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Disentangling What it Means to be a Teacher in the Twenty-First Century: Policy and Practice in Teachers’ Continuing Professional Learning

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Workplace Learning in Teacher Education

Part of the book series: Professional Learning and Development in Schools and Higher Education ((PROD,volume 10))

Abstract

The work of teachers has always been subjected to criticism and increasingly to the demands of government. So, if the economy ‘demands’ a different kind of workforce, then education, and by implication, teacher education, has to be changed to meet this requirement. In this chapter, we think about how these reforming attempts are to be understood, specifically in the case of teachers’ continuing professional learning. We begin by looking at continuing professional learning along three ‘axes’: the origin of the programmes, the beneficiaries of the programmes, and the implied view taken of the teachers in the construction and delivery of the programmes. Working from this base we will then develop and present a new tool for viewing the variety of major continuing professional learning programmes in England over the last 20 years. This reveals something of both New Labour’s and the Conservative Coalition’s attitude to teachers and teaching in the light of the policy approaches that were taken. The model developed here also has the potential to be a useful tool for any group wishing to take an informed approach to planning a continuing professional learning programme.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The data displayed here was derived from www.legislation.gov.uk using the keyword ‘school’ and asking for all legislation in all regions so as to keep parity before and after devolution.

  2. 2.

    The Scottish Chartered Teacher scheme was a system of qualification ‘similar to a master’s degree’ which was also linked to a further set of six incremental points on a new pay scale. The awarding body was City and Guilds on a criterion referenced scheme. Like the Master’s in Teaching and Learning it has now closed (in February 2012) although the Education Secretary for the Scottish Parliament said that it would be replaced by a new master’s level qualification.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. King’s College London, London, UK

    Bob Burstow & Prof. Meg Maguire

Authors
  1. Bob Burstow
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  2. Prof. Meg Maguire
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Correspondence to Bob Burstow .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom

    Olwen McNamara

  2. Cass School of Education and Communities, University of East London, London, United Kingdom

    Jean Murray

  3. Ed. Research & Evaluaton Serv. (CERES), Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom

    Marion Jones

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Burstow, B., Maguire, M. (2014). Disentangling What it Means to be a Teacher in the Twenty-First Century: Policy and Practice in Teachers’ Continuing Professional Learning. In: McNamara, O., Murray, J., Jones, M. (eds) Workplace Learning in Teacher Education. Professional Learning and Development in Schools and Higher Education, vol 10. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7826-9_6

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