by-evidence-33647">Seven ‘great’ teaching methods not backed up by evidence</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/33858/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steve Higgins has undertaken research at Durham University funded by the ESRC, Sutton Trust, Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) and CfBT.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Coe has received funding from the ESRC, Sutton Trust, Education Endowment Foundation, Pearson, and many individual schools and local authorities.</span></em></p>An article we wrote last week for The Conversation on Seven “great” teaching methods not backed up by evidence prompted a large amount of comment and discussion. One of the main questions has been, ok…Steve Higgins, Professor of Education, Durham UniversityRobert Coe, Professor, School of Education and Director, Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring, Durham UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/270662014-06-10T20:28:10Z2014-06-10T20:28:10ZWhat the review of teacher education should be asking<p>Teachers teach and students learn, so why the need for a review into how teachers learn? The review of teacher education announced in February seems driven largely by concerns that Australian students are <a href="http://www.acer.edu.au/ozpisa/key-findings/">going backwards</a> in international student assessments when compared to the rest of the world.</p>
<p>However, the <a href="http://www.studentsfirst.gov.au/teacher-education-ministerial-advisory-group">Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group</a> asks fundamentally the same questions as previous reviews of teacher education have asked. <a href="http://theconversation.com/minister-pyne-announces-yet-another-education-review-23470">Commentators state</a> that each inquiry reaches much the same conclusions and makes much the same recommendations, yet little changes.</p>
<p>Already, we know that recommendations relating to effective models of teacher education and recommendations for a national system of teacher education are likely. There will also be much debate about what can be funded and who should fund it.</p>
<p>However, there are fundamental questions the review has missed. I’ve set out four things the review <em>should</em> be asking: </p>
<p><strong>1. What sort of education do we want for our kids?</strong></p>
<p>To review the way our teachers learn, we have to think about what we consider a world-class education. Until we define the sort of education we want our kids to have, it is hard to decide how our teachers should be taught. </p>
<p>This could be informed by the <a href="http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/National_Declaration_on_the_Educational_Goals_for_Young_Australians.pdf">Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals of Young Australians</a>, made by all Australian education ministers in 2008. The first goal is that “Australian schooling promotes equity and excellence”. The second aims for “all young Australians to become successful learners, confident and creative individuals, active and informed citizens”. </p>
<p>These goals are considerably more comprehensive than what results from student testing can tell us and reflects a far more mature understanding of quality teaching. These goals could be a powerful starting point for the review to identify the graduate teacher capabilities that need to be developed.</p>
<p><strong>2. Who’s responsible for student learning?</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://studentsfirst.gov.au/files/temag_issues_paper_-_april_2014_4.pdf">The review</a> says that “the quality of the teacher is the single greatest in-school influence on student achievement”, but says little about out-of-school influences. While teacher quality is important, so are the contexts in which teaching and learning takes place. </p>
<p>Commentators such as the University of Queensland’s Bob Lingard <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEnlTfMOQK0&feature=c4-overview&list=UUbQofpGfudo6nVDG8DyMFtg">have said</a> much of this debate reductively suggests that it is the teacher who is the single most important influence. Using an evidence-based approach, he argues that policy (and much of the media commentary) understates the influence of culture, history, structural inequality, gender, race, ethnicity and indigenous disadvantage. </p>
<p>Melbourne Educational Research Institute director John Hattie <a href="http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Pedagogy-and-assessment/Building-effective-learning-environments/Teachers-Make-a-Difference-What-is-the-Research-Evidence">identified six sources</a> of relative influence on student learning and how much they account for: students themselves (about 50%), home (about 5-10%), schools (about 5-10%), principals (already accounted for in the school variance), peer effects (about 5-10%) and teachers (about 30%). </p>
<p>This commentary proposes an alternative to the unhelpful criticism of our teachers for outcomes beyond their control. Australia is in decline in measures of equity, according to the <a href="http://www.oecd.org/pisa/">Program for International Student Assessment</a>, which reflects wider – and worsening - social inequalities, disadvantage and structural social challenges. </p>
<p>Quality teaching is more inclusive of all who contribute to student learning. Parents and communities need to be involved, and the abilities, attitudes and aspirations of students themselves should be taken into account. </p>
<p>So, an alternative is for the review to understand that a quality teaching approach achieves better student learning outcomes rather than focusing only on developing quality teachers. </p>
<p><strong>3. Is any of this new?</strong></p>
<p>In an increasingly digital world, this review needs to contribute something new to teacher education. Graduate teacher capabilities need to be brought up to date with the technology of the 21st century.</p>
<p>Previous reviews of teacher education seem to have been written for a pre-1993 analogue world and constructed through the lens of industrial-age models of schooling. The review’s questions could have been written for a teacher education review 30 or 40 years ago. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.curriculum.edu.au/verve/_resources/National_Declaration_on_the_Educational_Goals_for_Young_Australians.pdf">Melbourne Declaration</a> stated:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In this digital age, young people need to be highly skilled in the use of ICT. While schools already employ these technologies in learning, there is a need to increase their effectiveness significantly over the next decade.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Graduate teachers require more than knowledge about the content and how to teach it. They need to be able to develop ways to use technology for learning. This review is an opportunity to discuss things that haven’t been discussed in previous years and to get the changing nature of pedagogy on the agenda.</p>
