TY - CONF

T1 - Being a Teacher Educator

T2 - BERA Annual Conference 2010

AU - Boyd, Peter

AU - Allan, Simon

AU - Reale, Paolo

PY - 2010

Y1 - 2010

N2 - This study focuses on the workplace experiences of lecturers in teacher education based in further education colleges in the north of England. In one sense it is a study of a subject specific group of higher education in further education lecturers. However these teacher educators have a critical role in the development of teaching quality within the sector. The study uses a socio-cultural framework and semi-structured interviews to consider the agency, professional learning, and identity of the lecturers within their workplace context. The lecturers present strong student-centred values but experience tensions within their practice as they position themselves in relation to college leadership, partnership university departments and the external quality assurance review body. The paper concludes that these teacher educators working in further education college contexts struggle to maintain their professional values and identity because of perceived heavy teaching workloads and powerful accountability agendas of their external review body which are reinforced by institutional leadership. The paper argues that these teacher educators need to be supported to build stronger networks internally with staff development and quality assurance colleagues and externally within the teacher education sector in order to be able to resolve and manage the workplace contradictions that they experience.

AB - This study focuses on the workplace experiences of lecturers in teacher education based in further education colleges in the north of England. In one sense it is a study of a subject specific group of higher education in further education lecturers. However these teacher educators have a critical role in the development of teaching quality within the sector. The study uses a socio-cultural framework and semi-structured interviews to consider the agency, professional learning, and identity of the lecturers within their workplace context. The lecturers present strong student-centred values but experience tensions within their practice as they position themselves in relation to college leadership, partnership university departments and the external quality assurance review body. The paper concludes that these teacher educators working in further education college contexts struggle to maintain their professional values and identity because of perceived heavy teaching workloads and powerful accountability agendas of their external review body which are reinforced by institutional leadership. The paper argues that these teacher educators need to be supported to build stronger networks internally with staff development and quality assurance colleagues and externally within the teacher education sector in order to be able to resolve and manage the workplace contradictions that they experience.

M3 - Conference paper

Y2 - 1 September 2010 through 4 September 2010

ER -