Moving from Text to Practice: Changing the Dominant Paradigm in Teacher Education. A Case Study Evaluation of the First Year of a School Based Fourth Year of a Bachelor of Education (Primary).

Year: 1989

Author: Booth, Edward

Type of paper: Abstract refereed

Abstract:
The purposes of this paper are to report briefly on the rationale, design, and implementation of an enquiry-based model for the fourth year of a Primary Bachelor of Education program. The changing relationships between the beginning teachers, class teachers and lecturers involved in the program are described. Data for the paper are drawn from a collaborative evaluation of the first year of a school based program at The University of Wollongong. Eighteen final year B.Ed primary students were attached to one of three schools for the year. In most cases this attachment was for one day per week to a regular class teacher over both teaching sessions. Three lecturers from the Faculty of Education actively participated in a particular school as a liaison person, provided supervision for the enquiry projects and assisted with data collection and analysis. The areas for enquiry were broadly identified by the class teachers in advance and subsequently negotiated by each beginning teacher to a specific topic for a (hoped for) collaborative investigation in the classroom. The paper will include an analysis of the tensions that develop in a school when 'student' participation shifts from an emphasis on teaching skills to enquiry and when the wider teacher education program moves from a focus on the study of "texts" [existing scholarly enquiry] to the study of "practice" as the basis of the development of professional knowledge and skills.

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