Abstract: Unlike schoolteacher training, there has, until recently, been no agreed set of outcomes for initial training for higher education teachers in the United Kingdom. The voluntary but widely adopted Staff and Educational Development Association (SEDA) Accreditation Scheme has provided a common set of outcomes and in 1999 the Institute for Learning and Teaching announced its standards for professional accreditation. Research reported here suggests that trainers have widely divergent views about what their training is attempting to achieve, even where they operate within a common accreditation framework. They also have multiple goals within the same programme. Trainers' views about outcomes are mapped on to available conceptual frameworks about what developing as a higher education teacher involves. Measures of many of these outcomes are readily available but rarely used. A research programme to evaluate the actual outcomes of training in higher education is outlined.

Abstract: At a time of growing interest in suitable forms of education and training for university teachers, the article intends to explore the proposition that teaching portfolios can provide evidence of how novice university teachers think and practise. It is argued that the context in which teaching portfolios are produced is critical. In this case, the context is a programme for new teachers at the University of Keele, United Kingdom, which encourages a critical and reflective approach to learning to teach. Eight teaching portfolios of new teachers from the same discipline were analysed by two researchers for evidence of type of conceptions of teaching and of reflective practice. It was found that, contrary to the characteristics of new teachers outlined in a range of literature, these novice teachers held student-focused conceptions of teaching and made efforts to operationalise them in teaching practices. The new teachers were self-critical, and reviewed and modified their teaching; some reported cha...

Abstract: This article is a contribution to an ongoing debate in the United Kingdom about the value and impact of educational research. Specifically it focuses upon educational research carried out by teachers in school when they work in a partnership relationship with university-based researchers from a School of Education. The occupational culture of each of these professional groups differs, and the likelihood within a partnership for difference to be magnified and for misunderstanding and tension to arise are manifold. In attempting to explain how educational research is viewed from the perspective of each other's occupational culture, the hope is that greater understanding will give rise to partnerships that prove fruitful for both teacher researchers in school and for professional researchers from Higher Education.

Abstract: Teachers' portfolios are emerging as a significant tool for professional development and assessment of competence. What teachers choose to include in their portfolios is often a function of external factors, such as what is publicly rewarded and valued as good performance. This article reports on an extension of research conducted in South Africa and Israel on the specific reflections teachers report about their own portfolios. Teachers were invited to indicate what they would include in their portfolios of performance and learning, to write reflections on what they see as evidence for professional growth, and to indicate how these inclusions are valued. The article reports on a comparative analysis of these reflections. The purpose is to develop an understanding of differences (and similarities) in terms of socio-political realities and broader educational culture. A comparative analysis drawn on interviews and portfolio entry data indicate similarities in the way teachers view good teaching, an...

Abstract: Powerful arguments have already been made for supporting new teaching assistants, and there now needs to be a framework in which this can develop within the present United Kingdom context set by the Dearing Report and the creation of the Institute for Learning and Teaching. The framework presented here is based on an underpinning model of how teachers of higher education develop and prominent theories of how professionals learn. In addition, the framework is designed to account for the wide variation in graduate teaching assistants' roles and responsibilities and the increasing acceptance and importance of gaining accreditation. The framework is illustrated through its development and implementation at the University of Plymouth.

Abstract: There is an ever growing number of part-time teachers in higher education. This is raising concerns about how they are prepared for, and supported in, their teaching role. The main findings of a study of good practice in the preparation and support of part-time teachers in Scottish higher education are summarised. Four broad areas of support are analysed: institutional policies and practices; formal preparation programmes (e.g. workshops); systems for monitoring and evaluation; and formal and informal support measures in academic departments. The key processes and the problematic issues in each of these four areas are discussed and suggestions are made about the way forward. Other recent research on the preparation of part-time teachers is also discussed.

Abstract: This article reports on a research project that investigated issues of teachers' rofessional knowledge and development by examining aspects of the writing they are required to produce as part of their study of postgraduate continuing professional development courses in universities. The project was informed by recent research and scholarship in the field of academic literacy. The analysis focuses on two elements of the data collected: interviews with a small sample of teachers studying within the Open University MA in Education programme, as well as with their tutors, and a sample of students' written assignments. Case studies are presented of two teachers studying within the programme. Within these case studies, data are analysed using the following organising themes: continuity with previous experience of writing, ‘learning to write’ vs. ‘writing to learn’, and tutor feedback. The article concludes with a discussion of the professional, methodological and theoretical issues raised by the research.

