A POD OF MIDDLE AGED BEACHED WHALES: CRITICS AND CRITICISMS OF TEACHER EDUCATION Paper Presented at the Australian Association for Research in Education Annual Conference Fremantle November 1993 Ken Eltis Bob Meyenn Judith Parker Sydney University Charles Sturt University Charles Sturt University A Pod of Middle-Aged Beached Whales: Critics and Criticisms of Teacher Education ____________ "Make hope practical rather than despair convincing" (Raymond Williams) Preamble "There Leviathan, Hugest of living creatures, in the deep Stretched like a promontory sleeps or swims, And seems a moving land. Paradise Lost One of the most important lessons to emerge from the current spate of school reform/ school restructuring/school improvement has been the way schools and school systems have attempted to think ahead to what society might look like and therefore consider what should be done to prepare future citizens for a meaningful existence. So, we have had documents like Education 2000 (1992) in New South Wales, for example, which have been used by the school system at all levels to assist with the development of goals which underpin the renewal program. This reform is not, of course, unproblematic and much has been written on some of the implications and unintended consequences of aspects of these reforms (Meyenn & Parker, 1991, 1992, 1993. Eltis, 1992). To date, there is little evidence that Teacher Education is being guided or informed by a similar analysis of the likely nature of society and schooling beyond the year 2001. Schools and those who work in them at all levels are becoming more experienced than their counterparts in the tertiary sector at attempting to define what their institution should be about and what changes might be introduced to better meet the needs of their various clienteles. The work of teachers in the National Schools Project is an example of this approach. We would argue that Goodlad is correct (See Exxon Foundation Forum, 1992) when he states that the renewal of teacher education and the renewal of schools simply have to be linked. Linking implies that there will be the possibility for shared purposes to provide more clearly focussed, relevant programs with an orientation to the future as well as meeting present requirements. Linkage implies the possibility of productive partnerships, of mutual critiqueing, and the potential to realise teacher education as a continuum stretching from the preservice phase through induction to ongoing professional development. Linkage also implies that there will be a closer identification of teacher needs as defined from different perspectives, and of ways to address them. The view that the renewal of teacher education and the renewal of schools need to be linked can be extended. Hargreaves (1993) argues for two propositions: There is little significant school development without teacher development...and there is little significant teacher development without school development. (p. 13) A third proposition should be added to the two put forward by Hargreaves, viz. that there will be little school or teacher development without significant development in teacher education. By implication, significant teacher education development will require detailed knowledge of schools and the work of those who operate in them; of the directions in which schools are heading and of the issues and problems they are confronting. Further, to address these issues, teacher educators cannot manage on their own; productive links with schools are imperative. In the process of establishing links, it may well be that teacher educators will be the learners as they will be collaborating with colleagues in schools who have had more experience at goal- setting as it relates to school reform and school futures. Unless teacher educators accept the need to engage in such collaborative efforts, they will remain in the backwaters or, worse still, beached. THE CHANGING CONTEXT "In their way they saw many whales sporting in the ocean, and in wantonness fuzzing up the water through their pipes and vents, which nature has placed on their shoulders." Sir T. Herbert's Voyages into Asia and Africa. Harris Coll. We wonder how much active, informed discussion in faculties of education has been focussed on the changed and changing context in which our graduates work, and the consequent implications for our practice as teacher educators. Let us take just three of these changed circumstances: SYMBOL 215 \f "Symbol" Changes in the composition of the student population - We have students in our schools from more diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds than even ten years ago. - In secondary schools we have greatly increased retention rates at upper secondary levels and they continue to climb annually. - Many students with a range of disabilities have now been integrated into 'mainstream' classes as a result of changed policy in this area. SYMBOL 215 \f "Symbol" Changes in the Professional Roles of Teachers - More open and more explicit practice is expected in schools in order to meet the needs of all students. - Schools are expected to offer a broader curriculum and teachers are expected to be more responsive to a range of curriculum and cross curriculum issues beyond their own teaching subjects [eg multicultural education; all teachers should be careers teachers (from Finn); non sexist education]. - The products of new technology are altering conventional learning practices and technological competence is becoming one of the basic requirements for students and teachers alike. - Teachers are being asked to assume greater responsibilities and be more publicly accountable for assessment and reporting on student progress. - The last decade has seen a significant extension of teachers' roles in school management as schools become more autonomous. - As School Councils have been established, the need has grown for teachers to become even more heavily involved with, and relate more