Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio University, August, 2003. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 186-205)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Georgia State University, 2006. / Title from title screen. Laurie B. Dias, committee chair; Randall F. Dobbs, Mary B. Shoffner, Charles Xiaoxue Wang, committee members. Electronic text (333 p.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed Apr. 19, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 300-309).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 125-129). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Tulsa, 1990. / Bibliography: leaves 101-104.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--West Virginia University, 1999. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xvi, 218 p. : ill., map. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 184-201).

Policy trends in initial teacher training (ITT) in England have increasingly located training in schools, where trainee teachers are supported by practicing teachers designated as ‘mentors’. The nature of the mentoring that trainee teachers experience has been shown to be of critical importance, both to outcomes in the initial training period and also in terms of teachers’ professional identity construction and retention within the profession. School-based mentoring has been typically characterised, however, as of variable or inconsistent quality. Teach First is a teacher training programme with a number of features which set it apart from other routes into teaching. Teach First grows from and sits within the contemporary policy landscape of teacher training; the programme has a distinctive identity and is the focus of significant interest in the education sector in England and beyond. Teach First is an employment-based training programme and Teach First trainees are mentored by teachers as they work and train in schools; trainees also receive periodic support from tutors based in higher education training providers. This study takes Teach First as a case study and adopts a mixed-methods approach, including both quantitative and qualitative analysis where appropriate. Empirical data is drawn from a multi-layered programme of surveys, focus group discussions and interviews. The study explores how those involved in Teach First mentoring conceptualize the process and how they perceive their role in supporting it. In addition, the study considers the extent to which Teach First mentoring can be considered distinctive. The thesis presents a framework for understanding the mentoring process which is based on an extension of relevant theories of learning and models of mentoring. Empirical findings from the data lead to two propositions: firstly, that the mentoring process in initial teacher training is based on a triadic relationship, in which the relationship between supporters of mentoring is particularly important to its efficacy; secondly, that there is no programme-wide model for Teach First mentoring and, as a consequence, the distinctiveness of the Teach First programme is attenuated by the school-based mentoring process. This latter point has implications for both the nascent identity construction of Teach First teachers and also for how Teach First is perceived in relation to more mainstream teacher training programmes.

This thesis grew out of a concern shared by others that, in an era in which teacher educators are required to place increasing faith in the utility and objectivity of ideal end-of-training competencies, ‘the messiness, muddle and ambivalence that education is always and inevitably heir to’ (Bainbridge and West, 2012, p.5) and the consequent complexity that typifies student experiences as they learn to teach and make their subsequent transition into teaching, can be too readily ignored. Drawing on extensive data from interviews, research participant’s self-writing and their contributions to on-line forums, the experiences of two trainees as they make such a transition into and through their first year of teaching is examined in detail. As an experienced educator the author makes use of an auto/biographical approach in which aspects of his personal life history are acknowledged both as sources of insight but also as sites of my partiality. The importance of key incidents and individuals in my own development are acknowledged and in so doing, I recognise both the manner in which the familiarity of past experiences can provide a source of insight, but may equally act to shape or stifle alternate stories. A range of ‘critical friends’ are used to aid my analysis and to chart both the trainee’s transition to teacher and my own transition to that of auto/biographical researcher. Bourdieu and Brookfield provide a starting point for an examination of the participants’ reported experiences and the contexts in which they work. Turkle points towards an understanding of the online world where identities can be created, played with and critically evaluated. Mezirow and Dirkx provide contrasting views of what it means to be a transformational learner whilst Goodson and West support my development towards that of a researcher, whose fascination with the individual stories of the students with which I have worked provided the starting point for the research. As the thesis ends, the shades of friends return to remind this researcher that it was the experiences of the participants which resonated with, but did not mirror my own. For, whilst the boundaries between individuals is at all times honoured, it is in the shared boundaries that we meet and our mutual human dependency is framed. Reference Bainbridge, A. & West, L. 2012. Psychoanalysis and education: Minding a gap. London, Karnac Books.

