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The implications of a “professional
compass” for geography initial
teacher education
GTE Oxford2015
Dr Clare Brooks
GTE Oxford2015
Dr Clare Brooks
A Professional Compass
• Subject story• Helps them make sense • Informs decision making• Resistance and compliance
“North”
• Understand the world
• Place• Social
Justice• Seeing
world differently
• May not seem geographical at first
• BUT full of meaning
• Articulates purpose
• Developed early in their geographical career (when it became meaningful to them)
• Continues to sustain them
Professional Compass
• A specialist body of knowledge is a key element of being recognised as a profession– Divorcing QTS from PGCE
• Adhering to an ethical code• Geographical knowledge is “shot through” with
values (Slater): geo-ethics (Morgan, A.)
• But how do you get one?
Why now?
• Emphasis on a knowledge-led curriculum: – to what extent is knowledge seen as problematic or
morally ambiguous?• Change in routes into teaching: – where is the space for interrogation of the moral?
• Accountability emphasis in schools: – narrow interpretation of the moral?
• Degree and rate of change in schools:– Questions and issues keep changing
• Explicit public criticism of Blob
Perception of Blob
• Dogmatic adherence to progressive notions of education
• Un-substantiated theories of teaching• Poor quality research
• Direct instruction• Focus on knowledge• Robust scientific research into what works
So …
• What theories underpin our pedagogy in ITE?• Where do those theories come from?• What specialist knowledge should new teachers have and
develop?– Curriculum?– Pedagogy?– Geography? – SKBC
• What is a geography specific pedagogy?• Interrogation of geo-ethics?
Knowledge within ITE
• Furlong (Education: An anatomy of a discipline)• Key influence of Robbins Report 1963• “The good society desires equality of opportunity for its
citizens to become not merely good producers but also good men and women.”
• Personal education: “liberal in content and approach”• Focus on the foundational disciplines• View of teachers: “Rationally autonomous”• “Well-rounded scholar who happened to want to be a
teacher”
• Origins of the theory-practice divide
Then v now
• Personal education – knowledge from foundational disciplines, no explicit focus on practice– Teacher as a scholar, a moral person
• Professional education – skills and understanding related to practice– Teacher as competent practitioner who adhers to ethical code
• ITE is really ITT
Lessons from Professional Compass
• Engagement with their “subject story” was key – personal geography (education)
• Variety of values evident in different contexts – adaptability and flexibility (professional training)
• Handling these complex situations required both personal education and professional education
What sort of approach for ITE/ITT? (after Alex Moore)
• ‘Made in heaven’ - Charismatic subjects – Often seen as morally ambiguous– C&P – idiosyncratic, maverick– Personal rather than professional
• The training discourse – Apprenticeship model– Seen as ethically neutral– C&P – technical, conformity– Professional over the personal
• Reflective Practice– Was seen as liberating, transformative and progressive– Now part of the neo-liberal toolkit, of “project of the self”:
subject that needs to be seen.– Professional and personal made visible
Is it time for a new approach?
• Furlong’s questions:• How should the professional dimension be addressed?• How much time on theory and how much on practice?• How should the different elements be integrated?• Plus mine:• How to encourage geographical interrogation of both?
Things to consider?• Society
– What role does education play in our society?• Culture of Education
– What are the priorities set for schools?• School culture
– How do schools respond to these priorities?• Geography (discipline)
– What problems does the discipline concern itself with?
• School geography (subject) – How are these insights reflected in the
curriculum?• Individual
– What are my motivations, inspirations and concerns?