International comparative studies in teaching and teacher education

Changing teacher education in Sweden: Using meta-ethnographic analysis to understand and describe policy making and educational changes

“…Unfortunately this seems to be a very common occurrence in policy making in teacher education in Sweden today (Beach, 2011;Beach & Bagley, 2012, 2013Player-Koro, 2012b;Sjöberg, 2011) and possibly even internationally (Delandshere & Petrosky, 2004;Sleeter, 2008;Zeichner, 2010), as a symptom 16 of a kind of global policy disease (Adamson, 2012;Beach & Bagley, 2012, 2013Garm & Karlsen, 2004;Reid & O'Donaghue, 2004) that should be considered as somewhat ironic given current government expressions (both nationally and internationally) about the need and value of evidence-based policy making.…”

“…In the present investigation and based primarily on a meta-analysis of a sequence of ethnographic studies, the current Swedish government seems to have ignored scientific evidence in teacher education policy and reforms. This might not be uncommon also internationally if we read with for instance Adamson (2012), Apple (2001), Delandshere and Petrosky (2004), Reid and O'Donoghue (2004) and Zeichner (2010). In addition, teacher educators seem to have been unable to develop effective strategies for communicating the importance of a broader conception of professional knowledge needs for teaching in teacher education (Ellis, McNicholl & Pendry, 2012;Hökkä, Eteläpelto, & Rasku-Puttonen, 2010).…”

“…Teacher education policy change has been extensively discussed in international research journals like Teaching and Teacher Education (Adamson, 2012;Beach & Bagley, 2012, 2013Delandshere & Petrosky, 2004;Erixon Arreman, 2005;Popkewitz, 1985). The mediating constructions operating at curriculum level between society and teacher educators (Hökkä, Eteläpelto, & Rasku-Puttonen, 2010), ideology and social formation (Popkewitz, 1994), the capacity of teacher education to educate critically conscious professionals (Reid & O'Donoghue, 2004;Zeichner, 2010) and how teacher education operates as academic work (Ellis, McNicholl & Pendry, 2012) have been focused on, and similar policy developments have been described in many countries (see e.g.…”

“…They suggest that over the course of the past fifty years national policies for teacher education have moved from emphasizing a dualist to a more unitary professional perspective, founded on a research-based knowledge about teaching, learning and education conditions (Beach & Bagley, 2012), but have then begun to swing back again, with a convergence toward global neo-liberal and new-managerial ideas (Apple, 2001;Garm & 2 Karlsen, 2004;Zeichner, 2010). Critical questions have been raised concerning this convergence (Adamson, 2012;Delandshere & Petrosky, 2004). It is said for instance to have had negative consequences for teacher knowledge and decision-making (Reid & O'Donoghue, 2004;Sleeter, 2008) and for the possibilities of educating teachers as professionals who can critically reflect over, and control their educational practices through a research-based and shared scientific professional knowledge foundation (Apple, 2001;Beach & Bagley, 2012, 2013Zeicher, 2010).…”

“…The most recent round of reform seems in other words to stand on clay feet and purely ideological conceptualisations of current conditions and needs (Adamson, 2012;Delandshere & Petrosky, 2004;Beach, Eriksson & Player-Koro, 2014). Apple (2001), Lauder et al (2009), Lawn and Furlong (2009), Reid and O'Donoghue (2004), Darling Hammond (2006), Zeichner (2010 and Sleeter (2008) have all identified pitfalls associated with this kind of policy development in other contexts.…”