Since September 1999, all Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) in England who wish to teach in the maintained sector have to complete an induction period. In the light of the introduction of this statutory policy, this paper critically examines the key role of the school based induction tutor in managing the process. It draws upon an analysis of the government's induction circulars (DfEE/S 1999; and uses empirical data from a large, national DfES-funded project which evaluated the implementation of the policy. We argue that, for the majority of schools the work of the induction tutor within the whole school context, including management by the headteacher, is the major factor in the success of the policy. Further, we argue that there remain some tensions in the policy between the professional development and the assessment agenda.This paper addresses an aspect of school management of induction, namely the role of the induction tutor. The induction tutor's role was one area of investigation in a wider, national research project carried out at the Institute of Education between October 2000 and December 2001. There were four overarching aims of the project. These were to assess:1. The effectiveness of mechanisms for carrying out the induction of NQTs, including the cost effectiveness of its various different components. The effectiveness of dissemination of information by DfES, TTA and AppropriateBodies about the statutory arrangements. 3. The impact on the effectiveness of NQTs as a result of undergoing the induction year. 4. The impact on recruitment and retention of NQTs.The four research aims were broken down into 40 research objectives. Case studies comprising semi-structured interviews, fieldnotes and school-produced documents and questionnaire surveys were carried out. An NQT, an induction tutor and the headteacher in 24 state-maintained primary and secondary schools were interviewed twice -near the beginning and end of an induction period -to gain some insight into changes in practice and perspective over time. Appropriate Bodies in which the school case studies were to be located were initially selected by geographical diversity, i.e. urban/rural and by region. Telephone interviews with representatives from 18 Appropriate Bodies, (17 LEAs and the Independent Schools Council Teacher Induction Panel -ISCTIP) were conducted. The LEAs were chosen to represent a wide range of size and type of local authorities nationally, avoiding those undergoing inspection. Nine were then identified for the case studies, of which one subsequently dropped out. The eight Appropriate Bodies were asked to identify one school which they deemed to offer 'best practice' in induction provision. The researchers selected a further two case study schools, ensuring that at least one primary and one secondary school were seen within each Appropriate Body, and that the sample contained a range of characteristics overall, e.g. small, foundation, single sex etc. This data was complimented by a survey of 568 NQTs from the 1999-2000 and 2000-200...

No abstract

Despite a broad consensus on the ethical dimensions of the teaching profession, and long-standing efforts to align teacher education with wider trends in professional education, little is known about how teacher candidates are being prepared to face the ethical challenges of contemporary teaching. This article presents the results of an international survey on ethics content and curriculum in initial teacher education (ITE). Involving five Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) countries—the United States, England, Canada, Australia, and the Netherlands—the study’s findings shed light on teacher educators’ perspectives on the contribution of ethics content to the education of future teachers and provide a snapshot of how well existing programs line up with their aspirations. The results showed that 24% of the ITE programs surveyed contain at least one mandatory stand-alone ethics course. The meaning of the results vis-à-vis opportunities for expanding ethics education in preservice teaching programs is also discussed.

Can Dewey's Moral Principles in Education throw light on a contemporary policy issue in education, namely the privatisation of education through the establishment of academy schools in England? The article first considers what the policy entails, in terms of its conception of education as a market commodity. The next section suggests an alternative conception, drawing particularly on Deweyan claims for the fundamentally normative and relational nature of teaching, through his definition of democracy as ‘a form of associated living’ and the school as a place for such association. The third section relates the two conceptions of education and in their light considers tensions and conflicts in the academisation policy concerning inclusion, equity and social cohesion. The article concludes that the establishment of academy schools compromises these values and constitutes a danger to the commons, that is, to socially consensual and equitable ways of being together.

No abstract

This paper presents a view of action research (AR) as a valuable way in which teachers can pose fertile questions and engage in inquiry with transformative possibilities. This counters claims of its being at best a sterile method of teacher research and at worst a perilous trap for teachers.Chris Higgins has argued that AR has lost its original intention of empowering teachers and sealing the theory practice divide. He claims that it has degenerated into a method devoid of thought. In its social science versions, it is harmful to the teacher-student relationship and teachers have been mislead into an impoverished idea of professional development. The impossible challenge for action research is to recover its original intention; impossible because the landscape of educational policy militates against it.The authors challenge Higgin's deep pessimism, his versions of AR and his negative account of the intellectual capacity of teachers. We argue that AR does empower teachers, integrates theory and practice and is alive and well, even though conditions in schools are not optimum. This argument is exemplified with numerous illustrations of actual AR projects, which evidence teachers' participatory and collaborative work, in which they engage in positive change. There is scope for teachers wishing to develop 'customised' AR projects of their own in current conditions which have transformative potential in changing the practice of the individual teacher. This in turn supports building and participating in a 'community of practice', which strengthens the communal endeavour to contribute to good teaching and good education.

No abstract

Ethics education exists in most professions internationally, yet is less prevalent in teacher education. The paper reports on research that explores how ethics education is provided in university courses of initial teacher education (ITE) in England, and was conducted as the second phase of an international survey study that considered the prevalence of ethics education in teacher education in five countries. Participants from the initial survey, all involved in the delivery of ITE programmes in English universities were interviewed for this second phase of the research. Our key findings are that ethics is not offered as a standalone course in any institution, but is embedded in various ways within the curriculum. Ethics education is diffused among different areas of the curriculum and the activities used to develop ethical understanding are diverse. Barriers to providing ethical education include student resistance, lack of time, the complex nature of the provision and external demands.