A University and School Working in Partnership to Develop Professional Practice Knowledge for Teaching

The article reports on the University of Johannesburg's (UJ) efforts at offering a practice-based teacher education program in partnership with a university-affiliated school (a “teaching school”) with a view to developing inquiry-oriented novice teachers. The research aimed at exploring what i...

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Main Authors: Sarah Gravett, Nadine Petersen, Sarita Ramsaroop
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2019-01-01
Series:Frontiers in Education
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/feduc.2018.00118/full
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author Sarah Gravett
Nadine Petersen
Sarita Ramsaroop
author_facet Sarah Gravett
Nadine Petersen
Sarita Ramsaroop
author_sort Sarah Gravett
collection DOAJ
description The article reports on the University of Johannesburg's (UJ) efforts at offering a practice-based teacher education program in partnership with a university-affiliated school (a “teaching school”) with a view to developing inquiry-oriented novice teachers. The research aimed at exploring what it takes to develop a “learningplace” (Conway et al., 2014) conducive to student teachers' development of professional practice knowledge and the role of mentoring in this regard. A two-phase process of generating data was used. In the first phase, the published research on the university-affiliated school was analyzed, using qualitative content analysis to look for patterns across the historical unfolding of the findings of these papers. In phase two a questionnaire was administered involving final year student teachers in the teacher education program. The research shows that a teaching school, if integrated into the program design and delivery, provides a rich practice learning site for student teachers. In addition, mentoring in cognitive apprenticeship mode could indeed be a powerful contributor to student teachers' professional development. However, the overall programme design is decisive. The preparation of teachers with strong professional practice knowledge requires attention to four interrelated aspects of program design, namely program identity, organizational structures, curriculum, and teacher education pedagogy. Addressing these aspects in an integrated manner would be difficult without working closely with one or more partnership schools.
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spelling doaj.art-a7117b648e034cb79120e4117bc52c4b2022-12-21T20:30:16ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Education2504-284X2019-01-01310.3389/feduc.2018.00118426794A University and School Working in Partnership to Develop Professional Practice Knowledge for TeachingSarah Gravett0Nadine Petersen1Sarita Ramsaroop2Faculty of Education, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South AfricaFaculty of Education, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South AfricaChildhood Education, Faculty of Education, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South AfricaThe article reports on the University of Johannesburg's (UJ) efforts at offering a practice-based teacher education program in partnership with a university-affiliated school (a “teaching school”) with a view to developing inquiry-oriented novice teachers. The research aimed at exploring what it takes to develop a “learningplace” (Conway et al., 2014) conducive to student teachers' development of professional practice knowledge and the role of mentoring in this regard. A two-phase process of generating data was used. In the first phase, the published research on the university-affiliated school was analyzed, using qualitative content analysis to look for patterns across the historical unfolding of the findings of these papers. In phase two a questionnaire was administered involving final year student teachers in the teacher education program. The research shows that a teaching school, if integrated into the program design and delivery, provides a rich practice learning site for student teachers. In addition, mentoring in cognitive apprenticeship mode could indeed be a powerful contributor to student teachers' professional development. However, the overall programme design is decisive. The preparation of teachers with strong professional practice knowledge requires attention to four interrelated aspects of program design, namely program identity, organizational structures, curriculum, and teacher education pedagogy. Addressing these aspects in an integrated manner would be difficult without working closely with one or more partnership schools.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/feduc.2018.00118/fullinitial teacher educationmentoringmentor teacherstheory-practice divideuniversity-school collaborationschool practicum
spellingShingle Sarah Gravett
Nadine Petersen
Sarita Ramsaroop
A University and School Working in Partnership to Develop Professional Practice Knowledge for Teaching
Frontiers in Education
initial teacher education
mentoring
mentor teachers
theory-practice divide
university-school collaboration
school practicum
title A University and School Working in Partnership to Develop Professional Practice Knowledge for Teaching
title_full A University and School Working in Partnership to Develop Professional Practice Knowledge for Teaching
title_fullStr A University and School Working in Partnership to Develop Professional Practice Knowledge for Teaching
title_full_unstemmed A University and School Working in Partnership to Develop Professional Practice Knowledge for Teaching
title_short A University and School Working in Partnership to Develop Professional Practice Knowledge for Teaching
title_sort university and school working in partnership to develop professional practice knowledge for teaching
topic initial teacher education
mentoring
mentor teachers
theory-practice divide
university-school collaboration
school practicum
url https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/feduc.2018.00118/full
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