Olwen McNamara – författare

As economies across the world continue to struggle, there is growing evidence that the vulnerable in society, especially children, are paying the greatest cost in terms of reduced opportunities for access to equitable life chances, the most vital of these being education. Juxtaposing the ongoing failure of education systems to address disadvantage with the widespread belief in the vital importance of the training of teachers raises another issue, namely that remarkably little is known about the effective preparation of pre-service teachers to ameliorate educational disadvantage and, additionally, that little attention appears to be given to this in most teacher preparation programmes. This book attempts to redress this balance and is structured by three themes that focus on national policy, pre-service teacher preparation programmes and individual pre-service teachers. The book reveals a disheartening picture of complex patterns of inequality across and within individual countries, together with an incomplete understanding of the intersectional mechanisms - political, ideological, social and cultural - that link poverty and educational disadvantage. Contributions from five different countries, however, provide evidence of positive signs that interesting, innovative and intellectually sound developments are happening at a local level and offer a valuable contribution to the debate about how teacher education can create levers for change. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Journal of Education for Teaching.

But rather than starting out with a conception of mathematics derived from the many histories mathematics might claim as its own we centre the analysis instead within the social practices that surround the teaching of the subject to children aged four to eleven in English primary schools today.

The world of teacher research is rapidly changing following the introduction of Best Practice Research Scholarships. This was announced by the DfEE as part of a new Professional Development Plan in which teachers are to be allocated up to £3000 to do their own research (non-award bearing) with the support of an HE mentor. The TTA also believes that teachers should play a more active role in conceiving, implementing, evaluating and disseminating research.This book is for teachers who are looking, or being encouraged, to undertake research in their schools. Written by teachers and their HE research mentors, the book provides case studies which show teachers how to 'do' and 'use' research and how to 'do' effective pedagogy. Olwen MacNamara shows how a group of teachers set out to observe, describe, analyse and intervene in areas of primary education. The book can be raided for insights into research methods as well detailing professional issues about teaching and learning, and will be essential reading for teachers undertaking Best Practice Research Scholarships.

Drawing directly on the work of teachers and other professional trainers concerned with programmes for continuing professional development, this book promotes action research for practitioners so as to develop qualities of critical appraisal and analysis of practice, appropriate to professional contexts.

The authors suggest activities and give support for teaching, and evaluation of teaching, by using actual examples of teacher research into professional issues. They also aim to encourage teachers' narrative writing and autobiographical approaches to researching their professional lives. There is a specific focus on processes of professional development, which connects with current needs, demands and challenges of the `modernized' profession. This book will support those involved in appraisal activity, performance management and threshold application.

This book is for schoolteachers and others involved with professional training across all age phases, and for those who support teachers' professional development: university tutors, consultants and senior staff in LEAs. It is also suitable for police and nurse trainers, further education tutors and advisory teachers.

Drawing directly on the work of teachers and other professional trainers concerned with programmes for continuing professional development, this book promotes action research for practitioners so as to develop qualities of critical appraisal and analysis of practice, appropriate to professional contexts.

The authors suggest activities and give support for teaching, and evaluation of teaching, by using actual examples of teacher research into professional issues. They also aim to encourage teachers' narrative writing and autobiographical approaches to researching their professional lives. There is a specific focus on processes of professional development, which connects with current needs, demands and challenges of the `modernized' profession. This book will support those involved in appraisal activity, performance management and threshold application.

This book is for schoolteachers and others involved with professional training across all age phases, and for those who support teachers' professional development: university tutors, consultants and senior staff in LEAs. It is also suitable for police and nurse trainers, further education tutors and advisory teachers.

As economies across the world continue to struggle, there is growing evidence that the vulnerable in society, especially children, are paying the greatest cost in terms of reduced opportunities for access to equitable life chances, the most vital of these being education. Juxtaposing the ongoing failure of education systems to address disadvantage with the widespread belief in the vital importance of the training of teachers raises another issue, namely that remarkably little is known about the effective preparation of pre-service teachers to ameliorate educational disadvantage and, additionally, that little attention appears to be given to this in most teacher preparation programmes. This book attempts to redress this balance and is structured by three themes that focus on national policy, pre-service teacher preparation programmes and individual pre-service teachers. The book reveals a disheartening picture of complex patterns of inequality across and within individual countries, together with an incomplete understanding of the intersectional mechanisms - political, ideological, social and cultural - that link poverty and educational disadvantage. Contributions from five different countries, however, provide evidence of positive signs that interesting, innovative and intellectually sound developments are happening at a local level and offer a valuable contribution to the debate about how teacher education can create levers for change. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Journal of Education for Teaching.