<p><strong>4. How does the review solve the problems in Australian teacher education?</strong></p>
<p>No-one is denying teacher education in Australia could be better. There are many issues and conflicts, which Margaret Lloyd has identified in her report <a href="http://www.olt.gov.au/resource-troubled-times-Australian-teacher-education">Troubled Times in Australian Teacher Education</a>. Some of these include literacy and numeracy standards, entry and participation rates, and public perceptions of teachers. </p>
<p>Lloyd identified considerations to deal with these tensions, the main one being a fundamental change in the way teacher education is regulated. Teacher education is highly regulated, and regulations are replete with duplication, contradictions and anomalies. These need to be ironed out before any reforms can be successful. It is also uncoordinated at the national level, which should be reconsidered. </p>
<p>This review, like the ones before it, fails to address the fundamental issues facing teacher education, and until it does will have just as much effect as the last reviews. That being, not very much. Please add to this important conversation and <a href="https://submissions.education.gov.au/Forms/TEMAG/pages/Form">get your submissions in</a> by June 13.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/27066/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Glenn Finger does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Teachers teach and students learn, so why the need for a review into how teachers learn? The review of teacher education announced in February seems driven largely by concerns that Australian students…Glenn Finger, Professor of Education, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/270352014-05-21T20:41:41Z2014-05-21T20:41:41ZOn the subject of subjects<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/49135/original/22qc7r28-1400667334.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/49135/original/22qc7r28-1400667334.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/49135/original/22qc7r28-1400667334.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/49135/original/22qc7r28-1400667334.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/49135/original/22qc7r28-1400667334.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/49135/original/22qc7r28-1400667334.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/49135/original/22qc7r28-1400667334.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Stick to your subject.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-132462728/stock-photo-illustration-of-school-subjects-and-doodles-drawn-on-chalkboard.html?src=CaeKY6usEwa__L9OuOD5fg-1-22">Subjects via Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Subjects need to be seen once again for what they are. They are divisions of human knowledge made in order to advance knowledge in universities or to teach existing knowledge in schools.</p>
<p>Academics and teachers once argued about what the intellectual disciplines were, and what were their distinct forms and logic. From this brought forth discussions about what constituted a school subject. </p>
<p>These debates need to be revisited by both teachers and teacher trainers. Teacher trainers would have a better case to put forward during the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2014/may/01/gove-initial-teacher-training-courses-independent-review">new review of teacher training</a> if they defended the subject of education. Teachers would be better prepared to challenge fads and fashions if they knew their subjects and were authorities on the subject of subjects.</p>
<h2>‘Know yourself’ vs knowledge</h2>
<p>One of the key blocks to this is “therapeutic education”, which emphasises emotion over the intellect. It covers a range of fads and fashions aimed at improving pupil self-esteem, resilience, confidence, happiness or wellbeing. </p>
<p>The methodology applied by <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Emotional-Literacy-Handbook-Processes/dp/1843120607">therapeutic educators</a> is often “<a href="http://www.circle-time.co.uk/shop">circle-time</a>” or a variety of small group techniques allowing a narcissistic self-expression in “safe” spaces. It is easy to dismiss these fads when they involve “<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1321449/Buddy-Stop-helps-cut-playground-bullying.html">buddy stops</a>” – like bus stops for pupils who need a friend to talk to – or “purple rooms” for pupils feeling “a little stressy” to relax in. </p>
<p>There is also a growing market in “mindfulness” and “brilliance training” which involve motivating pupils – whether or not they are learning anything.</p>
<p>The popularity of these therapeutic activities with pupils and teachers means they have no academic subject content and refer only to the navel-gazing world of pupils’ subjective feelings, emotions and thoughts on which they are the world’s expert. The Delphic injunction to “Know Yourself” has come true without any effort to gain knowledge on the part of pupils.</p>
<h2>Distracting teachers</h2>
<p>These activities are not harmless. They divert teachers from their real job of teaching their subjects. Teachers may argue they are useful preliminary activities that help learning, but they have invaded the subject curriculum as well. </p>
<p>This distraction doesn’t only happen via a government-led focus on the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-and-emotional-aspects-of-learning-seal-programme-in-secondary-schools-national-evaluation">social and emotional aspects of learning</a> programme, whether integrated across subjects or taught separately. It affects all subjects. </p>
<p>The content of the curriculum in all subjects has shifted from a concern with imparting knowledge and understanding to imparting therapeutic values related to the personal and subjective experiences of pupils. This comes out in three broad changes.</p>
<p>First, knowledge and understanding is replaced by “skills” and once a subject is broken down into a rag bag of skills it is just that, a rag bag. These “skills” once they are identified soon become detached from subjects and free float. This is most obvious in the popular idea that critical thinking or creativity can be taught outside of subjects, almost as if they were subjects in their own right. The reality is that pupils cannot be critical or creative until they know a lot about their subjects. </p>
<p>Second, skills are much more amenable to teaching methods which have also been broken down into skills such as identifying pupils’ “learning styles”, teaching them to “learn to learn” and to be “active learners” whose learning is “facilitated” by teachers who have given up on knowledge. </p>