closely to, the community and parents. SYMBOL 215 \f "Symbol" Changes in Social Conditions - Schools are no longer able to operate on particular traditional assumptions about family structures and work patterns. - Schools have had to accept responsibility for tackling a wide range of social issues; drug abuse, sexually transmitted diseases, the discouragement of anti-social and self-destructive behaviour, sexism, racism, homophobia and violence. - Schools are increasingly having to account for, and deal with, the uncertainties and changes brought about by youth unemployment in the changing Australian economy. - The changing nature of Australian nationalism and allegiance, and its relationship with Asia and the Pacific is causing schools to rethink the kinds of values they need to be emphasising. To put it simply; unquestionably, the compass of teachers' work has expanded and a case can be mounted that this expansion has been accepted by teachers as an inherent part of their professional responsibility. An OECD Report (1989), referring to teaching conditions across member countries, concludes: What once would have been seen as exceptional devotion to duty has now become seen as normal practice. (p. 110) The changes we have enumerated in relation to the composition of the student population, the professional roles of teachers and the social conditions have significant implications for the profession of teaching as it nears the 21st century: - Teachers will be required to assist the young to cope with a rapidly changing world and one where futures appear a lot less clear or certain. - Teachers will need to become more involved with their communities in order to improve their understanding of the complex circumstances and environments in which schools operate. Such involvement should mean that the community has a greater appreciation of the achievement of schools. The teaching force must become increasingly professional, sophisticated and effective in all it does both inside and outside the school. Part of this professionalism and sophistication will depend upon the capabilities of teachers and schools to understand the expectations held for schools; the demands being placed on schools and how new responses can be developed which harness the energies of those responding and those demanding. As with other occupations, this will inevitably lead to changed ways of working: a shift from individual to collaborative work practices and a sharing of power. SYMBOL 215 \f "Symbol" Changed Ways of Working in Schools Throughout Australia, aspects of power and authority have been increasingly devolved to schools which are now expected to exercise greater management functions with increased accountability. More frequently, schools are required to manage their own budgets, select staff and devise plans as a basis for ongoing school improvement and professional development. Such changes, it should be said, have not been unequivocally accepted. What are the implications of these changes for the working life and professionalism of teachers? Successful schools will need high levels of professionalism which will depend, in part, on changes in the way teachers are initially prepared for their role and in the way professional development of teachers is managed and focussed. In recent years emphasis has been on leadership in schools and what it means to manage schools effectively. So we have seen texts dealing with 'mission statements', 'purposing', 'goal setting', 'visioning' for example. SYMBOL 215 \f "Symbol" Shift from Individualism to Collaboration Traditionally, teachers have worked in their classrooms behind closed doors, free from intrusion and they have treasured their individual professional autonomy. Gradually, pressures have been bought to bear which have challenged this isolationist approach to teaching. While earlier we may have seen co- operative approaches to curriculum development, and sometimes, to teaching, now the emphasis is on involving staff in whole school planning on a range of issues. Some schools have developed peer appraisal/support schemes for staff in an attempt to give all teachers greater support in their work with students. In the nineties, an even stronger commitment to across the school collaboration and co-operative work practices will be inevitable as teachers accept the need to prise open the classroom door. SYMBOL 215 \f "Symbol" Sharing of Power Structurally schools will continue to have those who occupy leadership positions and who will carry ultimate responsibility for those aspects delegated to them. However, more and more, school hierarchies are beginning to flatten (as has happened with the large bureaucracies) and schools are finding that their operations are changing through the workings of small action- orientated semi-autonomous teams given particular tasks, with clear guidelines and a limited lifespan. An important feature of the establishment of such teams is that they have the potential to promote a more collegial culture, having as they do, a varied membership and a less formal status in the hierarchy of the school. What is being described here is a changing focus on management which accepts the view that functions and tasks in the school are there to be done but they need not always be handled in a 'senior management' and 'rest of the staff' approach (which implies a particular kind of leadership) but more in terms of what would be the best group of people to manage particular tasks. We must reconceptualise management and leadership so that a collaborative culture is gradually built-up fostering the notion that staff at all levels in the school can and must play an active and productive role. Again, the work of the National Schools Project is instructive. The report of the external review panel chaired by Lyndsay Connors notes, as summarised by Vivian White: The NSP has provided opportunities for schools to examine working relationships among teachers and students. It