Abstract: This article investigates the possibility of changing confidence about and understanding of the teaching of process skills in primary science involving a group of 30 teachers from 15 primary schools. Process skills (often termed AT1 in England) were considered a suitable area to investigate as they are viewed as vital skills for the future citizen. Prior to the intervention described in this article the teachers claimed great confidence concerning process skills, but showed a poor ability to recognise them or to rate their significance in practical work. Afterwards, the teachers showed a significant improvement in their ability to recognise skills and determine whether they were important or not in given tasks. Their confidence had, on average, fallen across the skills considered. However, their comments suggested that they attributed this to a clearer appreciation of the subject. They now knew what they did not know. There was no evidence of any strong link between confidence and understanding e...

Abstract: This article explores the concept of professionalism in teaching and the facilitation of learning in United Kingdom higher education. Examination of the sociological literature on professionalism and the activities of currently established professional bodies suggest that the control of standards of performance and control of the right to practise are the defining characteristics. A consideration of the present and projected situation in higher education suggests that regulation by a professional body of the right to practise will become increasingly difficult to implement. However, the articulation of professional standards of performance, for an increasingly varied student population, poses a significant challenge for the membership of the newly created Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (the first professional body created in this area), whose results will benefit both the higher education community and the external stakeholders in higher education.

Abstract: The article explores the changing place of research in teachers' professional development Starting with the rise of the action research movement in the late 1960s, it traces various versions of partnership in research up to the present time It argues that current initiatives present more favourable opportunities for teachers' professional development through research than was previously the case A stakeholder approach to research in which teachers act as partners with other users of education in determining, carrying out and evaluating a research agenda is advocated

Abstract: Recent reports in the media about the motivation of teachers in United Kingdom higher education have focused on the pressures created by more students, fewer tutors and shrinking resources. Commentators on the changing experience of teachers in higher education note that morale is widely agreed to be low, but also that the commitment of academic staff, regardless of perceptions of morale, is strong. In order to explore this paradox, a small-scale study was undertaken of the attitudes of two groups of academics to their work. Tutors from a large urban post-1992 university and from an FE/HE Institute were found to have negative responses to many aspects of their jobs, but to be firmly committed to teaching. This research appears to support the application of Hertzberg and Hill's theoretical models of job satisfaction to the work of teachers in higher education.

Abstract: Studies over the last 30 years have shown that academic staff worldwide share many perceptions regarding the satisfactions and dissatisfactions of their jobs. Although academic values appear to be remarkably constant, emerging data from research projects at one Australian university indicate that there is a mismatch between the expectations of new academics (the myths of the academy) and the reality they experience in the academic workplace. At another level of the university, there is a perception that the traditions and practices of the past retard the progress of universities into the new millennium. In Australia, there have been many challenges to an idealized view of academe since requirements for quality, accountability, efficiency and effectiveness have been superimposed onto the ‘massification’ and internationalisation of higher education (concurrent with a reduction in government funding). This article reports on the perspectives of a sample of new academic members of one Australian univ...

Abstract: This study looks at attitudes to the aims of practical work of science teachers in England, and makes a comparison between surveys in 1979 and 1997. The correlation between attitudinal ratings is remarkably high and indicates minor changes between the two dates. Further extrapolation back to 1962 and an earlier study carried out by Kerr, leads to the tentative conclusion that science teachers aims for practical work have not changed that much over the past 35 years. Such apparent conservatism is explained in terms of the continuity of the science teacher's central task. Differences in ratings can be associated with changing demands of curricular fashion such as those introduced by Science in the National Curriculum.

Abstract: While both the scale and nature of current changes within universities may be contested, especially with regard to teaching, change is definitely taking place. The issue of what and how to teach is helping to drive change, aided by moves towards student-centred and flexible learning and the use of new and emerging educational media. However, teaching staff within universities often feel disconnected from the process and unable to understand or cope with change. This article examines some of the forces of change and outlines how staff can be educated, supported and rewarded with respect to their teaching responsibilities. In particular, it argues that the strategies employed should focus on reforming reward structures and on professional development to ensure that solutions to teaching and learning challenges are not technology-driven.

Abstract: The role of the mathematics coordinator has become increasingly demanding over the last 10 years. Implementing the National Numeracy Strategy (NNS) means that now all coordinators must come to terms with delivering In-Service Education for Teachers (INSET) sessions, monitoring the classroom teaching of their colleagues, sharing subject expertise, as well as coordinating their work with the local education authority (LEA) NNS consultants. This article reports on research which includes a focus on how some coordinators are coping with these demands – at the aspects of the role they find problematic, the nature and causes of their difficulties, and also at the way in which they are growing in confidence and relishing the new challenges they are encountering. Six characteristics of coordination and the whole school environment in which the coordinators work are identified as facilitating their role as agents of change – the coordinators' enthusiasm for the role; their vision of goals and ways of work...