<p>The pedagogical theory that brings a skills-based curriculum and a skills-based teaching method together is a therapeutic version of the <a href="http://www.culturewars.org.uk/2008-04/young.htm">social constructivism</a> of the 1970s. This is the idea that teachers and pupils, or pupils alone, can “co-construct” their own knowledge starting with what they know. </p>
<p>Third, teacher trainers have been forced since the creation of the <a href="http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/details?Uri=C342">Teacher Training Agency</a> and by its its successors to abandon their own subject. Instead of teaching the economics, history, philosophy, psychology and sociology of education, they now teach future teachers how to reach required skills or “competencies” dressed up as “<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teachers-standards">standards</a>”.</p>
<h2>Damaging to pupils</h2>
<p>Schooling today has had knowledge gradually taken out of it and the vacuum created has been filled with therapeutic education. The defenders of emotional education will sometimes argue that they are not undermining the cognitive aspects of education but bringing a much needed balance. </p>
<p>For example, in a <a href="http://www.bmj.com/content/348/bmj.g3078">recent editorial in the BMJ</a>, several researchers argued that academic education now needed to be “balanced” by giving children the skills to promote their mental and physical health. </p>
<p>But these arguments ignore the changes that have already undermined subject-based education, filling it full of skills that are often soft ones such as listening, sharing and being respectful. </p>
<p>What the emotional balance actually implies is that children today are different; that they are in some way more vulnerable than children of the past. This diminished view of children is supported by a woolly-minded idea that knowledge is constantly changing and neither teachers nor children can rely on anything certain. </p>
<p>But they can. The failure of teachers to see that knowledge is there as a constant and is only changing at the cutting edge of disciplines results from their obsession with the consumer end of new technology. All those emails, Facebook, the ease of googling and the wonder of Wikipedia is distracting them. </p>
<p>Whatever the reasons for the therapeutic turn in teachers’ minds, it is ultimately damaging to pupils. It is leaving them without the independence and autonomy that is gained only through <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Knowledge-Deficit-Hirsch-Professor-English/dp/0618657312/ref=la_B001IGOMRC_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1400689961&sr=1-6">knowledge and understanding</a>. </p>
<p>In my view, this can only be acquired through a subject-based education. Removing subjects from the curriculum in all but name is a dual attack not only on education, but on the human subject as a knowing subject.</p>
<p>If the “subject” of the curriculum continues to be the child, teachers will diminish the subject curriculum and ultimately diminish the human subject by creating generations of children who are more interested in themselves than the world. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/27035/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Subjects need to be seen once again for what they are. They are divisions of human knowledge made in order to advance knowledge in universities or to teach existing knowledge in schools. Academics and…Dennis Hayes, Professor of Education, University of DerbyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/245802014-03-27T06:10:55Z2014-03-27T06:10:55ZA $1m ‘Nobel Prize’ for the world’s best teacher won’t make life easier for the rest<p>What would you do with $1m? One lucky teacher may have to start thinking. Entries are now open for a new <a href="https://educationandskillsforum.org/press-release-applications-open-for-worlds-first-one-million-dollar-teacher-prize/#.UzBhpKIucmK">$1m Global Teacher Prize</a>, launched by the Varkey GEMS Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Dubai-based private education provider, at the Global Education and Skills Forum. </p>
<p>The award – touted by its organisers as a “Nobel Prize” for teaching – will be given in November 2014 to a single teacher, from any country in the world, who has “achieved exceptional results” and “won the respect of the community”. They also need to have “provided a role model”, “encouraged others to join the profession”, “opened up access to quality education for all” and “prepared young people to be global citizens”. </p>
<p>The money will come in instalments over a decade, and there is one condition: that the teacher has to remain a teacher for at least five years. </p>
<p>What are your initial reactions if you’re a teacher? Was it: “Wow $1,000,000. That’s a heck of a list, I don’t stand a chance of qualifying. Only one teacher? From the whole world? Who is going to do the judging – and how on earth are they to make a reasoned choice?”</p>
<p>I expect thoughts similar to those will go through the heads of many teachers. But there is a different question to consider on whether this will help raise the profile of a much-hounded profession.</p>
<h2>Status of teaching</h2>
<p>As part of the background information to the announcement we are told that <a href="https://www.varkeygemsfoundation.org/sites/default/files/documents/2013GlobalTeacherStatusIndex.pdf">“only in China” were teachers viewed</a> as having the same status as doctors. </p>
<p>In several countries – much of Europe, Japan and Brazil or example – a sizeable proportion of parents would not encourage their children to enter the teaching profession. This information is not new and is largely accepted: in many countries there is a poor and often declining view of the <a href="http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/ECE/2535/5971">status of teachers</a> in society.</p>
<p>The question now is how well this enormous prize is likely to change the opinion in several societies, particularly if there is only to be one prize across the whole world.</p>
<p>One prize means only one country wins. The media are likely to ask the question “what is wrong with all the rest?” It could easily play to the negative.</p>
<p>Entry will be by personal recommendation by a sponsoring individual, or teachers can also apply themselves. So there is a golden opportunity for campaigning or management by governments or professional groups who may be keen to get a brief spotlight on the world stage.</p>
<p>It could just be an opportunity for a media hyperactivity and over-excitement. Although it may improve the lives of a few individuals, it seems unlikely that it will change the way people think about teachers. After all the Booker Prize and Oscars help sales figures for some specific books and movies – but do they really increase the number of readers and regular film goers?</p>
