development. Having university and school-based teacher educators in the same space as
the students of teaching at the same time enabled the integration of theory and practice
through practice in the site of practice. The immediate value to learning about teaching and
learning was qualitatively different to that of the more traditional separation of university
and school, teacher mentor and academic and students of teaching needing to bridge the
divide in an individual and largely unsupported manner.
Collaboration and support was explicit as students of teaching worked in an environment in
which academic and school-based knowledge and practice was wrapped around them.
During their professional experience they participated in a literacy and numeracy pro-
gramme which was a particular focus for Midland school. The students of teaching sup-
ported the programme in classrooms. They worked with individual school students to
differentiate their learning, tailoring to the individual needs of students in ways that
classroom teachers could not do on their own. This meant that school students received
personalized feedback and support at their point of need in ways that were highly valued
from both the student and teacher’s perspective.
The nature of the professional experience initiated collaboration through research and
evaluation that informed practice and fostered school improvement. The data gathered
through the collaboration was used for what could be described as more traditional aca-
demic research as well as to form an evidence-base around which school improvement was
based. Evaluation of the school students’progress around literacy and numeracy during the
time in which the students of teaching actively participated in classrooms led to what the
school described as significant improvement. Research interviews with stakeholders in the
school signalled a positive reception across the school community about the nature of the
professional experience and the overall value to all concerned.
The growth in the confidence of the students of teaching through the professional expe-
rience was significant. They built strong relationships and saw,first hand, the power of
attending to relationships as the basis of better understanding the what, how and why of
teaching and learning. Many of the students opted to take on extra-curricula roles and
volunteered to continue their involvement with Midland school following the official
completion of the experience.The brief explanation of the approach to placing professional experience at the
centre of teacher education (above) is designed to illustrate how meaningful change
around developing the professional experience of students of teaching entails more
than a rationalization of existing structures, imperatives and practices within a
University. It reaches into the structures, imperatives and practices of schools as
partners but equally requires an eye on both spaces and a vision for making the
most of the resultant intersections. Through the manner in which the example above
was conceptualized, developed and implemented,five insights emerged that dis-
tinguish the learning that emerged from the experience. They are outlined below:
- Boundaries are reframed as intersections within teacher education
Traditionally professional experience has been positioned as somewhat of an
‘add-on’in teacher education programmes. Alternatively, professional experience
can be repositioned as the spine central to supporting a programme. If so, then it
becomes possible to meaningfully span entrenched academic and professional
divisions and invite students of teaching to engage in, and through, professional
experience rather than to be corralled by each as boundaries.
720 A. Clemans et al.