Faculty of Education
FACING THE FUTURE WITH
CONFIDENCE AND CREDIBILITY
How should HEIs respond in uncertain times and
go forward positively to the future?
Dr Samantha Twiselton,
Executive Dean, Faculty of Education,
University of Cumbria
March 2011
Faculty of Education
What gets you out of bed in the
morning?
Why do you believe your job matters?
Faculty of Education
….bringing the transformational and opportunity-giving qualities of Higher Education to
all who can benefit…(University Mission)
…a belief in the transformational ability of education to change and improve
lives…(Faculty Vision)
Moral Purpose – The Engine of Teacher Education
Our guiding principle for action - making a difference to the life chances of children, young
people and adults.
Universities, schools and settings – we are in it together and we need
each other to achieve our shared aspirations
SCHOOLS AND SETTINGS: COMPETITORS OR
PARTNERS?
Faculty of Education
Shared Moral Purpose:
knowing ourselves - what we
have to offer – what our partners
want from us
Pupils first
Teaching Schools
Academies
Free schools
Devolved/reduced
funding
Uncertain
Curricula
Research
Co-enquiry
Deconstruction
Placement progress
Student Journey
Depth and breadth
Academic expertise
Service Providers
ITE/CPD
Students first
Placement
pressures
Multiple
agendas
Conflicting
priorities
Faculty of Education
I wanted to get the word
level in before the
sentence level, like the
clock says
Really I was just concentrating
on getting it done.
TASK MANAGERS
be flexible in the discussion
so you haven’t like got a set
of questions that you just …
like a script – so be flexible
so you can respond … go
with the flow
CURRICULUM DELIVERERS
It all depends on what you’re trying to
cover and what you want to get out of
the children. You have to have that in
mind and take an approach which is
more effective – not tick boxes all the
time.
CONCEPT/SKILL BUILDERS
I wanted to show them in
different ways - help them see
what it was all about.
The story structure
was the key to the
reading and the
writing they would
do later
Comparing pre-NLs and post NLS
Faculty of Education
Pre- NLS
• Distribution is fairly even across categories
• Distribution roughly reflects stage of progress in course
Immediately post- NLS
• Distribution is clustered around Curriculum Deliverer
NLS
• No Task Managers - fewer Concept/Skill Builders
Beyond NLS
It’s like a steam roller – you
don’t have time to think about it
– you just go to the next thing
• The development of a ‘meta-knowledge’ of curricula and the
relationships with wider contexts means student teachers are much
more likely to be able to scaffold children’s learning effectively
Key Findings
Faculty of Education
it’s given me a much deeper understanding of
why I’m doing what I’m doing with children in
classroom.
The importance of ‘seeing the bigger picture’ - the curriculum as a tool, a
means not an end
The need to connect up the curriculum to other frameworks, in particular
a deeper understanding of the subject(s) and the child within it
The importance of multiple, contested perspectives
The need to teach responsively – not stick rigidly to plans inappropriately
The central role of values and beliefs
What makes an expert teacher?
Faculty of Education
Tochon and Munby - synchronisation of knowledge
sources
Sternberg and Horvath – knowledge, insight and
efficiency
Greeno - ‘generality of knowing’
Edwards and Collison - school based mentors main
job of ‘unravelling’ – left to HE
IMPLICATIONS
Faculty of Education
 Student teachers need time and support to develop their understanding of :
 the underlying frameworks for subjects
 the relationship between curricula and broader contexts beyond the immediate
demands of the classroom context, but in a way that is readily transferred back
into it.
 How to ‘deliver’ the requirements of the curriculum. To do this effectively
though they need help to explore and conceptualise the frameworks that
underpin it.
School setting is central - scaffolding strategies that help children to transfer
their understanding cannot be fully understood away from their context.
However, student teachers ideally need to experience a range of contexts and
a range of curricula in order to develop a ‘meta-knowledge’ of the learning
they are trying to promote.
AND SO …
Faculty of Education
Co-enquiry
Relevance
Research
Practitioner
The ITE Portfolio:
Threats and Opportunities
Faculty of Education
Urgent discussions with TDA, UCET and Westminster
Scenario planning - employer and student engagement
Creative positioning through revalidation
Possible re-positioning of university HEFCE portfolio
Tim Farron’s Early Day Motion
Faculty of Education
This house believes that British teacher education is amongst
the best in the world, notes that teacher education forms a
very significant part of UK higher education, supports
undergraduate teaching degrees being delivered through the
current partnership approach between higher education
institutions and schools, would resist any attempts to move
postgraduate or undergraduate teacher training wholly or
mainly away from a higher education setting given that to do
so would lead to disintegration, a loss of accountability and
quality, would provide an unwelcome administrative and
managerial burden on schools and would constitute a severe
blow to many excellent higher education institutions, and calls
upon the Government to maintain a partnership approach
when it publishes its anticipated white paper
SCENARIO PLANNING
Scenario 1
Removal of 4 Year Primary and EY
Degrees and secondary UG ITE
Faculty of Education
Common framework
HEFCE route(s) to QTS – 2 year
degrees
Modelling of financial impact
Flexible staffing strategy
Secondary consolidation
HEFCE routes to QTS
2 year degrees
Scenario 2
Removal of all UG ITE
Scenario 3
Removal of all University Based
ITE
Multiple career options
Masters level
Access
Increased PGCE
Service provider for school based
ITE and CPD:
Clinical model:
Glasgow/Aberdeen,
Joint staffing – employment
embedded
Seizing of enterprise opportunities and additional funding sources:
LA down-sizing, End of National Strategies, International potential in
London/NW
What do HEIs offer that it is hard
for schools to do alone?
Faculty of Education
• A research based approach to learning and teaching
• Critical reflection
• An ability to synthesise knowledge and experience
across contexts and disciplines
• Compare, contrast, critique and contest
• Depth and breadth
• A deep understanding of all aspects of the student
journey
• THE BIGGER PICTURE