<p>Change of this sort is not done by imposition from outside – it needs to happen at all levels, and all the time. </p>
<p>In England, for example there has been a <a href="http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=k1c8_NgFpG4C&pg=PA26&lpg=PA26&dq=stephen+ball+discourse+of+derision&source=bl&ots=N1vK65dnlq&sig=vdCo-qYJxRneoqoUFfmMxJEimGc&hl=en&sa=X&ei=pF8wU8H7EM-ThgfMn4D4Ag&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=stephen%20ball%20discourse%20of%20derision&f=false">“discourse of derision”</a> for many years aimed at teachers –- more or less since schools and education became a political topic in 1988. Nearly 25 years of belittling commentary, often echoed by some newspapers, is enough to depress anybody – up to and including a whole profession. Teachers <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/mar/25/nut-strike-thousands-school-england-wales-close">are taking strike action at the moment</a> angry at working conditions, pay and pensions. </p>
<p>So, let us all celebrate the complex, challenging, stressful (but never boring) profession of teaching. Teachers used to be thought of as “public servants”. Perhaps it is time to return to that concept of serving society –- for this is what we do – keeping it ready, willing and able to face the future.</p>
<p>Teachers should not just be thought of as entrants in some giant lottery which any single person, as an individual, has a vanishingly small chance of winning. Rather, all those individuals need to be allowed to do the difficult task they do, the space to do it in and the time to do it well. </p>
<p>Is $1m per year going to be more effective spent all in one place or spread about a bit? I think the latter. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/24580/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bob Burstow does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>What would you do with $1m? One lucky teacher may have to start thinking. Entries are now open for a new $1m Global Teacher Prize, launched by the Varkey GEMS Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Dubai-based…Bob Burstow, Senior Lecturer in Educational Leadership & Management, Department of Education & Professional Studies, King's College LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/235412014-03-05T06:14:09Z2014-03-05T06:14:09ZMoving ‘quality’ teachers between schools will not help disadvantaged children<p>The bi-partisan federal legislation in the US popularly known as “No Child Left Behind” was passed during George W Bush’s first term. It had two important goals: to increase scientifically based education research and to narrow the racial achievement gap. Both goals have proven to be elusive and complicated.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.alternet.org/education/whatever-happened-scientifically-based-research-education-policy">Scientifically based education research has been ignored</a> repeatedly in the US. Instead, many ongoing school reforms continue despite <a href="http://radicalscholarship.wordpress.com/2013/08/19/what-we-know-now-and-how-it-doesnt-matter/">limited evidence from the research base</a> of their efficacy. These include reforms such as the “Common Core standards” (a national curriculum for all public school students), the widespread take-up of charter schools, and increasing support for the alternative (non-certification) teaching programme, <a href="http://www.teachforamerica.org/">Teach for America</a>. </p>
<p>Current education policy has also increased debates about and efforts to address teacher quality. Now, a renewed interest in how <a href="http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2014/02/19/21equity_ep.h33.html">teachers are assigned to particular schools</a> appears to be gaining momentum. The US department of education is developing a 50-state strategy to equitably distribute the best teachers around the country.</p>
<h2>Hard to identify a good teacher</h2>
<p>Traditionally in the US, teacher quality has been rewarded based on years of experience and advanced degrees. But <a href="http://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/recruiting-preparing-and-retaining-high-quality-teachers-an-empirical-synthesis">few efforts to identify what makes a good quality teacher have proven effective</a>. More recently, <a href="http://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/near-impossibility-testing-teacher-quality">policies that quantify teacher quality using value-added methods</a>, combined with paying on merit, have replaced traditional teacher compensation and evaluation.</p>
<p>Value-added methods being adopted across the US involve students sitting pre- and post-tests and using that data in <a href="http://www.artofteachingscience.org/the-globbledygook-of-florida-teacher-evaluations/">complex calculations</a> that determine each teacher’s “value”, or impact on students’ test scores.</p>
<p>While linking teacher quality to student test scores has political and popular appeal, that process is less precise than advocates claim. Further reforms, aimed at determining teacher quality, are addressing how students are assigned to teachers.</p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.edtrust.org/sites/edtrust.org/files/publications/files/TQReportJune2006.pdf">report for the Education Trust</a>, a US not-for-profit, back in 2006, detailed the inequity of teacher assignment by social class and race across the US. It found that high poverty and high minority schools have a disproportionate number of un-certified and under-certified teachers, especially for subjects such as maths. These students were also disproportionately assigned to new teachers. </p>
<p>The study’s authors, Heather Peske and Kati Haycock, concluded: “Overall, the patterns are unequivocal. Regardless of how teacher quality is measured, poor and minority children get fewer than their fair share of high-quality teachers.”</p>
<h2>Flawed move towards pay for results</h2>
<p>Since teacher quality and assignment have historical and current patterns of inequity, many reform advocates promote greater use of value-added methods to address that gap. But as maths teacher and blogger <a href="http://nepc.colorado.edu/blog/kane-unable">Gary Rubinstein explains</a>, trying to use these methods to close the teacher quality gap is also flawed.</p>
<p>He says there is a problem with the implication that those teachers who are rated as “effective” in one school with a wealthier population, will “still get that same ‘effective’ rating if they were to transfer to a poorer school”.</p>
