This paper examines the impact of supporting pre-service teachers to use cooperative learning in one initial teacher education institution in England. In a context where the government requires all teacher education to be "school-led" and where school partners do not commonly use cooperative learning (Baines, Rubie-Davies, and Blatchford…

This study contributes to teacher educators' pedagogical content knowledge by drawing on phenomenography-variation theory to (i) research and describe qualitative differences in Beginner Teachers' conceptions of pupils' understandings of subject content and, (ii) provide evidence of the effectiveness of an instructional strategy that might be…

Integrating theoretical knowledge within teacher education has often been portrayed as difficult, with previous studies reporting student teachers' ambivalence, or even scepticism, about the value of research findings and theory to classroom practice. Moreover, the nature of teachers' professional knowledge is itself uncertain and highly complex.…

Teacher recruitment and retention is an international challenge. In England the government have reported that more teachers leave before retirement age than five years ago, 30% within five years and schools are finding it difficult to fill posts with quality teachers . This paper evaluates the contribution of the research-informed RETAIN Early…

The paper considers data in one Higher Education Institution (HEI) from written reports and from interviews with trainee teachers and their teachers charged with the assessment of one training standard for secondary Initial Teacher Training in England: "Professional Values and Practice." It explores the extent to which four elements of…

Pre-service teacher education in England has been essentially school-based since 1992. The article offers a critique of this design from the perspective of a practitioner and researcher working in one of its most influential schemes. The fundamental problem described concerns an impoverished understanding of experience that underpins how beginning…

This article highlights the blurring of boundaries as beginning teacher educators cope with the varying demands of teaching and research activities in higher education institutions (HEIs) in England. It suggests that the different forms of research and scholarly activities be made more transparent in order to support early professional learning in…