Clare Kosnik – författare

With its focus on the work and identity of teacher educators, this book addresses an essential but under-researched area in teacher education. It makes a major contribution to analysing the field and develops existing research on the working lives and identities of teacher educators. The book explores ideas about the future of teacher education and the implications for policy changes in education systems across the world. It brings together studies from across the globe on how teacher educators, within higher education institutions, function as both academics and professionals in different institutions and nations. It also considers professional learning for teacher educators as an occupational group and makes practical suggestions for change and improvement in this often neglected area of higher education.

The book deliberately draws on research from a range of traditions, including life history, policy analysis, ethnography and self-study. The contributions come from major researchers in teacher education in Australia, Continental Europe, the USA and Canada, the UK and Asia.

This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Education for Teaching.

With its focus on the work and identity of teacher educators, this book addresses an essential but under-researched area in teacher education. It makes a major contribution to analysing the field and develops existing research on the working lives and identities of teacher educators. The book explores ideas about the future of teacher education and the implications for policy changes in education systems across the world. It brings together studies from across the globe on how teacher educators, within higher education institutions, function as both academics and professionals in different institutions and nations. It also considers professional learning for teacher educators as an occupational group and makes practical suggestions for change and improvement in this often neglected area of higher education.

The book deliberately draws on research from a range of traditions, including life history, policy analysis, ethnography and self-study. The contributions come from major researchers in teacher education in Australia, Continental Europe, the USA and Canada, the UK and Asia.

This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Education for Teaching.

Good teacher education not only enhances the understanding and skills of new teachers, but increases the likelihood of them staying in the profession. In Priorities in Teacher Education, Clare Kosnik and Clive Beck argue that teacher preparation should be given sharper focus, identifying seven priority areas:

Long-time teacher education instructors and researchers themselves, the authors identified these priorities through literature-based research and the findings of a three-year study following twenty-two graduates through their first years of teaching. Packed with examples and quotes about these experiences, the book is broken down into seven chapters, each focusing on one of the seven priorities and containing a case study of one teacher whose experiences embody the priority being discussed.

As the chapters progress, the authors increasingly demonstrate the interplay between the seven priorities, showing that none of them can be pursued in isolation, and building a comprehensive base of essential knowledge for beginning teachers.

Teacher educators will find Priorities in Teacher Education a key guide to pre-service preparation, while new and student teachers will benefit enormously from reading the ‘front line’ accounts of their contemporaries.

Good teacher education not only enhances the understanding and skills of new teachers, but increases the likelihood of them staying in the profession. In Priorities in Teacher Education, Clare Kosnik and Clive Beck argue that teacher preparation should be given sharper focus, identifying seven priority areas:

Long-time teacher education instructors and researchers themselves, the authors identified these priorities through literature-based research and the findings of a three-year study following twenty-two graduates through their first years of teaching. Packed with examples and quotes about these experiences, the book is broken down into seven chapters, each focusing on one of the seven priorities and containing a case study of one teacher whose experiences embody the priority being discussed.

As the chapters progress, the authors increasingly demonstrate the interplay between the seven priorities, showing that none of them can be pursued in isolation, and building a comprehensive base of essential knowledge for beginning teachers.

Teacher educators will find Priorities in Teacher Education a key guide to pre-service preparation, while new and student teachers will benefit enormously from reading the ‘front line’ accounts of their contemporaries.

Making a difference in Teacher Education through Self-Study: Studies of Personal, Professional, and Program Renewal describes the systematic efforts of committed and creative teacher educators to improve their teacher education programs. It describes the accomplishments of individuals (and in part the programs in which they work) who have overcome many of the hurdles teacher educators typically face. These individuals have made a difference in the lives of their students, their colleagues, and many classroom teachers. The book presents research on 15 different teacher education programs and describes individual renewal efforts. The stories – including both the successes and challenges – are inspiring and informative. In this age of accountability these teacher educators have used a range of research methods to gather data on their work and in turn used it to guide future decisions. The text includes examples of both large scale research and individual efforts. The common thread among the authors is a commitment to “walking the talk”.

Most would agree that a learning community of practice cultivates social and intellectual development in educational settings but what are the other benefits and what does a learning community actually look like in practice? This book explores such questions as: “Are learning communities essential in education?” “How are they designed and developed?” “What difference do they make in learning?” The book contains contributions of educators who share their research and practice in designing and implementing learning communities in school, university, and professional network settings. It presents their experiences, and the “how to” of these educators who are passionate about building and sustaining learning communities to make a real difference for students, teachers, faculty, and communities. Combining scholarly and practitioner research, the book offers practical information to teachers, school and university administrators, teacher educators, and community educators.

This unique book is an important source of information for all of those who educate future teachers and those who participate in teacher education as students, researchers, educators and policymakers. The volume also contributes to the international development of higher quality and research-led teacher education provision by providing clear evidence of policy impact. It draws on original research studies, conducted across eight countries in North America, Europe and Australia to analyse the impact of teacher education policy initiatives on ‘insiders’ in the fields, including education students, teacher educators and mentors in schools. In achieving this, the various chapters in the book analyse the commonalities and differentiations in the many policy reforms in teacher education currently being implemented by national governments. The book reveals some of the hidden consequences of these recent ‘reform’ efforts. It is also of use for leaders and policy makers in teacher education, providing them with insider perspectives from both theory and practice and making it possible for them to develop research-informed decisions that take into account the voices of insiders. Few texts have considered international policy trends alongside the impact they have had on significant stakeholder groups ‘inside’ teacher education. In redressing this omission, the book contributes to a better understanding of and improved practice of work in teacher education, both pre- and in-service.