<p>Identifying teacher quality is complex not only because different populations of students affect teacher quality but also because teacher quality contributes only a <a href="http://shankerblog.org/?p=74">small percentage of measurable student achievement</a>.</p>
<p>While states in the US are increasingly replacing traditional practices for evaluating and compensating teachers, Stanford University’s <a href="http://www.ets.org/Media/Research/pdf/PICANG14.pdf">Edward H Haertel warns</a> this can translate into “bias against those teachers working with the lowest-performing or the highest-performing classes”.</p>
<p>“Attempts to recruit and retain the best teachers where they are needed the most,” <a href="http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/walt_gardners_reality_check/2014/02/placing_best_teachers_where_needed_most.html">explains former UCLA lecturer Walt Gardner</a>, “have largely been unsuccessful”. These earlier and even more recent efforts have focused on increasing teacher pay to attract high-quality teachers.</p>
<p>Repackaging incentives and bonuses will not retain experienced and effective teachers in high-needs schools and students. Gardner argues that instead:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If we want to create equitable distribution of teachers, we have to make conditions for teaching in schools serving poor and minority students so attractive that few will refuse the opportunity to teach there. I suggest starting with three periods a day, each containing a class of no more than 15 students. I’d then add a non-certificated adult to act as a teaching assistant for each teacher. This will be expensive, but if we’re serious about getting the best talent it’s the price we have to pay.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Getting the conditions right</h2>
<p>For students living in impoverished homes, the <a href="http://www.alternet.org/education/learning-and-teaching-scarcity-how-high-stakes-accountability-cultivates-failure">conditions of living are powerful forces</a> that overwhelm their ability to be successful at school. Since the conditions of learning at school tend to reflect those living conditions, students are further alienated from opportunities to learn.</p>
<p>For teachers, the conditions of teaching are also vital. The two original goals of “No Child Left Behind” are likely best served by addressing <a href="http://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/does-class-size-matter">class size</a>, teacher autonomy, facilities conditions, and schools as communities.</p>
<p>But attracting high quality teachers will have to do more than changing the teaching conditions in high poverty schools, which <a href="http://truth-out.org/news/item/8993-studies-suggest-economic-inequity-is-built-into-and-worsened-by-school-systems">tend to reflect the same inequities found in the communities they serve</a>.</p>
<p>As long as schools in the US allow <a href="http://www.alternet.org/education/schools-cant-do-it-alone-why-doubly-disadvantaged-kids-continue-struggle-academically">children to be doubly disadvantaged</a> by their home communities and their schools, teachers are unlikely to find either that community or that school a place to spend their career.</p>
<p>Policies addressing teacher quality and equitable teacher assignments must address inequity and poverty both in society and in schools. These commitments should prove to be far more effective than measuring teacher quality based on test scores or offering teachers increased salaries.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/23541/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Thomas does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The bi-partisan federal legislation in the US popularly known as “No Child Left Behind” was passed during George W Bush’s first term. It had two important goals: to increase scientifically based education…Paul Thomas, Associate Professor of Education, Furman UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/224132014-02-03T14:24:22Z2014-02-03T14:24:22ZWould you admit to being a teacher today?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40322/original/wzc4q3m7-1391189966.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=15%2C225%2C3489%2C2090&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Would you admit to being a teacher?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">David Davies/PA Wire/Press Association Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Are you a teacher? When you are at a party, a wedding or in the pub, and asked: “What do you do for a living?” – what do you say?</p>
<p>Why might you lie? Is it too boring? Too complicated? Much too likely to trigger stories of your new friend’s own school days? Or worse, to be open to a criticism of just how bad schools are today?</p>
<p>There are many parts to this complex problem. But there are three things that influence our thinking: government policy, research and our own school days.</p>
<h2>Craft versus profession</h2>
<p>A question that people training to become a teacher are often asked is: “What is teaching? Is it a craft or a profession?”</p>
<p>The Labour government, near the end of its term in office, was in no doubt that teachers should become an <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/student/postgraduate/postgraduate-study/do-teachers-need-to-take-masters-863540.html">all masters profession</a> – and even introduced a new national degree. The Coalition government that followed has had a rather different view. </p>
<p>For <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/michael-gove-to-the-national-college-annual-conference-birmingham">Michael Gove</a>, the current secretary of state for education, it is “a craft … best learnt as an apprentice”. This change in opinion is not isolated, rather it is the latest step in an evolution that can be traced back several decades.</p>
<h2>Flood of legislation</h2>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40036/original/xgcw2733-1390929323.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40036/original/xgcw2733-1390929323.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40036/original/xgcw2733-1390929323.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40036/original/xgcw2733-1390929323.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40036/original/xgcw2733-1390929323.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40036/original/xgcw2733-1390929323.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40036/original/xgcw2733-1390929323.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40036/original/xgcw2733-1390929323.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fig 1: Numbers of items of government legislation annually since 1940.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author's own image created from data gathered at www.legislation.gov.uk</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This chart shows how many pieces of school-focused legislation have been put in place in every year since 1940. Each bar is coloured according to the political party that was in power – blue for Conservative, red for Labour and purple for the coalition. </p>
