Developing a pedagogy of teacher education. Understanding teaching and learning about teaching-Chapt

Loughran, J. (2006). Developing a pedagogy of teacher education. Understanding teaching and learning about teaching. New York, NY: Routledge.

Chapter 2: Being a teacher educator: A focus on pedagogy

Notes and Thoughts:

Loughran begins by explaining the difficulties often encountered when someone transitions from the role of school teacher to that of teacher educator. He notes the importance of developing an identity as a teacher educator, or professional who can not only demonstrate effective teaching, but teach about teaching. In addition, he asserts that most teachers have little time to reflect on their own practice in order to articulate their knowledge, skills, and decision making strategies. Teachers are often busy "doing," and lack the time necessary to make explicit how decisions are made and refined.

Loughran focuses frequently on the importance of the view of teaching. He asserts it is more than "telling or the transmission of information" (p. 14). Many teacher education programs begin by asking preservice teachers to consider their own assumptions about teaching and learning, and Loughran discusses the vulnerability required to do this. It reminded me of Debbie Miller's book, Teaching with Intention. In it, she asks teachers to write their beliefs or philosophy of teaching and then invites them to revisit it occasionally. She asks them to reflect on their day or their week and ask themselves if their practices match their beliefs. It is important to examine one's actions and beliefs.

He shifts the focus from knowing oneself as a teacher educator to the idea of experience in teacher education. Dewey (1938) states, "the belief that all genuine education comes about through experience does not mean that all experiences are genuinely or equally educative. Experience and education cannot be directly equated to each other" (p. 25, as cited in Loughran, p. 22). He shares Schwab's (1978) four commonplaces of of pedagogical practice: 1) the learner 2) the teacher 3) the educational milieu, and 4) the subject matter. Clarke and Erickson (2004) add a 5th practice-self-study of teacher education practices. Loughran suggests that inquiry and self-study should be a part of teacher education and a part of the teacher educator's practice. [Reminds me of Dana & Yendol-Hoppey's work on teacher inquiry].

Chapter 3: Teaching: A problematic enterprise

To begin, Loughran notes that teachers and teacher educators need to be sensitive to the problematic. Often, novices seek a simple solution rather than examining all the complexities involved in most teaching situations. They want an expert to tell them what to do, rather than the struggle with the details and questions of the lesson or lessons. Mason (2002) suggests that when teachers "notice" (p. 33), or see and hear their students and lessons differently, they recognize that teaching is problematic. He notes, noticing requires:

1) being present and sensitive to the moment

2) having a reason to act

3) having a different act come to mind (p. 33).

"The mark of an expert is that they are sensitised to noticing things which novices overlook" (p. 33). However, when the expert notices a reason to act, they also have multiple resources on which to draw and can make a decision about how to act. He notes that while noticing, it is often difficult to narrow focus for novices while still maintaining a holistic view of teaching.

He stresses the dependence on "control" when using the transmissive approach to teaching, as opposed to the management of many pieces of the puzzle when focusing on teaching as a holistic, participatory endeavor that is often problematic.

Loughran states, "...although modeling is a means for demonstrating practice, modeling alone is not sufficient for learning about practice" (p. 39). Teacher educators need to model, but they also need to actively reflect on their lessons, in front of their students. Teacher educators must be transparent with their problem solving in their own classrooms so preservice teachers will see them taking risks.

References:

Mason, J. (2002). Researching your own practice: The discipline of noticing. London: RoutledgeFalmer.