The problems and possibilities for interns of gaining access to experienced teachers' craft knowledge

Thesis

This thesis is concerned with the problems and possibilities of student teachers' access to the professional craft knowledge of practitioners within the Oxford Internship Scheme. The study builds on previous research by Brown and Mclntyre (1986, 1988, 1993), and is set within the wider context of recent research on teachers' thinking and on student teachers learning from experienced teachers.

The investigation reported in this thesis is broadly conceived as an action research study, focusing on the theoretical and practical questions raised by the attempt to institutionalise student teachers' access to experienced teachers' craft knowledge within a PGCE programme. A number of investigations were conducted over a period of two years and together they consistute preliminary studies in the light of which the research problem was revised and developed. The main study investigated the effectiveness of plans for enabling interns (student teachers within the Oxford scheme) to gain access to teachers' craft knowledge.

Post-lesson conversations between interns and experienced teachers were audio-taped and content analysed. The main finding from the content analysis is that it is possible for student teachers to access experienced teachers craft knowledge through the adoption of procedures broadly similar to those used by Brown and Mclntyre (1993) when interviewing teachers following observation of their teaching.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted separately with a sample of the interns and teachers involved. Analysis of these interviews focuses on teachers' and interns' interpretations of the conversations, on this general approach to learning about teaching, on the use which interns made of craft knowledge they accessed, and on wider views about acquiring the knowledge needed for teaching. Further analysis of six cases explores the relationships between the two sets of interviews and the content analysis of the conversations.

The concluding chapter explores implications of the research findings for the accessibility of teachers' craft knowledge, wider issues about the conditions necessary for the potential of school-based initial teacher education to be realised, and future research in the field.

Authors: Hagger, H; Hagger, Hazel

• Publication date: 1995
• DOI: 10.5287/ora-vqqpyw2ye
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Subjects: Student teachers; High school teachers; Supervision of; Mentoring in education; Training of; Great Britain