Teacher educators’ struggles over the curriculum of teacher education in the Netherlands

Teacher educators’ struggles over the curriculum of teacher education in the Netherlands

Anja Swennen, VU University AmsterdamMonique Volman, University of Amsterdam

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Typical DutchTypical Dutch

Polder model, but not as strong as before

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The Netherlands has a dual system for Higher Education: traditional universities and Hogescholen (Högskolen, Hochschule)

Teacher education for both primary and secondary education are mainly situated in Hogescholen, but there is a struggle going on

The researchThe research

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• History of the profession of teacher educators from 1779 to 2011

• Focus on monopoly, autonomy, academic knowledge and the struggle for jurisdiction over these (Abbott, 1988)

• Identity of five teacher educators related to the development in their profession (Holland et al., 1998)

From head teachers to teachers in higher education The development of the profession and identity of teacher

educators

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Professionalization of professionProfessionalization of profession

Professionalization of each profession means to increase:

Monopoly: the right to educate teachers and examine them

Autonomy: the right to develop the structure and contents of your own work, the curriculum of teacher education

(claim for) academic knowledge: the claim to develop and disseminate academic knowledge

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Outcome of interprofessional struggleOutcome of interprofessional struggle

1. One group enforces total monopoly and autonomy over another (In the early 20th century: Teacher education over school for the education of primary teachers)

2. Distinct hierarchical subprofessions are established, such as doctors and nurses in medicine (Institute based Teacher educators and school-based teacher educators?)

3. Equal distribution of work (Institute-based teacher educators and school-based teacher educators?)

4. On group claiming intellectual jurisdiction of a profession (Researchers of (teacher) education)

5. One group has an advisory role in relation to another (Different forms of educational and non-educational consultancies and advisors)

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Curriculum as outcome of struggles Curriculum as outcome of struggles

The struggles for the primary teacher education curriculum shape the curriculum and provide constant

change in which recurrent themes are addressed in line with new insights and presumed needs of student

teachers

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Questions for this paperQuestions for this paper

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1. How do the results of these struggles affect the monopoly, autonomy and claim for academic knowledge of teacher educators?

2. What is the role of the teacher educators in the struggles for the teacher education curriculum?

Important outcomes: •He who has the gold, makes the rules•Status matters

Three recent examples Three recent examples

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The struggle between primary teacher education and Higher Education Institutions for the general educational view of the teacher education curriculum: competency-based, market-driven and practice-driven

The struggle between teacher education and schools (and the government) about where student teachers should be educated: school-based teacher education

The struggle between teacher education and the government about the contents of teacher education: knowledge-based teacher education

3. Knowledge: the new fashion3. Knowledge: the new fashion

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Report from the Dutch National Educational CouncilBecause of competent based and school-based teacher educators there are concerns about the quality of teacher education when it comes to ‘knowledge’

Reaction from the government•Compulsory ‘knowledge base’ for each subject in teacher education (primary and secondary TE): subject knowledge, subject pedagogy knowledge and teaching methods which are characteristic of the given subject•Compulsory “knowledge tests” for all subjects

Spending millions of euro’s

On the development of the knowledge base and tests by expertsIn supervisoing project groups: Subject specialists from traditional universitiesIn working groups: Experts from national institutions (curriculum, assessment), educational consultancies and sometimes a teacher educator

Developing a knowledge-base in TE Developing a knowledge-base in TE

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1. Monopoly, autonomy & the claim to academic knowledge 1. Monopoly, autonomy & the claim to academic knowledge

The government enforces curriculum content and tests, thus -decreasing monopoly and autonomy of teacher educators-increasing the ‘academic level’ of teacher education, but decreasing the need for academic knowledge by teacher educators

Traditional universities claim intellectual jurisdiction over the contents of teacher education, thus claiming the right to develop academic knowledge for and about teacher education and decreasing the autonomy of teacher educators

‘Experts’ (National institutes, consultancies, publishers) claim an advisory and expert role, thus claiming their broker role between academic and professional knowledge and decreasing the autonomy of teacher educators

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2. What is the role of teacher educators?2. What is the role of teacher educators?

On an individual level:

Teacher educators agree, accept or adapt to the interference of the government and others

Some teacher educators regard these developments as a decrease of autonomy, while others welcome the interference of the government as support for what they saw as valuable (their subject knowledge) and as strengthening the identity they desired, subject expert

 

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2. What is the role of teacher educators?2. What is the role of teacher educators?

On a the level of the profession:

Kliebard (2004) refers to a struggle at center stage in a continuing dramaThis is not like the struggle for the teacher education curriculum in the Netherlands, which seems hardly a struggle for the teacher educatorsTeacher education, teacher educators and their associations do hardly formally engage in the ‘struggles’

 

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Why?Why?

The role of teacher educators is limited Because he who has the gold, makes the rules-Government is responsible-Government pays

And also because status matters-humble origins (Cole & Knowles, 2004)

-low status of teacher education (Maguire, 2000)

-low status of teacher educators (Ellis, McNicholl, Blake, & McNally, 2014)

And we rather trust those higher in status as academics and ‘experts’

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