Beginning teachers’ knowledge in further education: insights from teacher educators working with dual professionals

Journal article

In the absence of significant research into the knowledge base of teachers in the Further Education and Skills sector in England, this qualitative study, conducted with four teacher educators, sought to describe this knowledge base. The research also investigated the extent to which traditional conceptualisations of teacher knowledge were adequate to capture the knowledge FE teachers need to teach. Data were collected principally through semi-structured and focus group interviews with the four teacher educators. Findings showed that the knowledge base of teachers in the FE setting is complex, nuanced and not fully captured within existing traditional conceptualisations of teacher knowledge. For example, in addition to these more traditional conceptualisations of teacher knowledge the research showed a key component of knowledge was ‘industry knowledge’. The research highlights the challenges for teacher educators working in FE settings in terms of their capacity to develop teachers’ subject-specific pedagogical knowledge, and suggests key implications for the development of subjectspecific provision in teacher education in FE. It also raises significant issues about what good quality work-based specialist mentoring support might entail.

Authors: Childs, A; Mutton, T

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Journal: Journal of Vocational Education and Training
• Publication date: 2025-08-04
• Acceptance date: 2025-07-16
• DOI: 10.1080/13636820.2025.2543592
• EISSN: 1747-5090
• ISSN: 1363-6820
• Language: English
• Keywords: teacher knowledge; further education; dual professionals; vocational teacher education