This book addresses the question of how we might better understand the task of teaching mathematics to young children. But rather than starting out with a conception of mathematics derived from mathematics' own evolution, we center ourselves instead within the social practices that surround the teaching of the subject in British primary schools today. That is, we do not commence with an a priori conception of mathematics and see what people are saying about it. Rather, we start from what people are saying and see what this points to. We probe how the desires of society have manifested themselves in a societal decision to teach mathematics and how this decision now shapes what we call "mathematics". This extends and develops a conception of how language intervenes in the task of mathematics education presented elsewhere (Brown, 2001). In this present book however, we have a particular focus on trainee and new teachers, with a view to pinpointing how this conception of mathematics manifests itself in their evolving practices. We question how such teachers with many years of experience as a pupil in school might now re-orient themselves towards the demands of teaching mathematics.We also consider how for those charged with providing training for such individuals might better understand the process and impact of this training. The book further questions the way in which we might conceptualize the balance between nurturing teachers to become autonomous professionals responsible for developing and delivering the mathematics curriculum in schools and, alternatively, setting policies that prescribe practices to be followed. We consider whether we should focus our attention principally on the teachers themselves or on the professional space in which they operate. The book is primarily concerned with examining how trainee teachers conceptualize their own professional development, from the time they enter university on a four-year course as prospective initial teacher training students through to their first year of teaching in primary school. It has a particular focus on how they understand mathematics and how they understand their own teaching of the subject in schools. It offers both empirical and theoretical perspectives.Empirically, the book draws in particular on two studies conducted by the authors, funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council and spanning a four-year period. Both of these studies were concerned with the professional development of trainee teachers with a particular focus on their phenomenological experience of the training process. Theoretically, the book draws on recent work in the field of psychoanalysis, and in particular the work of Slavoj Zizek, as an approach to examining how individual trainee teachers encounter the social framework in which they operate. In tackling this we consider the "technologies of self" that produce teachers in schools. We also look at how we might theorize our empirical findings that locate the discursive formation of school mathematics. To summarize the key strands: Firstly, we are keen to present an account of how trainee teachers understand their own journey into teaching mathematics in the primary school. Secondly, we wish to understand better the conception of mathematics in the primary school and how it might develop.Thirdly, we are keen to offer some discussion of how official policy as presented in government initiatives impacts on such teachers. Fourthly, we are concerned with better understanding the role that research in mathematics education might have in accounting for the process of trainees becoming teachers in the primary school and in stimulating development in this area. Finally, we try to offer a theoretical frame that accommodates evolving and alternative conceptions of mathematics, how it is taught and the social parameters that guide these conceptions.

The book is centered on how major curriculum reform shapes mathematics and the professional practices of teachers.

The book is centered on how major curriculum reform shapes mathematics and the professional practices of teachers.

This book explores teacher workplace learning from four different perspectives: social policy, international comparators, multi-professional stances/perspectives and socio-cultural theory. First, it considers the policy and practice context of professional learning in teacher education in England, and the rest of the UK, with particular reference to professional masters level provision. The importance of teachers’ and schools’ perceptions of improvement, development and learning, and the inherent tensions between individual, school and government priorities is explored. Second, the book considers models of teacher workplace learning to be found in international research and practice to explore what perspective they can bring to understanding policy and practice relating to workplace learning in the UK. Third, it draws on cross-professional analysis to get an intellectual and theoretical purchase on workplace learning by examining how insights from across the professions can provide us with useful perspectives on policy and practice. The analysis draws particularly on insights from medicine and educational psychology. Fourth, the book cross-fertilises research and practice across the field of education by drawing on insights from perspectives such as socio-cultural and activity theory and situated learning/cognition to discover what they can offer in analysing the theoretical and pedagogic underpinnings of teacher workplace learning. In short, the book offers a number of contexts for exploring how best to conceptualise and theorise learning in the workplace in order to generate evidence to inform policy and practice and facilitates the development of a more theoretically informed and robust model of workplace learning and teaching.

This book explores teacher workplace learning from four different perspectives: social policy, international comparators, multi-professional stances/perspectives and socio-cultural theory. First, it considers the policy and practice context of professional learning in teacher education in England, and the rest of the UK, with particular reference to professional masters level provision. The importance of teachers’ and schools’ perceptions of improvement, development and learning, and the inherent tensions between individual, school and government priorities is explored. Second, the book considers models of teacher workplace learning to be found in international research and practice to explore what perspective they can bring to understanding policy and practice relating to workplace learning in the UK. Third, it draws on cross-professional analysis to get an intellectual and theoretical purchase on workplace learning by examining how insights from across the professions can provide us with useful perspectives on policy and practice. The analysis draws particularly on insights from medicine and educational psychology. Fourth, the book cross-fertilises research and practice across the field of education by drawing on insights from perspectives such as socio-cultural and activity theory and situated learning/cognition to discover what they can offer in analysing the theoretical and pedagogic underpinnings of teacher workplace learning. In short, the book offers a number of contexts for exploring how best to conceptualise and theorise learning in the workplace in order to generate evidence to inform policy and practice and facilitates the development of a more theoretically informed and robust model of workplace learning and teaching.

This book focuses on undergraduate student engagement in China and the UK. It offers an innovative perspective on this aspect, which, although pervasive, is not always acknowledged by its users to be complex and multidimensional in nature, firmly rooted in cultural, social and disciplinary norms, and difficult to measure. Competition within the global higher education market has become increasingly intense amongst universities; and the higher education sector in China, currently the largest source of international students, is beginning to compete strongly for its home market. Against this consumerist background, student engagement, with its close relation to positive learning outcomes, is increasingly receiving attention from higher education managers and researchers who seek to improve the quality of their ‘products’.The research study on which the book is based draws on three courses, two in China and one in the UK. It offers a binary perspective across twovery different cultures (Western and Confucian) and two very different subject areas (Chinese language and mathematics). The study employs a mixed-methods design and develops a conceptual framework derived from statistical and thematic analysis. An original theoretical lens, combining a bioecological perspective (Bronfenbrenner) and a sociocultural one (Holland et al.’s Figured Worlds), adds further interpretive power to help understand the construct of student engagement.