This book presents a new framework for how teachers develop their assessment capacity, based on a multi-year study conducted in four countries--Australia, Canada, England, and New Zealand--which focused on student-teacher learning in assessment throughout their initial teacher education programs. It examines how teacher learning is shaped by the…

Many changes have taken place in initial teacher education (ITE) programmes over the last number of years in countries such as Israel, Portugal, Jamaica, Ontario (Canada), and England. This paper outlines some of these changes, why they occurred, and to the extent possible, how effective these changes have been from the experience of the teacher…

Persistent youth advocacy for climate action worldwide, and recent policy activity in England, UK focused on climate change and sustainability education (CCSE), provide the context for this study. Drawing on reflections and insights predominantly gathered whilst working as a geography teacher and geography teacher educator in both England and…

In spite of challenges, initial teacher education in England may yet have a future, but only if policy makers come to recognise that a narrow training model can only achieve so much. Teacher education (as opposed to teacher training) recognises teaching as a 'professional endeavour', with teachers prepared in a way that will enable them to become…

Purpose: Clinical practice provides teacher candidates with opportunities to link teaching and learning theory to practice in a supported environment with strong mentorship through their initial phases of teaching. Teacher candidates wait in anticipation for the opportunity to get into classrooms to work alongside veteran teachers to promote…

Purpose: The broad aim of this paper is to use Noddings' theory of ethical care to analyse mentors' caring experiences. More specifically, it aims to analyse how physical education (PE) mentors provide care, how they are cared for and how this impacts their role within the context of secondary PE initial teacher training (ITT).…

This article reports initial findings from a research project that focused on the impact of the reaccreditation process and its outcomes on teacher educators in four institutions in England where Qualified Teacher Status accreditation was removed, despite leading successful programmes as detailed in Ofsted inspections and National Student Survey…

My role as a university-based, general classroom music teacher educator in England has become unclear, exacerbated by policies that have undermined the field of classroom music in schools and the role of universities in teacher education. Using self-critical inquiry enacted as critically reflexive autoethnography, I interrogated my professional…

The lives of children within Armed Forces (Service) families often pass unnoticed by wider society. Working with schools that have a high percentage of Forces families, it was realised that understanding of particular issues they face was largely limited to teachers in schools where they were concentrated, mostly close to Services accommodation.…

Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) secondary art and design trainees facilitated an art education project for pupils at a specialist school for visual impairment (VI) in the Northwest of England. This paper focuses on the ways in which the art education project was designed to better prepare PGCE trainees for working with pupils with VI.…

This paper focuses on the structure and substance of the Core Content Framework (CCF), a controversial document which stipulates content that providers of teacher education in England must incorporate in their programmes. We identify both a concept of instrumental trainability and a lack of coherence in the CCF which suggests it is unsuitable as a…

The Improvising Teacher offers a radical reconceptualization of improvisation as a fundamental element of teacher expertise. Drawing on theories of improvisation and expertise alongside empirical research, the book argues that teacher expertise is fundamentally improvisatory. The book provides a theoretical model for teacher expertise that is…

Against an international policy backdrop that favours school-led initial teacher education, this paper presents the results of a study seeking to explore the role of the teacher mentor in the English context. Using an online survey (n = 64) and semi-structured interviews (n = 7), the study examined how mentors conceptualised their roles and…

The COVID pandemic temporarily altered the functioning of all sections of society. In England, it led to major disruption in the teacher education sector leading to curtailed training in schools and a rapid shift to alternative approaches to teaching and learning. By the 2021-2022 academic year, it was hoped that activity would return to a level…

This mixed methods study sought the views of early childhood studies students from three universities in England. The research explored motivations, professional aspirations and the attributes they believed were required to work in early childhood. Findings highlighted that the holistic study of early childhood is valued by students and placements…