<p>You will see that until the great education reform bill of 1988, schools were not much bothered by government. Then the number of pieces of legislation rose until it peaked in 1999 with 328 separate items – too much for any school to react to effectively.</p>
<p>Against this I have put the <a href="http://educar.files.wordpress.com/2007/04/4idadesprof.pdf">four ages of teacher professionalism</a> identified by Professor Andy Hargreaves. These are:</p>
<ul>
<li>The pre-professional age: when teaching was considered to be a craft and further training, after a very brief induction, was not needed.</li>
<li>The age of the stand-alone professional: when teachers were expected to develop, but as individuals in their own classrooms and signing up for any out of school courses that took their fancy.</li>
<li>The age of the collegial professional: when schools began to work as a unit in terms of the further development of their teachers.</li>
<li>The post-professional age: when teachers seemed once again to be viewed as technicians – just delivering education, rather like a milkman once delivered milk</li>
</ul>
<p>If we put these four ages alongside the reforms, you can see a match between the level of legislation and the way teachers have been regarded. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40037/original/ktqzyhn8-1390929553.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40037/original/ktqzyhn8-1390929553.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/40037/original/ktqzyhn8-1390929553.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40037/original/ktqzyhn8-1390929553.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40037/original/ktqzyhn8-1390929553.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40037/original/ktqzyhn8-1390929553.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40037/original/ktqzyhn8-1390929553.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/40037/original/ktqzyhn8-1390929553.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fig 2: Comparing Legislation with the four ages of teacher professionalilsm.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author's own image created from data gathered at www.legislation.gov.uk and Hargreaves A, 2000</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So the argument goes: before the government was involved, teachers were thought of as practitioners of a craft. Once legislation increased, the view of teachers shifted towards the professional. With the increasing pressure of government, schools needed to react as a whole unit. Finally, from the turn of the century, teachers have been returned to the role of technicians. We have now come almost full circle, and teaching is being thought of as a craft again.</p>
<h2>Research intensifies</h2>
<p>In parallel with this, we should also consider the importance of the growing interest in schools and education as a subject of research.</p>
<p>For much of the early period of the legislation chart there was an opinion that schools and teachers did not really make much difference. Where you lived and who your parents were had much more effect. Then, in 1982, Michael Rutter wrote a book, 15,000 Hours, that demonstrated the opposite. From this point the level of educational research increased, and there was a large amount of research in the classroom and development of new ideas and ways of teaching.</p>
<p>In England, the founding of the Teacher Training Agency in 1994 and the National College for School Leadership in 2000 signalled further involvement of government, as research was commissioned and then used to direct the way in which teachers worked. This produced a move from the mainly bottom-up approach of the autonomous professional to the increasing top-down influence that contributed to the age of the collegial professional.</p>
<p>Study of the changing expectations of these two government-initiated organisations also show the change from the view of teachers as professionals to a growing technical emphasis.</p>
<h2>We are affected by our own history</h2>
<p>In the first, pre-professional age of teaching, who could new teachers look to as an example? In many cases it was the best teacher who taught them when they were a child at school. This still holds true today, but now there is a large body of research and knowledge that can modify and influence this starting point. So teachers can, and do, change their approach.</p>
<p>But what of today’s parents? They all went to school when they were children. They all remember their school days and their teachers, both good and bad. Their opinion and expectations of school will be influenced by these memories and it can be a lengthy task for today’s teachers to get them to understand the changes that have taken place.</p>
<p>So what, then, about the politicians who create the reams of legislation? They too all went to school, and unless they had a career before politics that involved educating children, their opinion too may well be based largely on their own childhood memories. </p>
<p>There are examples from the recent secretaries of state for education of people who did have just such previous experience, such as Gillian Shephard from the Conservatives and Estelle Morris from Labour. They were notable for the understanding that they brought to their role.</p>
<p>But what of the majority? Their teachers almost certainly belonged to the pre-professional age of teaching. Are they seeking to form, from the modern teaching population, a replica of how they remember it being done?</p>
<p>Where does this leave us all? Completely at the whim of our politicians and legislators? I do not believe this to be the case. Despite the external labels that are applied to teachers, there is considerable evidence that teachers as a group have a very definite and positive view of themselves.</p>
<p>For example, at the start of this school year in September, there was what can only be described as a flash-conference. Started by <a href="https://twitter.com/tombennett71">Tom Bennett</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/bengoldacre">Ben Goldacre</a> and marketed over social media, <a href="http://www.researched2013.co.uk/">ResearchEd13</a> a day conference attended by more than 600 young teachers took place on a very crowded Saturday. </p>
<p>To listen to those who attended, all young teachers from a very wide range of schools, was to hear a desire to be informed about research and also to study their own practice. This is not the action or opinion of brain-washed and obedient technicians. It sounds much more like independent-minded professionals.</p>
