10 research outputs found
Professional Resilience; a time for a paradigm shift in teacher education?
No full textTeacher resilience and wellbeing are current buzzwords. This chapter explores the landscape in which this focus has arising, looking at the tensions and challenges for teachers and teacher educators. Considering current teacher shortage and recruitment issues in the UK. The author argues that we should be aspiring to a situation where teachers are encouraged to take ownership of their professional position and wellbeing to “thrive in” rather than simply “survive” the profession. Drawing on research from initial teachers education providers across UK, a picture emerges to suggest that teachers educators and mentors are seeking ways to support and sustain early career teachers who are trapped between a state of resistance – opposing mandated practices that bring no benefit to themselves or their students – and one of resilience – acquiescing to those same practices to focus their efforts on managing the effect on workload and students. From an online survey and telephone interviews, the voices of those preparing teachers for the profession illuminate a range of possible approaches to support teachers. This presentation will ask if a paradigm shift is called for in the way resilience is framed for the profession
Finding ways to work with new routes into teaching
No full textThis year we consider relational tensions inherent in partnerships and ways of overcoming them: school / HEI; school / school; school / Local Authority; HEI /HEI; as well as the tensions inherent in School Direct with employment and training routes. The intention of the day is to offer an opportunity to bring colleagues from schools and HEIs together to “deconstruct, confront, theorise and then, think otherwise” about this area that is vital for the health of our teaching profession and the various sites of professional teacher engagement
The impact of COVID-19 on higher education: A systematic literature review of pedagogical approaches and challenges
No full textBy March 2020 most Higher Education institutions across the world had been forced to move all learning and teaching activities onto digital platforms, abandoning face-to-face classroom practices as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic. How did the response to this emergency manifest itself in changes to pedagogy and practice for staff and students in Higher Education? The authors completed a systematic literature review to gain insight into the challenges and pedagogic practices that emerged at this time. To represent the complexities of the ‘activity’, the writers sought a theoretical framework that would help identify the key themes and tensions that the empirical studies had identified. Drawing on the work of Vygotsky, Leont’ev and Engeström, the authors created a theoretical framework to analyse how learning and teaching activities within Higher Education were practised because of COVID-19. In total, 206 papers were reviewed under four categories; theoretical, narrative, empirical and blended (which consists of two or more categories). For example, some articles provided an empirical study alongside their authors’ narrative reflections about their own experiences of handling the challenges that were created by Covid -19 pandemic. Then a more detailed review of 23 papers that met the empirical research criteria were explored for their data with coding categories drawn from the theoretical framework. These papers, in varying degrees, illuminated the tensions and the complexities of how those involved in Higher Education globally, were affected by COVID-19. Confined by the digital knowledge capabilities of both staff and students, universities were challenged to find ways to maintain their programme provision, manage expectations, support students’ wellbeing, and enable staff to balance the challenges as they directly interfaced with students. It is clear that while this emergency offered possibilities for staff and students to harness the productive capabilities of adaptive teaching by moving beyond fixed pedagogical frameworks, many struggled and felt constrained by the complexities of the activities required during the pandemic
Beyond levels: alternative assessment approaches developed by teaching schools: research report
No full textResearch in Higher Education Teaching and Learning (RHETL): the use of student contributions and other ethical issues
No full textThis report aims to analyse the principal ethical issues associated with academics researching their
own or colleagues’ teaching, and students’ learning, especially via the use of student contributions of
any kind, and to make recommendations which would support colleagues in undertaking such research.
That will almost always involve data that derives from human participants, if only the lecturer, and so
will need ethical consent from the IOE REC. That must always be given before any data is used for
research. If it includes ‘personal’ data, that is, any data that might conceivably risk identification of the
individual concerned, then the Research Ethics Committee (REC) will deal with the related GDPR
consent.
The report target readership is twofold: the IOE REC for its considered response to the arguments and
recommendations made; and academic colleagues without a background in educational research of
this nature who wish to embark on RHETL, and for whom a single report outlining the key issues to be
considered, with links to some related literature, might offer valuable information and confidence. We
are particularly conscious of the needs of those colleagues on teaching contracts who would like to
engage in doing research.
For a newcomer to such work, one early hurdle often encountered is the multiplicity of related terms.
Their definitions are often contested, and used in different ways in different academic communities, but
for clarity we outline the concepts as we understand them; the reader of the related literature of course
should always interrogate that for the implicit or explicit definitions adopted
The teaching of music in the primary school by the non-specialist
No full textThe Research Problem The study investigates the extent to which non-specialist primary class teachers are able to teach music to children. It is significant to children’s learning of music and to the organisation of schools, questioning expectations for primary teachers to teach all subjects of the National Curriculum. The research questions are as follows:1. Should non-specialist teachers be expected to teach music? 2. To what extent do non-specialist teachers feel able to teach music to children? 3. What support do non-specialist teachers receive in music? Design and Methods A review of the literature considers generalist and specialist teaching of primary music, and research into children's acquisition of musical concepts, with implications for teaching, hi order to answer the research questions, it was necessary to investigate the attitudes and opinions of primary class teachers. The research instruments selected were a questionnaire survey and follow-up interviews. A convenience sample of schools was selected from a single borough. Results The results indicate that primary teachers feel less confident to teach music than other areas of the curriculum, and feel more inadequate at Key Stage Two. hi-class support from music specialists emerged as the preferred form of assistance in music teaching. The advantages of specialist teaching were felt to be outweighed by the problematic issues of organisation and professional development, while the importance of the pastoral aspects of teaching was also highlighted. Overall Conclusions The study concludes that while the generalist primary teacher is capable of teaching music, there is much work still to be done in providing training and support to all teachers to increase their confidence and subject knowledge. It suggests a need for specialist musicians to work closely with primary class teachers, and for a teacher-centred scheme of work for music
