distinctions between studied theory and practiced theory and the importance of
student discussions with their peers and lecturers. Importantly, such discussions can
be constructed in‘daily’contexts, such that the knowledgeflows might become
more evident. Drawing centre community knowledge into teacher education
enables student teachers, lecturers, and experienced teachers to engage productively
with feelings of being undervalued, wrong, or, as Judy puts it‘told off’.
In the following conversation, Kylie shares an example of an open‘flow of
knowledge’between teachers:
Just a teacher that isfluid, you know, prepared to go whatever direction, prepared to change
...I’ve had some really awesome associate teachers that I have been able to be open with
and bounce ideas, but they’ve also been strong enough that they can turn around and say no
I don’t agree with you and give you a reason why. And I love that. I love the fact that...
you can learn from that...I think that makes a strong teacher, is someone that is prepared
to be open and change but I think also that has the knowledge there, and experience is still
quite cool. They’ve got the experience, the knowledge, they have been through a lot and
you are prepared to listen to them as well.The ways in which knowledge is experienced and shared during teacher education
can have a significant influence on this openness to critique. Student teachers arrive
with many different attitudes to and experiences of education. Teacher education
provides a space and time to make sense of these varied experiences and consider
how they will impact on teaching team dynamics—particularly beginning and
experienced teacher relationships. However, teacher education also runs the risk of
reinforcing negative attitudes and experiences, particularly where assignments and
assessment entrench highly individualising educational practices and so limit the
scope for open discussion.
Annie adds a different perspective about knowledgeflows:
I think it was very different obviously for people who had come in who had been teaching
...they came in with invaluable knowledge...we could then use their experiences to try
and think about putting the theory together. But I hadn’t been teaching. I had my experience
as a parent, and I kept putting the theory to my experience as a parent, which is quite
different.Annie’s observation provides an important socio-political context to our discussion
of the influence of teacher education in early childhood teaching teams and to the
value of a wide range of lived experiences. When professional qualification
requirements and standards change, as they have in Aotearoa New Zealand, rela-
tionships between teacher education institutions and teaching teams change, and
relationships within teaching teams change—as Annie is well aware. While teacher
education institutions have a role to play in promoting their contribution to the
teaching profession, they also have a role to play in a kind of critical reflexivity that
is sensitive to the impact of changing policies for centre communities. Such an
openness may promote a more critical understanding offlows of knowledge and of
the limitations of study.
What has intrigued us about these narratives of newly qualified teachers are the
relationships between theflow of knowledge from teacher education into practice.
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