Abstract: The growing interest in the analysis of academic expertise in higher education in the United Kingdom is noted Some key terms are defined Interest is largely explained by central government concern to increase productivity Equal pay legislation and a desire to professionalise aspects of academic work may also play a part All analyses contain contestable beliefs and values Analysis is likely to conceal as much as it reveals The analysis of academic expertise is inevitably problematic, because of diversity in the sector, difficulties in describing academic activity definitively and ambivalence in the sector about the status of some academic roles Functional analysis, now the dominant form, has undoubted strengths, but does not capture some of the complexity of cademic expertise, and is therefore of limited value in this field

Abstract: What does a long-term mentoring relationship look like? How does it differ from short-term ones? How does it affect the individuals involved? In this article, the authors explore their experiences and perceptions regarding their mentoring relationship – that spans more than 15 years – with respect to issues of effective mentoring found in the literature. The longevity of this mentoring relationship is due, in part, to the reciprocal nature of the mentoring process. That is, the authors discovered that they each take on the responsibilities and characteristics of both Telemachus and Mentor.

Abstract: This article reports research on the experience of a group of post-primary teachers in Northern Ireland who undertook the Postgraduate Certificate in Expert Teaching (Mentorship Training). The main objectives were to enable teachers to develop professionally through the use of a critical friend approach, to involve the school in a mentorship development programme, and to train teachers to provide support for student and beginning teachers. The teachers perceived an improvement in teaching and learning at individual, departmental and whole school level because of their development as reflective practitioners, enhanced teamwork through discussion and an increased understanding of the purpose of the mentoring programme.

Abstract: This essay aims to identify and discuss key professional development issues such as accountability, professional identity, and knowledge and self-determination, to offer views from the perspective of Higher Education and to comment on the state of affairs in Continuing Professional Development (CPD) at a time when there is a major review of provision and funding. It aims to link these issues to Day's recent publication, Developing Teachers: the challenges of lifelong learning.

Abstract: Concern has been expressed for a number of years in the press and inside United Kingdom universities about the small number of women who are in senior positions in university teaching, research and administration, despite having achieved considerable academic success during almost half a century of equal educational opportunities; and, since publication of the Sex Discrimination Act in 1975, recourse to the law in cases of alleged discrimination in the workplace. The staff development programmes for women which are described have been seen as one response to addressing this imbalance. The article outlines the rationale for the initiatives and identifies some of the issues within the culture of higher education which are of particular relevance to women. Some of the challenges which have been raised to the concept of ‘women only’ courses are considered and some questions raised about the future format and focus of such programmes.

Abstract: This article presents the results of an enquiry into the perceptions of Foreign Native Speakers who choose to train in England to become teachers of Modern Foreign Languages. The data was gathered from questionnaires and interviews with trainees enrolled on courses of initial teacher training. The empirical research focused on their reasons for training in the United Kingdom, and the factors that had influenced their cultural adjustment and development as student teachers. The findings revealed that trainees adapted relatively easily to the institution-based element of their training with a larger number experiencing adjustment problems in the school-based element. It was, however, the school-based element, which trainees found to be the most rewarding with a high percentage of trainees completing the course. Factors contributing to their successful development are explored as are the implications for training institutions, partner schools, and those concerned with teacher recruitment and supply.

Abstract: One of the more challenging aspects of training teachers is demonstrating that assessment is a great deal more complex than simply marking students' work. It is necessary to show that assessment takes a number of forms, that it is used for a variety of purposes, and that it must be applied in a systematic and structured way in order to be effective. This article describes the techniques used at the Institute of Education, University of London, to encourage training teachers to look at assessment in a new way. The whole-year programme is outlined, but emphasis is placed on an introductory session held at the start of the course. Ostensibly a simple ice-breaking exercise, the game in fact demonstrates many of the pit-falls of assessment and brings to life terms that the trainees will encounter more formally later on in the course.

Abstract: The central theme of this article concerns the impact of 'market forces' in the management of schools by investigating the extent to which headteachers increasingly see themselves as chief executives whose success is measured by buoyant enrolments, above average league tables and a healthy balance sheet. This model contrasts with a more traditional perception of their role as leading professionals whose practice is efficient in the business sense, but also informed by an underlying set of professional values and knowledge. Action research and interviews with heads were used for the investigation.

Abstract: The aim of this article is to understand and analyse the conceptions of prospective and practising teachers who are currently carrying out different kinds of educational activities at the University of Alicante, as a first step in the implementation of methodological strategies based on social learning. The thoughts and conceptions that were analysed refer to basic concepts related to professional activity, such as knowledge and learning. The results suggest that the conceptions of the participants about learning do not include the idea of social learning.