Conference paper
In Search of Evidence: Teacher Education’s wicked problem in an age of accountability
Australian Teacher Education Association (ATEA) Conference, 2011 (Melbourne, Australia, 04-Jul-2011–06-Jul-2011)
Australian Teacher Education Association
2011
Abstract
Wicked problems (Knight, 2007) resist definition, shift shape and are never 'solved'. "Evidence of effectiveness" (AITSL, 2010, p.6) in teacher education is just such a problem, as demonstrated by the many inquiries into teacher education over the last 20 years (Louden, 2008; Wineburg, 2006). As accountability measures in teacher education increase, questions must be asked about what counts as evidence and how we account for preservice teacher learning and therefore our practice via evidence. This paper considers how teacher educators might "recount" this evidence to stakeholders with vested interests both internal and external (Shulman 2007). This paper explores the wicked problem of evidence in teacher education through in-depth interviews with four program leaders. The research is based in the interpretivist-constructivist paradigm, which O'Donoghue (2007) says emphasises social interaction as the basis of knowledge. Meanings are created via interactions between human beings in their everyday (in this case organisational) settings. In order to deeply engage with program leaders' attitudes and beliefs about evidence when designing and leading a teacher education program, the theoretical framework of symbolic interactionism and case study methods have been utilised. Evidence was a theme that appeared with some consistency in the interviews with reference to both internal and external agendas. These were sometimes represented as competing and therefore an area of tension for the program leaders. In trying to analyse the way program leaders made references to evidence, three themes emerged: structure, agency and efficacy. These were identified after consideration of Ashwin's (2008, p.152) conceptions of structure and agency which focuses 'on both individual's intentions and on the ways in which these intentions are structured by institutions and wider social structures.' Efficacy of the program was added to incorporate Program Leaders' considerations of how preservice teachers might experience a program of study.
Details
- Title
- In Search of Evidence: Teacher Education’s wicked problem in an age of accountability
- Authors
- Kylie Readman (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health and EducationSharon Hogan (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health and Education
- Conference details
- Australian Teacher Education Association (ATEA) Conference, 2011 (Melbourne, Australia, 04-Jul-2011–06-Jul-2011)
- Publisher
- Australian Teacher Education Association
- Date published
- 2011
- Organisation Unit
- Centre for Support and Advancement of Learning and Teaching; Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic); School of Education and Tertiary Access; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99449513902621
- Output Type
- Conference paper
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