Title:
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Modernising initial teacher education/training : primary teachers as technician/deliverers or moral-craftpersons : who cares? who decides?
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The post-modern era has seen the rising influence of technical rationality across
society, its institutions and functions (Turner 1990): and, Initial Teacher Education/
Training (ITE/T) has not been immune to this. Technical rationality is marked by
bureaucratisation and rationalisation and has led to an 'intervene and prescribe'
approach to ITEfT. The advocacy for technical-rationality amongst ITEfT policy
makers raises the study's principal question: 'What are some of the implications, and
influences, of UK [England] government's techno-rationalist driven ITE/T policy over
the last 25 years on primary student/trainee-teachers, ITE/T providers, ITE/T policy
makers and society in England?' The study considers this question, through research
at the macro-level (policy review) and micro-level (case study of a small group of
primary student/trainee-teachers undertaking ITEfT in the 1990s). The study's
research concludes that ITE/T policy over the last twenty-five years had led to both
significant achievements but also raised significant issues. Achievements on a macrolevel
include: the creation of a quasi-ITE/T market has widened consumer choice (Le
Grand and Bartlet 1993), invoked regulation through 'next steps' agencies working
through the 'new managerialism' (Dunsire 1995; Gains 1999) to achieve common
standards and processes (Furlong 2005), the recent adoption of a 'Third Way'
approach (Giddens 1998, 2000; Newman 2001) has achieved greater stakeholder
participation in ITE/T policy making and implementation including the re-defining of
teacher professionalism (through QTS standards). These achievements have in turn
produced the highest standards in new teachers (Tabberer 2003, 2005). At a microlevel
ITE/T policy has achieved greater choice for individual consumers, and
increased direct participation in ITE/T particularly for teachers and schools. The study
suggests that despite techno-rationality driven policy's successes that it has
limitations, principally discounting the human attributes or social capital of 'teacher
as person' (Clark 1995: 4) which had motivated primary student/trainee-teachers to
enter teaching in the first place, and which remained stable amongst the study's
student/trainee-teachers despite the influence of technical-rationalist government
policies. The most significant feature of the QTS standards in influencing
student/trainee-teachers' teacher thinking is the relative balance between technicalreflection,
practical-reflection and critical-reflection. The study's findings raise the
question: 'what 'type' of new teachers does society expect: those of technical
deliverers/technicians (Lawlor 1990) or reflective practitioners/moral-craftsperson
(Tom 1984)?' Further consideration of this question leads to defining the key
challenge facing ITE/T policy makers and stakeholders as being: (i) defining the
qualities society expects of its new teachers (teacher professionalism) ...; and, (ii)
considering how ITEfT can best educate student/trainee-teachers to support sustained improvement for gll pupils, including the most under-privileged, and
contribute to 'a fairer society'? The study concludes that if further progress is to be
made on raising standards for Q)l pupils and creating 'a fairer society', as outlined in
government's most recent policies (DfES 2004a, 2004b and 2006), that a broader
approach which 'counts-in' explicitly the human-side to teaching (Elbaz 1992,
Hargreaves 1998, Dunne 1997), needs to be adopted. Four recommendations are
developed which seek to enhance the part ITE/T plays in raising standards for 'all
pupils' and creating 'a fairer society'. Several ways in which research could inform
further policy making and developing ITE/T practices are highlighted.
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