Teacher educators reflecting on case-based teaching – a collective self-study

Abstract

The current study is a collective self-study on how we as 15 teacher educators at a university in Norway tried to improve our teaching through working with cases with the aim of better supporting student teachers in making links between theory and practice. We wanted to address the common criticism in teacher education concerning a perceived gap between practice and theory.Our presupposition was that one way to prepare student teachers for work and bring together theoretical and practical knowledge would be through case-based teaching. We agreed that we wanted to try different ways of working with cases and to follow our own actions with research and conduct a self-study. Throughout the project, each teacher educator experienced to learn about case-based teaching, but our joint learning was limited due to practical issues and lack of time. With teacher education as a shared responsibility, our conclusion is that teacher educators need time to develop as a team, not only as individual teachers.

Student teachers’ online sharing of challenging incidents in practice placement

“…In a previous study we found that providing student teachers with guidelines and time improved the quality of their work with cases (Ulvik et al 2020). This time we did not present any expectations for the work but assumed that the student teachers understood our implicit expectations based on their previous work with cases, albeit in a different context.…”

“…Cases are a crucial part of the current programme. They are used in plenary lectures, either as illustrations or for discussion in summary report groups, and they are discussed in seminars (see Ulvik et al 2020). Furthermore, the students' exam the first semester consists of presenting a case from the first placement and analyse it with the help of theory.…”

“…A criticism that is often raised in teacher education is that the education is not relevant to the students' later work as teachers (Korthagen 2011;Kvernbekk 2012;Zeichner 2010). One way to prepare for work as teachers, and for interlinking what happens in schools with the university coursework, is to use case-based teaching (Strangeways and Papatraianou 2016;Ulvik et al 2020). The current study focuses on written cases collected by student teachers in their last of two practice placements in a one-year post-graduate teacher education programme for secondary school in Norway.…”

Case-based teacher education preparing for diagnostic judgement

“…In the current study, the case is understood as a realistic narrative from classrooms and schools. The research literature provides several positive outcomes for case-based teaching (Ulvik et al 2020). In the last decades, educationists have argued for case-based teacher education mainly due to the fact that facing dilemmas from practice can prepare the students for how to diagnose, make decisions and how to act (Heitzmann 2008;Merseth 1996;Sato and Rogers 2010;Shulman 2004).…”

“…Combining reading theory with writing their own cases and sharing them with their peers can help student teachers to connect research and practice (Hammerness, Darling-Hammond, and Shulman 2002). Writing about their own critical incidents may help students to learn from their experiences (Ulvik et al 2020). Findings from Levin's study (2002) of students who wrote their cases based on critical incidents show that writing about their own dilemmas allowed students to resolve their problems, which again influenced the perception of their roles and relationships in the classroom in a positive way.…”