Janet L Orchard

The contribution of educational research to teachers’ professional learning: philosophical understandings

In this paper, we argue from principle that teacher education must enable a positive relationship between educational research and teaching knowledge and practice. We discuss two popular conceptions of good teaching, which conceive of the teacher as craft worker and as executive technician, and suggest that, while each of these aspects of knowing reflects something of the qualities that good teachers need, any one on its own is insufficient. In contrast to such mono-dimensional conceptions, a research-based textured notion of professional judgement encompasses a complementary and mutually enriching relationship between different aspects of professional knowledge and practice. We identify three interconnected and complementary aspects of teachers’ professional knowledge: situated understanding; technical knowledge; and critical reflection. Accordingly, teaching as professional endeavour demands of teachers practical know-how, conceptual understandings of education, teaching and learning, and the ability to interpret and form critical judgements on existing knowledge and its relevance to their particular situation. We conclude that in principle research can both enrich and be enriched by teachers’ professional knowledge and practice but that to build this relationship in a holistic way into teacher education programmes and partnership models presents considerable practical challenges.

Does religious education promote good community relations

The aims of religious education (RE) as a curriculum subject are contested and under constant review. One particular aim widely promoted by policymakers, practitioners and other stakeholders is that RE distinctively among curriculum subjects, prepares future citizens for life in a religiously and culturally diverse society. I support the view that publicly-funded schooling should prepare young people for religious and cultural diversity as an aim; furthermore, that RE taught well contributes in a distinctive way to this endeavour. I pursue this issue with particular reference to schools in England and in response to a report by the All Party Parliamentary Group on RE (APPG) published in 2014, RE and Good Community Relations. I offer a theoretical analysis – based upon Bruner’s ‘Folk Pedagogies’ (1996) – which anticipates future investigation into how RE might best promote inter-religious and cultural understanding alone, to the detriment of other legitimate aims for the subject. Secondly, it needs to be clear in pedagogical terms how RE promotes inter-religious and cultural understanding. In preparing this ground, I argue that claims for the subject by religious educators and their supporters should not be overblown; furthermore that policymakers’ expectations of what might be achieved through RE should not become inflated.

On the Role of Philosophical Work in Research in Teacher Education

The paper begins by arguing for the importance of the contribution of philosophy to educational research in general and then goes on to illustrate the contributions it can make to teacher education research sepcifically. Section 36.2 considers philosophy ‘of’ teacher education which might be concerned with epistemological, ontological and ethical questions about teacher education. It discusses epistemological questions around the kinds of knowledge teachers need, whether these relate to their subject or theoretical knowledge and ongoing questions around the theory practice relationship. Section 36.3 explores philosophy ‘as’ teacher education research. Examples of teacher educators’ own philosophical work argue for the importance of practical grounding in experience for both philosophical and empirical enquiry into teacher education. Finally, Sect. 36.4 reflects on the role of philosophy ‘in’ inter or multidisciplinary teacher education research.

Philosophy for Teachers (P4T) – developing new teachers’ applied ethical decision-making

Abstract Teaching, irrespective of its geographical location, is fundamentally a relational practice in which unique ethically complex situations arise to which teachers need to respond at different levels of ethical decision-making. These range from ‘big’ abstract questions about whether or not what they teach is inherently good, through to seemingly trivial questions about everyday issues, for example whether or not it is right to silence children in classrooms. Hence, alongside a wide range of pedagogical skills, new teachers also need to develop personal qualities, knowledge and understanding that will enable them to navigate successfully these professional ethical demands. ‘Philosophy for Teachers’, or ‘P4T’, is one promising approach to teachers’ pre-service professional preparation which has been piloted in England, adapted from the more familiar idea of ‘P4C’ (Philosophy for Children). Drawing on the model of learning through dialogue within a community of fellow enquirers, an ethical retreat was set up which established a ‘community of practice’, comprising new teachers, education studies students, teacher educators and philosophers. The purpose of the retreat was to enable new teachers to think ethically about dilemmas they had faced, based on their early experience of classroom practice. It enabled facilitators to blend theoretical perspectives on education and systematic ways of thinking about it at an introductory level with examples of complex and potentially difficult classroom situations cited by participants. The experience provoked a series of significant insights – in particular, that a characteristically philosophical concern with the ethics of behaviour management offers an important alternative perspective to the psychological approach which tends to dominate conventional teacher education in the English system. We identified an urgent need among new teachers for facilitating space and time for critical reflection away from the ‘busy-ness’ of school, addressing not only practical concerns but the existential anxieties which beginning teachers face when dealing with challenging behaviour by their pupils, including burnout, sustaining motivation and a sense of ‘moral purpose’.

6.5 A “Jill” of All Trades and Mistress of One: Interpretation, School Leadership, and Philosophy of Education

An interdisciplinary argument (which foregrounds philosophy of education) is made that good school leadership in the context of a democratic society ought to be informed by democratic values. The investigation is concerned with the kind of leadership best suited to the particular needs of maintained schools in that specific context and does not set out to discover reliable or consistent patterns common to successful leadership behaviour in general. Particular reference is made to maintained schools in England, designated with preparing the next generation for future lives as citizens; established practices in those same schools promotes an autocratic model of leadership centring on an individual “headteacher”. The hierarchical nature of practice in the past and in current policy and practice is criticised and an alternative conception of good school leadership is proposed on moral grounds, supported by empirical evidence which suggests democratic leadership is possible within structures that commonly regulate schools. Further – pedagogical – reasons why democratic school leadership is desirable are identified. Schools should be free to determine for themselves how they wish to be led, within nationally determined limits so that strategic decisions concerning their future direction are shared widely among directly interested parties, including pupils, parents and local citizens.