has encouraged a sense of ownership and control by teachers of their work. Teachers have gained opportunities to work more collaboratively. By making their teaching more visible, they have been more able to reflect upon their own teaching practice or that of their colleagues. (1993, p. 5) TEACHER EDUCATION RESPONSE "The Whale is harpooned to be sure; but bethink you, how you would manage a powerful unbroken colt, with the mere appliance of a rope tied to the root of his tail." A Chapter on Whaling in Ribs and Trucks. All of the above factors highlight just how dramatically the scene has changed in schools. The question is: have teacher educators kept up? The criticism has been that we have been badly lagging behind and, as a result, the graduates of our programs are not as well prepared as they might be to meet the challenges arising from teaching in schools in the 1990s. It is not surprising that ministers, in particular, have been quick to criticise and call for teacher educators to undertake experiences in schools so that they become more acquainted with what is happening in today's context (See Chadwick, 1991). What if, as teacher educators, we take Goodlad's advice in his seminal work, Teachers for our Nation's Schools (1990), and cast our minds forward to 1998 - or say 2001 - and try to describe what our graduates should look like if they are going to match with the changed circumstances of the schools, the systems and society. In other words, what will need to be their knowledge, skills and attributes if they are going to work successfully in schools? Such an exercise becomes even more salutary when we realise that schools will be heavily dependent on these graduates because of the retirement of so many present members of school communities. Given that so many of us became teacher educators in the 1970's, to what extent have we come to terms with the changing context of teachers' work... and hence our graduates' work? Weaknesses in current teacher education programs have frequently, and with varying degrees of shrillness and accuracy, been documented [See most recently, Hansford (1992); DEET (1992)]. As a result of a survey (DEET, 1991) of teachers on their views of teacher education, the following conclusion is reached: Teachers pointed to the need for teacher educators to focus more on fostering and developing classroom skills and on keeping pace with the rate of change in curriculum. There was a view expressed during consultation that many teacher educators were not directly caught up in the mainstream of change and saw it as their role to simply pass on the theory of teaching. There was a perception that they tended to lag behind in the provision of appropriate teacher education for teachers in the 1990's. (DEET, 1991: 27) Equally frequently, the responses of teacher educators to these criticisms have been unnecessarily defensive and in the end gloss over the undeniable facts that schools and systems, their needs and goals, have changed. Hargreaves (1993) suggests that across a wide range of professions, three distinct models of training are apparent: The pre-technocratic model He sees this as a model for initial training only and one where students acquire textbook knowledge of practical routines through on-the-job training. In Teacher Education this has been referred to as the "sitting with Nellie" model. The technocratic model Hargreaves sees this as the dominant current model in which there are three elements: - transmission of a knowledge basis. - application of this knowledge base to practice and the solution of problems. - supervised practice in selected placements. The post-technocratic model This model is not yet fully-developed: it emphasises "professional competences" developed through experience and reflections on the experience. In this model, the practicum or placement in the workplace becomes much more important and lasts longer than in a technocratic model. The model recognises that training is not for a whole career but is designed to create a competent beginner who will be given opportunities at regular stages for professional development. Teacher educators, like other professionals, are being pressured into a post technocratic model which requires us, as Hargreaves points out, to: - focus on teacher competencies. - increase the school based components of our programs. - establish a pattern of professional development with appropriate provision at various stages for career development. Hargreaves further argues that the transition to the post technocratic model is proving painful for many teacher educators who feel a loss of professional autonomy and a reluctance to share power. In the Australian context this is only a partial explanation of the problems besetting teacher educators. The creation of the Unified National System and the consequent increasing demands made by governments on universities through quality assurance measures, appraisal profiles and other accounting, controlling measures, have often resulted in preoccupations which have distracted teacher educators from their primary purpose, viz, the establishment and delivery of exemplary programs. Even more distracting for some faculties of education has been the decrease in funded student load and the consequent retrenchment and early retirement of staff. This is acknowledged to some extent by federal minister Beasley when he states: The teacher education faculties of higher education institutions have also had their fair share of change and uncertainty. The upheaval associated with the higher education reforms, has prevented many teacher education faculties from contributing to debates in the wider education arena. This is a great pity. At a time when fundamental questions are being asked about the nature and purpose of Australian schooling, teacher education faculties could make a valuable contribution to the national debate. Over the next decade I hope to see more representatives of the teacher education