35.1.3 More Time in Schools
Part of the policy emphasis on proven approaches to teaching is a belief that
teaching is predominantly a practical vocation, which requires a specific skillset and
increased time in schools to hone and develop these skills.
Recommendations with this focus in both Australia and England, are based on
an“assumption that more time spent in schools inevitably—and unproblematically
—leads to better and‘more relevant’learning”(McNamara and Murray 2013, in
Beauchamp et al. 2015 : 163). Thefinal TEMAG report argues that there is a
disconnect between what pre-service teachers are taught in universities and what
they need to know and do in classrooms. This includes an“apparent disconnection
between theory and practice”(2014b: 25). TEMAG also argues that there is
inconsistency among TE providers regarding the extent and degree of integration
with professional experience (school placements of pre-service teachers).
Well-integrated professional experience components of TE are said to be“critical
for the translation of theory into practice”(TEMAG2014b: xi). The report rec-
ommends that there ought to be teacher placements of‘appropriate timing and
length’and“early exposure of preservice teachers to school and classroom settings”
(27). Although the timing and duration of placements is left to higher education
providers, the implication is that current arrangements are insufficient with too little
time spent in schools and an over-emphasis on theory.
The Australian Government’s Response (TEMAG 2015 ) to the TEMAG report
simplifies the call for improved professional experience placements. It notes that
practical experience is essential for developing the skills and knowledge required to
be an effective teacher, and that “high quality practical experience should be
embedded in every teacher education course”( 2015 : 7). Similarly, England has
taken a“turn to the practical”(Furlong and Lawn 2011: 6), evident in the UK
Government’s intention to“Reform initial teacher training, to increase the pro-
portion of time trainees spend in the classroom”(DfE 2010 : 9). This is in response
to a perception that“Too little teacher training takes place on the job” (DfE
2010 :19). McNamara and Murray (2013: 22; in Beauchamp et al. 2015 : 163) argue
that this emphasis on practical experience amounts to:
an understanding of teaching as (a) essentially a craft rather than an intellectual activity;
(b) an apprenticeship model of teacher training that can be located entirely in the workplace
...[It] privileges performativity and‘practical’knowledge over theoretical, pedagogical
and subject knowledge.Teaching standards are“defined as regulatory rather than developmental in intent”
(Beauchamp et al. 2015 : 160). That is, standards are largely prescriptive and assume
that a teacher should be expert from the outset (‘classroom ready’in TEMAG
terms), allowing relatively little scope for teacher development, enhancement or
refinement over time.
In contrast to the Australian and English reviews, the Donaldson Review is more
measured: envisaging teaching not in terms of technical skill or a clinical approach
530 T. Gale and S. Parker