A flexible framework for articulating how student teachers learn teaching, as described by participants in a national review of initial teacher education in England

Harrison-Palmer, Ruth and Elton-Chalcraft, Sally (2022) A flexible framework for articulating how student teachers learn teaching, as described by participants in a national review of initial teacher education in England. PhD thesis, Lancaster University.

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to elucidate approaches to teaching student teachers how to learn teaching. It was based on a view of learning to teach as complex but that this should not prevent those in the field of initial teacher education from constructing and articulating their own professional knowledge of how they teach student teachers. Using secondary data, generated for a national review of initial teacher education in England, it drew on multiple perspectives from those in the field, to inform the development of a flexible framework for articulating how student teachers learn teaching. The study was positioned within the paradigm of post-positivism and aligned to a critical realist philosophy. To this end, it illuminates the social structures of and for professional practice, through qualitative thematic analysis, which took a hybrid approach to theme generation. The themes generated were used to develop the ‘Pillars of Interaction and Interconnecting Bridges Framework for Articulating ITE Practice’. Rather than focusing on an aspect of practice, the framework and themes that generated it, took a holistic view of initial teacher education, whilst still representing its complexity. Central to the framework and a key finding from the study is the importance of viewing student teachers as teachers of their own learning, learning to learn how to teach. Thus, the findings illuminate how to teach future teachers to also be future learners of teaching. The study offers teacher educators, as well as those developing initial teacher education strategy, a flexible framework to articulate, guide and further develop practice. As such, it contributes to initial teacher education discussion and debates informing current and future policy.