sector participating in mainstream discussions on education issues. (Beasley, 1992, p. 5.) Despite these pressures, we must recognise that the time has come to examine the context in which our graduates work and to explore a contemporary response to teachers and schools in 2001. And it simply is not a solution to shift responsibility from higher education institutions to the schools, as if merely changing sites of itself is the answer (Clarke, 1992). Teachers in schools have enough to do in the wake of renewal and restructuring and asking them to increase their work load to include responsibility for teacher education is ludicrous. Furthermore, it is folly to turn our backs on the accumulated wisdom and special skills of university teacher educators and to deny that along with other professions, teacher education has a well researched body of knowledge and theory that ought to be acknowledged. Furthermore, to do as advocates like Clarke suggest, would be to return to the technocratic model which inevitably leads to reproduction and reinforcement of the status quo, an emphasis upon imitation and a failure to encourage necessary critical reflection on practice. Rather, we need to turn to the development of productive partnerships with teachers and schools where the emphasis is on reciprocity and a mutual respect for the particular expertise and positioning of each of the partners (Groundwater-Smith, Parker and Arthur, 1993). A CAUSE FOR OPTIMISM "Oh, the rare old Whale, mid storm and gale In his ocean home will be A giant in might, where might is right, And King of the boundless sea." Whale Song. The task facing teacher educators is not simple nor is it without considerable risk, given the current unsympathetic climate within which teacher education programs operate. However, the issues referred to in earlier sections of this paper cannot be avoided. The litany of teacher education deficiencies, which ministers and educational bureaucrats within Australia and throughout the western world chant, in accord, include the lack of: SYMBOL 215 \f "Symbol" contemporary, relevant well-coordinated programs with clearly articulated philosophical and theoretical approaches. SYMBOL 215 \f "Symbol" systematic, rigorous and on-going evaluation of programs. SYMBOL 215 \f "Symbol" effective collaboration with the profession. SYMBOL 215 \f "Symbol" intellectual rigour in programs that fail to draw on the discipline knowledge located elsewhere in institutions. The litany also criticises teacher educators for practices rooted in the past; for failure to understand the current education context. Further, the quality of entrants to teacher education programs and the fact that very few fail brings the litany to a frenzied conclusion. [See Hansford (1992), DEET (1992), Tierney & McKibbin (1992), Holmes Group (1986), Clarke (1992), Byer (1993), Katz & Raths (1992)]. This is not to say that we would accept these criticisms unequivocally; they are often inaccurate, ill-informed and unproblematised. However, whilst it is understandable and indeed predicable in the prevailing climate in higher education institutions that we might feel compelled to defend ourselves at all costs, we must cease switching into a mode which is automatic and uncritically defensive. To enhance the status of teacher educators and teacher education we must engage in an honest critique of our current programs and practices. In other words, we must be prepared to go "on a broken front" (Goodlad, 1992) that is, develop models of best practice within our own institutions and break with conformity. We should begin to: SYMBOL 215 \f "Symbol" devise programs which take a serious account of the needs of the teaching profession for the year 2001 and give graduates the knowledge, pedagogical skills and foster the attributes that will serve a wide diversity of learners in schools at the turn of this century. SYMBOL 215 \f "Symbol" make research central to our teaching so that graduates are familiar with and have the capacity to: - conceptualise - synthesise - analyse - critique - explore implications of their actions and those of their students and make these explorations public. SYMBOL 215 \f "Symbol" attest to intellectual predispositions which give rise to reflective practice. SYMBOL 215 \f "Symbol" work collaboratively with the profession in the interest of developing productive partnerships which lead to mutual contributions to teacher education programs and the work of schools. Such partnerships will be collaborative rather than coercive; cooperative rather than competitive; enabling rather than disabling, oriented to means as well as ends (Groundwater-Smith, Parker, Arthur, 1993). SYMBOL 215 \f "Symbol" participate in a range of school based activities which focus on the integration of the university and school components of our programs. SYMBOL 215 \f "Symbol" foster practices that are in the interests of social cohesion, social justice and equity. SYMBOL 215 \f "Symbol" celebrate ambiguity and uncertainty through the creation of an intellectual and collegial climate that encourages risk taking and seizes opportunities for developing new initiatives such as, for instance, professional development schools which are: "...more than a demonstration school or a laboratory school for research or a clinical setting for the preparation of teachers: they combine all of these with the continuing development of experienced professionals and focussed research and development of the teaching profession" (Walker, 1993: 7). And, finally we should not be afraid to publicise the value and effectiveness of our achievements and our role in educating teachers for the profession which, above all, should provide appropriate learning experiences for all children regardless of gender, class, race or creed. REFERENCES Beasley, Hon. Kim C. (1992) "Teachers Told to Coach Not Boss." Australian, 10/10/1992. Beasley, Hon. Kim C. 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