 |
 |
| Thanks Mike - very, interesting and useful start to our discussion and I'm looking forward to reading responses to what you have written - I am hoping Jan Oti will respond to your email From my perspective while I am pleased that teachers undertake research and some find it appropiate to get a qualification I am not an advocate of every teacher being obliged to do research. I came across my teaching file from my early years of teaching last week 1974+ What struck me was how our headteacher collected in everyone's file every week and wrote personalised feedback about our teaching strategies and questions to help us to reflect on what we were doing in the context of whole school development & our ongoing development We shared our love of teaching with this headmaster - and his comments showed how far he appreciated each child as an individual learner too - he asked about individuals' progress I had forgotten the depth of accountability we had then - similarly I realised that we had all been engaged in reflection and teacher research without knowing these labels or getting an MA. Mind you - the MA that I worked for was crucial to my development as an A level teacher. I trained for secondary and worked in middle (and primary) for many years before I took on a post that entailed teaching French and Spanish to A level (in an upper school) The part time MA at London was focused on the Teaching of Modern Languages through Language and Literature and without it I very much doubt I could have taught successfully - I used the sessions at the IoE as a resource base for my classroom - emulating teaching strategies my tutors used in their seminars as well as researching teaching by reading. We were all practicising teachers in our group so there was a great deal of dialogue about skills values and understandings drawing on our day jobs! So - it wasn't a case of snobbery that brought me into studying for an MA - it was the easiest and most effective form of CPD - funded by the local authority... I had half a day per week release fom school to study too. I do worry about the quality of some MA study nowadays - as a tutor at one university I was obliged to work to a 52:1 student:tutor ratio - working part time I gave much more time BUT it was impossible for full time MA tutors to do likewise; it became conveyor belt supervision. This showed up by the model of tutoring that can be expressed as You just send me in the work on time and I'll tell you if it is wrong - you keep correcting it till I say it seems right... no time for mentoring, no time for personalised tutoring - I left rather than tutor like this... Sarah PS Did anyone read The Times today? The letters to the editor section caught my eye - how about quid pro quo re training career change bankers to be teachers in the 6 month scheme by training teachers to become bankers? The writer thought they'd do no worse! There was also an account there from a potential recruit to the 6 month training scheme. Did anyone see any other coverage in the press today? I wonder what the TES will say? --- On Wed, 3/11/09, Mike Bedwell <[log in to unmask]> wrote: From: Mike Bedwell <[log in to unmask]> |