Scottish Teachers for a new Era:
Transforming Teacher Learning
and Development
Myra A Pearson
Head of School of Education
24 January 2008
Overview
 Context and Foundations
 Teacher Education Programme
 The Research Dimension
 The Future
Scottish Teachers for a New Era
What is STNE?

Research and Development Initiative Funded by
Government, Hunter Foundation and the
University

Developing Teachers: Increasing Pupil Gains

Exploring how best to prepare teachers to support
learners and learning in the 21st century
Effective Teachers
… are adaptable, well organised and have high
expectations for their pupils …
… know their material so thoroughly they can
easily teach children of different abilities … they
are flexible and can use different strategies to do
what is needed to help every child to learn … they
are caring, compassionate, like children/young
people and like working with children/young
people
The Challenge for
Teacher Education
How do we develop these qualities in our
aspiring teachers?
The Aberdeen Approach
 Build an evidence base – add to knowledge and
inform developments
 Develop new collaborative model of teaching
learning and development from Initial Teacher
Education through Induction and into the early
years of a teacher’s career.
The Design Principles
 Decisions driven by evidence
 Engagement with Arts and Sciences
 Teaching as an academically taught clinical
practice
 Social and educational inclusion
 Reflective and activist teacher
Determining Factors
 Teacher
 deep curriculum knowledge
 investigator
 present relevant curriculum
 confident exploring new methodologies and technologies
 Learning environment
 university-based, new investigative/research model of field
experience
 Support framework
 university staff and class teachers as mentors to and
co-investigators with students
 Professional Culture
 decision making, embedded framework of evidence gathering,
reflect on impact of teaching on pupil learning
BEd (STNE) Model
 Years 1 and 2
Foundation Stage
 development of knowledge and understanding of learning,
personal and professional growth
 challenging assumptions, beliefs and values
 critical enquiry/investigation
 Years 3 and 4
Emergent stage
 Development of professional knowledge, understanding, skills
and values in practice
 Learning and teaching, curriculum
 Action research
 Years 5 and 6
Beginning Teacher
 connections with Induction year
 extended year of mentoring
The BEd (STNE) Programme
Year 1
Semester 1
Psychology
Arts/Sciences Elective
Education
- Learning How to Learn
Semester 2
Psychology
Arts/Sciences Elective
Education
- Learning How Others
Learn
Psychology or Arts/Sciences
Elective
Education
From Learning to
Teaching (Personal and
Professional Identity)
Year 2
Psychology or Arts/Sciences
Elective
Education
- From Learning to
Teaching (children and
adults)
Year 3
Education
- Learning and Teaching: The Emergent Professional 1
- Learning and Teaching: School and Community 1
Year 4
Education
- Learning and Teaching: The Emergent Professional 2
- Learning and Teaching: School and Community 2
Field Experience
 Years 1 and 2
The Foundation Stage
 25 days
 Investigating the influences on children’s learning
 Year 1: Practical Experience relating to family, school and community
 Year 2: Issues of Diversity and inclusion, issues of professional identity
 Years 3 and 4
The Emergent Stage
 24 weeks + 20 days (Action Research)
 The development of professional knowledge, understanding skills and values
 Learning and Teaching, Curriculum – discrete and cross curricular
 Action Research
 Years 5 and 6
Beginning Teacher Stage
 Continuing Professional Learning and Development
 Year 5: Induction: 70% teaching 30% professional learning and development
 Year 6: Extended mentoring….
Research Framework
 Key elements on the process of learning to teach
 Entry characteristics
 Learning opportunities
 ITE to Induction to CPD
 How these elements
 Link to and relate to classroom practice
 Influence pupil learning and achievement
 How external influences impact on the process of learning
 Further embedding effective practice
Research Model
Portfolio of Evidence
 Surveys and Tracking
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Entry survey and profile
Exit survey and profile
Year 1 survey
Year 2 survey
Common course and reporting
Qualitative Case Studies
Pupil Gains Studies
Teacher Action Research
Comparative Studies
Reactions from students
the new programme
… through the teaching of the new style B Ed course we
are focusing much more strongly on teaching the pupils in
an informed way, taking our observations and tailoring our
lessons around these learning needs. We are not given a
checklist to follow ….
… now I see where they are coming from because with
the experience from the like of psychology and out in the
university I am not just stuck in Education, I am a lot more
open to things, so yes, the course has really helped me.
Hopefully I can be an excellent teacher, more than if I had
done the traditional course and just been like watching the
teacher write on the board…
Reactions from students
mutual learning
… in the videos you could see that I was like…. my god, I
have got to pretend I know what I am doing, but now I’m
like, I think the kids will respond better if I’m like I don’t
know and try to work things out with them…
… I’m happy to learn from the children because you learn
so much more…
taking field notes
… maybe at the time you are thinking, ‘why are we doing
this?’ but, like for the essay I handed in today, I looked
over the field notes and I have definitely learned from it…
…
Reactions from students
collaborative learning, working in pairs and groups during
field experience
… someone to talk to about teaching …
… someone to feed off …
… someone to share with, like peer assessment ... and it
helps, it always helps
STNE next steps …
‘In his teaching the wise man guides his students
but does not pull them alone; he urges them to go
forward and does not suppress them; he opens
the way but does not take them to the place …. if
his students are encouraged to think for
themselves we may call the man a good teacher’
Confucius (c. 5th century BC)