Confidence, risk, and the journey into praxis: work-based learning and teacher development

Abstract

wordcount 48232 This article examines the relationship between confidence and risk in relation to the initial education and continuing professional development of teachers. The context for this examination is the Lifelong Learning sector in England, which sits between secondary schools and universities, and the discussion is illustrated with data gathered from trainee teachers in this sector. Understandings of confidence are considered and it is argued that the inculcation of confidence through risk-taking is important for new teachers in their journey to praxis. Confidence, whether seen as imbued in the self or as inculcated through professional training and development, correlates with both the new teacher's vulnerability and their capacity to take risks. Central to the inculcation of confidence are the opportunities available to teachers as they develop, which are circumscribed by the conditions and expectations of their teacher education course and their workplace. The article concludes by arguing that the transformative potential of critical engagement with professional knowledge on teacher education courses and through work-based learning should be balanced with the need for the good and appropriate time necessary for the risky political act of reflection, not merely the immediate technical evaluation of practice. (ref A-1)

Educators’ risk-taking in high quality early childhood education

“…In primary, secondary and tertiary education research, educators' risk-taking has been connected with experimentation, change, innovation, educator confidence and praxis (Figueira, Theodorakopoulos, and Caselli 2018, Howard et al 2018, Twyford, Le Fevre, and Timperley 2017, Jones 2018, Le Fevre 2014, Doyle-Jones 2015, Lasky 2005, Iredale et al 2013. Examples of educators' risk-taking identified in the literature include implementing new technology (Howard and Gigliotti 2016), managing relationships and power dynamics with students (Raider-Roth et al 2019, Le Fevre 2014, Clayton 2007, Shier 2001, Ashworth 2004, engaging in conversations about controversial (Pace 2019) or complex topics (Coles-Ritchie and Smith 2017) and standing up for one's beliefs (Lasky 2005, Baker-Doyle, Hunt, andWhitfield 2018).…”

Assessment of workplace-based learning: key findings from an ECE professional master programme in Portugal

“…The positive evolution of the students in the Reflection Domain is also noteworthy both because of its meaning within the assessment process and because of the future integration of students into the world of work. Indeed, reflection constitutes a core process in the assessment of these students, mirroring its relevance in the literature (Balduzzi and Lazzari 2015;Gibbs and Costley 2006;Iredale et al 2013;Wei and Pecheone 2010); thus, the adopted reflection-based grid seems to create opportunities for the development of competences that itself assesses, contributing to strengthening the needed consistency between the learning theory and the assessment theory (Caughlan and Jiang 2014). Furthermore, the positive results in this domain can also be critical on the candidate teacher's future integration in the workplace, in which higher-order cognitive skills and independent judgement can play a major role in adaptability, problem-solving, self-regulation and metacognition (Villarroel et al 2018).…”

‘Give ‘em the old razzle dazzle’ – surviving the lesson observation process in further education

“…The need to play safe inevitably influences the strategies tutors employ when teaching, and 'through such measures, performativity becomes embodied in a regime of truth that denies legitimacy to alternative forms of good practice' (Avis 2005, 211). This may be particularly pertinent for new teachers who lack the professional confidence demonstrated by their more experienced peers and as a result may be unwilling to take any risks in their teaching (Iredale et al 2013).…”