Teacher educators Issues of competence and professionalism Policies

Teacher educators Issues of competence and professionalism Policies and practices in The Netherlands

Three perspectives • Professionalism, professional autonomy and professional accountability • Dutch policy measures • Self-responsibility by the profession

Five perspectives on professionalism 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Traits approach Demands to modern ‘professionals’ A professionalisation project An independent logic The idealistic and altruïstic professional

Traits approach • Compared to classical professions and professionals: doctors, lawyers, … • Ideal characteristics: – Monopoly regulating the entrance to the profession – Ethical code and standards (exclusion from the profession) – Strong academic knowledge base – Independent • Semi-, para- or proto-professions • Critics: Idealized and historical-cultural specific characteristics

Modern demands to professionals • • • Focus on outcomes Limited budgets (efficiency) Transparant and steerable Accountable control and bureaucracy • No professional isolation – collaborative • No boundaries – multidisciplinairy • Lifelong learning

Professionalisation project Emphasis on the development of a profession • Emancipation of a profession or • Securing the quality of the profession or • Self-interest: creating a monopoly, strengthening the position in negotiations, increasing status and income

A seperate logic Three logics (Freidson, 2001) • The free market • Bureaucracy • Professionalism • Special position and work of professional asks for a seperate logic and steering • Ensuring quality from within • Professional autonomy to be able to make professional decisions

The idealistic and altruistic professional • Power imbalance between customer and professional. Customer can’t judge the quality of the professional. • Service oriented motives of the professional: contribution to society, not income. • Professional freedom and mandate as condition and reward • Condition: deserved public trust • Instrument: quality assurance from within by professional codes, professional registers, …

If we want teachers (educators) to be(come) professionals … • They need to have a professional mandate that respects and stimulates their expertise • They need to take that professional responsibility seriously – By developing and maintaining clear quality standards and codes – By tranparancy for public accountablity – By maintanance of professional quality (LLL) – By development of the knowledge base underlying teaching

Three stakeholders Ministry Employers/ heads of dept ? Teacher educators/ prof. group

The Dutch policy • 1993: The future of the teaching profession – Lack of professional status – Lack of lifelong learning – Low attractivity • Professional standards and professional register … – Standards for teachers – Standards and register for teacher educators

• 2008: The Teaching Profession – Lack of incentives for LLL – Low status – Increased autonomy of schools has lead to complaints of teachers about a decrease in the professional mandate of teachers within schools • Private Professional register for teachers (under development) • Development of a strong professional group? • Involvement of teachers in decisions in school on curriculum and quality • Support of teacher initiatives with respect to schooling

Policy towards teacher educators • Financial and mental support for the professional association for teacher educators VELON – Development of the standard and registration procedures (1994) – Adaptation of the standard for schoolbased teacher educators (2007) – Revision of standard and procedures (2009) – Development of the knowledge base for teacher educators • Addressing the national conference for TEors • Agreements with employers on the qualification levels of teacher educators (masters, Ph. D)

The perspective of the professionals A national association of teacher educators (from 1975) • 1500 members (half of the teacher educators? ) –HE based and schoolbased • Those involved in the pre- and in-service learning of teachers” • Mission statement: to support the professional quality of the profession (and increase professional awareness) • National conference, national journal of TE • SIGs (research in TE, induction of new TEors, Schoolbased TE, ICT in TE, educators of teacher educators, …) • Professional standard • Professional register • Professional knowledge base …

A professional standard • Developed in 1994 • Revised in 2004 • New version for schoolbased teacher educators in 2007 • Development of different levels: basic, professional, expert (2012? )

The professional standard for teacher educators • • Foundation: basic attitudes of teacher educators Interpersonal and pedagogical: creates a safe (working) atmosphere; Didactical/methodological: creates for student teachers an powerful, inspiring and stimulating learning environment; Organisational: improvises if necessary; Working with colleagues in the organisation: actively contributes towards the development and implementation of the organisation’s outlook and policy; Working in a wider context: has a relevant network and keeps it up-to-date; Working on your own development: reflects systematically on their own pedagogical approach and (teaching) behaviour towards students, colleagues and others.

The registration procedure • Voluntary • Focus on development and assessment – Self-analysis – Development plan – Portfolio • • Assessment by peer-assessors After four years: renewal of the registration No formal status or recognition 300 teacher educators are registered

Issues • How to increase the number of registered teacher educators? – Make the register compulsory? – Entrance to the basic register after employment and induction – Agreements with employers – Stronger role for registered teacher educators • Development of a course to become teacher educator (develop a second order identity)

The perspective of the employers + Independent quality assurance of staff + Instrument for professional development + In-company groups − Employment of teacher educators independent from VELON-registration − Are registered TEors the ‘best’ TEors? − Value for money?

Roles and relations of three stakeholders Ministry Employers/ heads of dept heads of school ? Teacher educators/ prof. group