<p>Again, the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teachers-standards">latest version of the Teachers Standards</a> – the set of rules by which teachers are judged – includes the expectation that teachers should “reflect systematically on the effectiveness of lessons and approaches to teaching”. For many teachers and schools, this is being taken as permission to enquire and research their own situation.</p>
<p>Finally, and perhaps most confusingly, there are repeated demands from government to <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8504341.stm">increase the qualification level of teachers</a>. How likely is it that teachers who have themselves been educated to a very high level would willingly submit to being an unquestioning delivery vessel, obediently ceasing to question what they are being told to do. </p>
<p>A much more likely outcome, surely, is that they will always seek to improve their own work and hence the education of the pupils in their care.</p>
<p><em>This is a foundation essay for The Conversation’s new Education section. If you are an academic or researcher with relevant expertise and would like to respond to this article, please use our <a href="https://theconversation.com/pitches/new">pitch facility</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/22413/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bob Burstow does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Are you a teacher? When you are at a party, a wedding or in the pub, and asked: “What do you do for a living?” – what do you say? Why might you lie? Is it too boring? Too complicated? Much too likely to…Bob Burstow, Senior Lecturer in Educational Leadership & Management, Department of Education & Professional Studies, King's College LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/224142014-01-24T15:20:27Z2014-01-24T15:20:27ZTeachers need confidence to teach coding properly<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/39863/original/yr3bw94v-1390576604.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Children are already experimenting. Teachers need the skills to keep up.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">San Jose Library</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Michael Gove is <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/michael-gove-speaks-about-computing-and-education-technology">ploughing ahead</a> with plans to gather an elite team of computer science experts to help bring coding into schools. He has rightly acknowledged that teaching programming in schools is vital if we want to equip the next generation with the skills they will need in working life but it is essential that we get the process right.</p>
<p>At this early stage, it is paramount that we don’t overlook the importance of broad knowledge and confidence. It will not be enough for this new breed of teachers to be able to code themselves.</p>
<p>So far, we’ve got a problem with the age at which we start encouraging children to learn programming. Clubs are springing up all over to encourage them and toys and tools are on offer too but most appear to be aimed at children over eight – children who have already been at school for three years. Three years may not seem like a long time to a grown-up but it is significant in the context of a child’s learning and their attitude.</p>
<p>Gove is right that we need to take a more strategic approach and right that it needs to start at an early age. But aiming at the early years carries great responsibility. There is a great risk of not doing it right and wasting time that could be spent teaching pupils other things.</p>
<h2>How do you do it right?</h2>
<p>All kinds of <a href="http://www.robotturtles.com/">tools</a> are being developed to encourage coding for fun and teachers already have expertise in the particular learning needs of children but it’s not yet clear how easily this expertise can be mapped onto teaching coding. </p>
<p>While Gove’s elite force of programming experts may know everything there is to know about coding, how much do they know about teaching and, crucially, how much do they know about teaching different age groups? </p>
<p>Teaching is not just a process of imparting knowledge to an attentive child. To compare it to reading, it is not enough to know how to read to teach it to others. </p>
<p>Learning needs to be engaging, social and interactive. It is also vital that the process is creative. Children shouldn’t just be taught a series of procedures, they need to be able to explore different, novel, personal ideas and to share them with others. And it needs to be relevant and meaningful to a child’s different experiences beyond the classroom.</p>
<p>The type of tools we use in the classroom will help. It’s not enough for pupils to learn how to move a robot in a certain direction. The tools must enable them to understand how coding could address a range of problems in different ways and, preferably be adaptable to suit their own interests.</p>
<p>But the teacher will play the most significant role. With confidence and knowledge of the building blocks of coding and how this relates to the real world, they can adapt these tools. They could even create their own resources and might not even need digital tools to do it. A well-trained teacher might, for example, get their students to give each other instructions like robots. They can offer context to their classes by helping them understand how coding affects our daily lives, from its use in Google and Facebook to streetlamps and hand driers.</p>
<p>A well-informed teacher can also play a part in redressing gender imbalance by making sure that when the class talks about famous people in technology, women are part of the discussion. After all, there are more and more high-profile women in the industry with every passing day. </p>
<p>But to do all this, they need to have an active understanding themselves. To date, we are lacking research into what makes good coding pedagogy and the area is yet to have a significant place in teacher training. This issue in particular has been a concern for the best part of thirty years and has still not been addressed. </p>