The topic of this thesis is initial teacher education (ITE) pedagogy, exploring the nature of teaching and learning about teaching (or ‘meta-teaching’), and how teacher educators in English universities translate this into practice. Its purpose was to gain an appreciation of teacher educators’ pedagogical practice beyond their first three years in the role: not just how, but why they teach student teachers in a particular way, and to observe what this looks like in practice. A collective case study approach was taken, involving four participants working in four geographically distanced universities. The methods consisted of a semi-structured interview, videoed observation of a teaching session, and a stimulated recall interview which was led by the participant whilst co-viewing the video. Analysis of the data revealed that, whilst the meta-pedagogical practice appeared to have individual drivers for each of the participants, there could be potential inhibitors to developing a distinct pedagogy of ITE which are inherent in the teacher educators’ experience and practical wisdom accumulated as school teachers. These may hinder teacher educators’ engagement with a theoretically underpinned knowledge base for their pedagogical practice. The similarities and differences in meta-pedagogical practice were explored using Bourdieusian concepts of developing habitus in the new field, leading to expanding cultural capital. It is argued that distinct drivers for the participants’ respective practices impacted upon the development of first to second order habitus. A continued focus on (curriculum) subject knowledge or on passing on the craft knowledge of (school) teaching was shown to be located in first order practice, whereas a focus on developing meta-pedagogical understandings allowed for an expanding habitus, and thus to the potential for increased cultural capital – both for themselves as individuals, and for the occupational group of teacher educators. Whilst a deep-seated sense of teacher professional identity may help to bridge the two (sub-)fields, it appeared that an accepted body of knowledge based on theoretical underpinnings could distinguish this group and enhance their cultural capital. In light of this, the role of episteme and phronesis were explored as enablers of the development of a shared meta-pedagogy. By illuminating current meta-pedagogical understandings and practice, the study aims to feed into a wider debate on teaching and learning to teach, at a time when ITE in England is in a state of flux and the future of university-based programmes – as well as university involvement in school-based programmes – is under threat. It is argued that, not only would it be possible to accelerate the process of teacher educators developing their meta-pedagogical practice through exploration of the theoretical perspectives, but that this has the potential to underline and reinforce the distinction between university- and school-led ITE in uncertain times.

This thesis explores the development of the thinking and practice of beginning and early career teachers in relation to pupil behaviour through the examination of questionnaire data from two surveys conducted with a PGCE cohort and case study data gathered through a sequence of interviews with seven teachers from this group during their first three years as qualified teachers. It draws on literature to critically examine the established discourse of pupil behaviour as a problem in schools, the management of behaviour as a concern for beginning teachers and the preparation provided by Initial Teacher Training in this area as insufficient. Attention is also given to prevailing approaches to behaviour described in literature that might represent the knowledge base for improved training in relation to behaviour management. The questionnaire data presented a picture of the cohort as prepared in relation to pupil behaviour and realistic in their views on the types of behaviour that they would encounter most frequently. There was a clear perception that the most valuable learning about behaviour took place in schools. The data collected from the case study participants suggested that learning about behaviour continued to be based on their own direct experience of teaching, formal and informal advice from colleagues and formal and informal opportunities to observe others’ practice. The implication is that development in relation to behaviour is very parochial, with few influences external to the school. This, coupled with a general antipathy towards anything construed as theoretical, suggests the development of beginning teachers’ thinking and practice in relation to behaviour is based upon very few reference points beyond that which is available in the school and the individual’s general dispositions, preconceptions, concerns and perceptions. Attempts to address perceived issues regarding the preparation of beginning teachers has tended to focus on the content dimension, typically defined as knowledge, skills and understanding. This thesis puts forward the view that, whilst there is valuable work to be done in attempting to define what content represents a useful grounding for the beginning teacher, there needs to be greater attention paid to the influence of the individual and the context in which they are placed. This might be achieved by reconceptualising the development of the thinking and practice of beginning and early career teachers in relation to pupil behaviour as an interaction between the content dimension, the individual and the context.