The nature and purpose of Concurrent Teaching in Teacher Education

Stuart Hanscomb

Carlo Rinaldi

Introduction

The aim of the talk is to gain a better understanding of the purpose and nature of concurrent teaching as proposed by TEACHING SCOTLAND’S FUTURE (The Donaldson Report), in terms of:

•Attributes of 21st century teachers

•An attempt to conceptualise the nature of concurrent teaching in terms of ‘levels of instrumentality’

•Examples of concurrent degrees in Scotland

•Research questions

Skills and qualities required for 21st century teachers

• Professional identity The teacher should be seen as a member of a profession that is

‘recognised as both complex and challenging’

• Extended professionalism– Deep understanding– Critical and creative thinking skills– Reflective and enquiring– Working collaboratively– Engagement with research

• Leadership– Educators of colleagues– Stronger connections with universities and other agencies

The Future

• In line with emerging developments across Scotland’s universities, the traditional BEd degree should be phased out and replaced with degrees which combine in-depth academic study in areas beyond education with professional studies and development. These new degrees should involve staff and departments beyond those in schools of education. (Donaldson, 2010; 40, 88)

• This leads to the question of how concurrent teaching should contribute to the development of the ‘21st C. teacher’, in terms of:

a) What we teach and how we teach it, and

b) How students engage with that teaching

The question of instrumentality

Level 1: Teaching the content of lesson plans etc. (wholly instrumental, and counter Donaldson)

Level 2: Teaching core subjects (maths, literacy etc.) so that it can be straightforwardly applied to the creation of lessons

Level 3: Teaching other (non-education) subjects, but always so that education students can see how to make use of it in the classroom.

Level 4: (learning of identifiable but indirect relevance)

Broadening professional identity and reflective capacity via subjects like the philosophy and history of education, or teaching other (non-education) subject areas (e.g. theory and practice of leadership, critical thinking, communication), that can be adjudged as having relevance to the professional development of teachers beyond the actual teaching of children.

[See quotations 4 & 5]

Level 5: Teaching other (non-education) subjects with no other agenda.

Thus education students are taking concurrent courses in order to:

a) Learn for ‘its own sake’; finding out about the world and taking ownership of knowledge.

b) Learn in a ‘soft’ instrumental way (i.e. with an eye on their broad (non-profession specific) personal development.

Different interpretations

• Dundee– 1st and 2nd year an elective from wider university– 3rd and 4th year a curriculum based learning and teaching elective

• Stirling– BA Professional Education with specialism in

• Modern language , Environment or Early Years

• Aberdeen– 1st year 30 credit elective – 2nd year 60 credit elective

• Proposed Edinburgh– MA Primary Education with

• Maths, German, Scottish Studies, Earth Sciences, Religious Studies or History

• 1st,2nd and 4th year 40 credits in specialism. 3rd year out on placement all year.

MAPE Programme Structure (Dumfries Campus)

SchoolExp

4

Dissertation Education in its Wider

Context

Teacheras a

Professional

SchoolExp

3

Maths

3

Literacy

3

Teachers and

Teaching

Curriculumand

Assessment

ElectiveLevel

3

SchoolExp

2

Maths

2

Literacy 2

ChildDevelopment

2

Issues inContemporary

Society

ElectiveLevel

2

ElectiveLevel

1

SchoolExp

1

Maths

1

Literacy

1

ChildDevelopment

1

TextAnd

Comm

Elective Level

1

ElectiveLevel

1

Concurrent Courses

CORE•Text & Communication•Issues in Contemporary Society

ELECTIVE•Environmental Stewardship •Health and Social Policy•Humanities

– English Lit, History, Philosophy, Modern Language

Summary of (research) questions

1. What does Donaldson have in mind, and what latitude

does this present us with?

2. What should we do with this latitude? Should there be a variety of interpretations or is a more uniform approach required? If there is to be a uniform approach, which Level(s) do we aim at?

3. What do the students think is/should be the purpose of concurrent teaching?

4. How are we to communicate to the students the point of concurrent teaching, and how are we to motivate them to engage with it? [See quotation 2]

Proposal relevant to questions 2 & 4

• Concurrent subjects should be largely taught in accordance with Level 5

• But students determine how they engage with them (which could be level 4 and/or 5 (along with level 3))