RESPONSIBILITY, CHALLENGE AND SUPPORT IN TEACHER EDUCATORS´

LIFELONG PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Main policy conclusions of an EC peer learning activity

Marco Snoek, Csilla Stéger, Anja Swennen

Outline

• The importance of teacher educators• Teacher educators in European policies• A peer learning conference on teacher educators• Outcomes of the peer learning conference• Discussion

The importance of teacher educators

• Teachers are the most crucial factor in the learning of pupils …

• Teacher educators are the most crucial factor in the learning of (student) teachers ?

• Much attention for the quality of teachers, but …

What attention is given to professionalism of teacher educators?

Existing measures

• Analysis of EU policy documents and questionnaire key policy makers in 13 member states (Snoek, Swennen, vd Klink, 2009)

• Very limited attention• National legislation mostly connected to HE

teachers in general• Attention for qualification level (PhD)• Key role for faculty heads, limited role for

professional groups

European Council on TEors

The European Council invites the Commission to:• Prepare a study of the existing arrangements in

Member States for selecting, recruiting and training teacher educators.(Council conclusions on the professional development of teachers and school leaders, 2009)

Peer learning in the EU

• Cluster Teachers & Trainers• Representatives from national ministries• Thematic peer learning activities (PLA)

– To exchange existing policies

– To draw common conclusions

– To feed and inspire national policies

A PLA on Teacher Educators

• 21-24 June 2010, Reykjavik• 9 countries: AT, B(vl), EE, HU, IS, NL, PT, SE, TR

(1 or 2 representatives)• 1 ATEE representative (Anja Swennen, RDC Prof.

Developm. of TEors)• 3½ day• Input from experts and national presentations• Group discussions to clarify common issues, to find

possible policy directions and to draw conclusions• ‘A first attempt to map out the field’

Who?

Identity andcommitment

Competences

Qualifications

Lifelong Learning

Stakeholders and responsibilities

Why?

… ?

Why?

• Improving quality of education requires improving quality of Teacher Educators

• Teacher Educators play key role in:– maintaining the education system– developing the education system (‘cornerstone of

innovation’)– role models for (student) teachers

• The full range of Teacher Educator functions is hidden and not always dealt with coherently, e.g.:– responsibility divided between different Ministries,

Faculties ...– research information on Teacher Educators is only starting

to emerge

Who are Teacher Educators?

• All those who actively facilitate the (formal) learning of student teachers and teachers

– Note: they are second order teachers; this requires specific skills that are not required of other university or school teachers,

• the ability to reflect upon how they teach• to communicate that, and • to model good practice to their learners.

Who are Teacher Educators?

A heterogeneous group:• from different educational backgrounds

• with different types of competences

• with difference levels of commitment to TE

• working in different environments

• … a heterogeneity that reflects the current educational landscape

Identity and commitment

• Teacher Educators have a dual role: – educators of teachers, and, increasingly, – producers of knowledge about education, learning,

teaching

• … and may have multiple identities

• Possible ways of strengthening commitment to the Teacher Educator profession:– introduce quality criteria (standards, registration …)– membership of a Teacher Educators’ group – professional development schemes

(for Teacher Educators’ Initial Educ., Induction and CPD)– working relationships with schools / educational institutions– involvement in curriculum development, projects, ...– involvement in policy making and decisions

Competences

Further work is required to define what we mean by ‘quality’ for Teacher Educators. This could include:

• taking existing profiles as starting points:– key competences– HE qualification framework– country examples, e.g. teacher profiles …

• using national competence profiles (possibly with international peer review) …

• introducing a Frame of Reference for professional development and assessment of Teacher Educators

• …

• Emphasis on the mix of competences within team of Teacher Educators

• Individual Teacher Educators in the team: – bring different areas of knowledge and

expertise– contribute to knowledge development

(research)– connect with other areas

• Competences required can include:– first order teacher competences– second order teacher competences– research competences– system competences– transversal competences– leadership competences– …

Competences Some areas of expertise / knowledge

• educational studies

• schools as institutions

• professionalism

• the discipline

• the discipline as school subject

• the discipline didactics

• general didactics

• new skills

• general knowledge

• school-based education

• …

Qualifications

• An adequate supply of suitable courses is required for all types of Teacher Educator, at all levels– qualifications can mean more than just: BA, MA, PhD…– investigate possibilities for Professional / Educational

Doctorates

• Other issues to be considered are:– whether Teacher Educators' qualifications /

competences should be greater than those of the (student) teachers they teach

– whether all Teacher Educators should possess a teaching qualification

Lifelong Learning for Teacher Educators

• Importance of Lifelong Learning• Teacher Educators need induction into

the role … – possibility of developing a Reference for

Teacher Educator induction at EU level?• … and need Continuing Professional

Development, which can be:– course based, and / or– Collective– …

Stakeholders and responsibilities

Key stakeholders

• Government

• Employers of Teacher Educators

• Employers of teachers

• Teachers

• Professional Associations of Teacher Educators

• External quality agencies

• Unions

Key roles, responsibilities• safeguard coherence of system• create right conditions / legislative

framework• provide quality framework• set criteria for selection of Teacher

Educators• assess quality of Teacher Educators• provide induction / CPD opportunities for

Teacher Educators• set quality criteria for Teacher Education

(initial, CPD)• develop competence requirements for

Teacher Educators

Discussion

• Can we talk about ‘teacher educators’?

• Do we need a common frame of reference (‘standards’) for teacher educators’ quality

• What should be the role and responsibility of teacher educators (and ATEE)