<p>Some teachers are already intersted in the subject and can often be found at <a href="http://www.bettshow.com/">BETT</a>, an event that focuses on technology and education. But Gove’s aim is for all teachers to play a part. He, and they, need to appreciate that it will take more than the ability to code to make this happen.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/22414/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Manches receives grant funding from the Economic Social Research Council. He part owns and co-directs PlingToys Ltd.</span></em></p>Michael Gove is ploughing ahead with plans to gather an elite team of computer science experts to help bring coding into schools. He has rightly acknowledged that teaching programming in schools is vital…Andrew Manches, ESRC Future Research Leader Fellow, The University of EdinburghLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/131132013-03-27T19:03:17Z2013-03-27T19:03:17ZMillions wasted in education? That’s not what the evidence says<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/21780/original/m3h353df-1364341288.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1%2C2%2C998%2C697&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There's lots of "problems" to be fixed in education, but what does the evidence say?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Teacher image from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Over recent years we have seen a wave of angst about Australia’s school education. </p>
<p>The complex issue of <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-political-education-hijacking-the-quality-teaching-movement-9017">teacher quality</a> is, of course, part of the equation, but state governments are also concerned that too many people are being allowed to study education leading to an oversupply of graduates.</p>
<p>The dots are perhaps too easily joined here – governments now see <a href="https://theconversation.com/teaching-standards-to-fix-a-crisis-that-doesnt-exist-12759">raising university entry scores</a> as a way to deal with oversupply, the problem of lifting the status of the profession and lifting quality all at the same time.</p>
<p>After all, it’s easy to assume that lifting entry scores would be a solution when courses that are hard to get into (like medicine) are highly respected and those that have lower cut-offs, (like teaching) are less so.</p>
<p>But there are plenty of questions left here and a closer look at the evidence is needed.</p>
<p>Does making a degree more exclusive drive respect or vice-versa? And what might be the unintended consequences of mandating higher entry standards?</p>
<h2>What oversupply?</h2>
<p>We need to examine the numbers to see if there is <em>actually</em> an oversupply of teaching graduates.</p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/millions-wasted-training-teachers/story-e6frg6n6-1226605045315">recent article in The Australian</a> reported the extremely poor employment outcomes for teachers, claiming that “about 90% of teachers graduating university in NSW and Queensland fail to find a job.” </p>
<p>But it is difficult to understand the evidence base for this which is entirely contradicted by <a href="http://http://www.graduatecareers.com.au/research/researchreports/gradstats/">Graduate Careers Australia data</a>.</p>
<p>According to GCA, 74.9% of initial teacher education graduates in 2012 were employed full-time and 20.7% part-time. </p>
<p>Full-time employment rates for the last four years have been within 2% of the national average and the combined full and part-time rates are 4-5% above the national average. </p>
<p>One possible objection is that this data doesn’t prove they are working specifically as teachers. However, in 2011, 81.5% of <a href="http://www.graduatecareers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Graduate-Destinations-2011-Tables-and-figures.zip">the full-time graduates</a> said that their qualification was a “formal requirement of the job” and a further 9.8% said it was “important” which would surely imply that they are employed as teachers.</p>
<p>Data from Charles Sturt University for 2012 shows that 62% of graduates were employed as school teachers, 71% were employed as education professionals and 84% had jobs where a teaching degree was directly relevant (CSU Internal Analysis of GCA Graduate returns, based on job title). </p>
<p>This does not look like a system where there is a massive oversupply of graduates.</p>
<h2>Dubious links</h2>
<p>It is also dubious that entry standards are key in determining respect for professions. </p>
<p>Medicine has lengthy and very expensive training, including intensive postgraduate training even after a five or six year undergraduate degree. Salaries also drive esteem and medicine commands significantly higher pay than teaching as careers develop, particularly for specialists. </p>
<p>It is not yet clear that governments are willing to significantly raise teachers’ salaries.</p>
<p>There is also little evidence of a causal relationship between entry score and success as a teacher. In <a href="http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/media/downloads/news/greatteaching/submissions/nswcouncilofdeans.pdf">their submission</a> to the NSW “<a href="http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/news/greatteaching/index.php">Great Teaching, Inspired Learning</a>” review, the NSW Deans of Education said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>It should be noted that the arguably most rigorous of all reviews ever done on teacher education in Australia, and likely in the world, the Australian Government’s <a href="http://www.curriculum.edu.au/leader/top_of_the_class,18080.html">Top of the Class</a> (House of Representatives, 2007), spent much time examining the issue of entry scores and ended up providing strong advice that it was largely a fruitless exercise and that the time and effort should be put into ensuring that, whatever the entry score, the required output was achieved through the suitability of the program itself.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Finally, what might be unintended consequences of raising the entry bar for teacher education? </p>
<p>It is well known that students from regional schools tend to achieve relatively less well than metropolitan counterparts and unreasonably lifting entry standards is likely to discriminate against them. </p>
<p>We also know that it is extraordinarily difficult to persuade graduates to move from capital cities to regional areas. We are still dealing with a shortage of doctors in rural and regional areas and the same factors that created that crisis, has the potential to trigger an equivalent problem in teacher availability.</p>
<h2>Evidence needed</h2>
<p>We currently seem to have a political debate on teacher quality that is outrunning the evidence. </p>
<p>Before we commit to sweeping changes to teacher education, it is very important we draw breath, take a cool look at the evidence and ask what is in the community’s best interest.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/13113/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Vann is Vice-Chancellor and President at Charles Sturt University in regional New South Wales.</span></em></p>Over recent years we have seen a wave of angst about Australia’s school education. The complex issue of teacher quality is, of course, part of the equation, but state governments are also concerned that…Andrew Vann, Vice-Chancellor, Charles Sturt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.