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SS2 There’s an awful lot about etiquette of
trying to find out about the class back-
ground .....
This underlines not merely the etiquette of fact finding but the
way in which views of relevant knowledge differ within and between
schools affecting what counts as acceptable explanation. The rela-
tion of theory and practice in teacher education is not only the
vexed question of mismatch between schools and training institutions
but an often unexplicated dynamic in the affairs of schools. To
appreciate this dynamic and to work within it is an essential quality
for all teachers and one which should be a concern of initial train-
ing. The school group with its tutor and visiting tutor can enable
15
students to begin this work.
4 . 2 Nature of Pedagogy
Within
the Research Group the importance of some experiences over
. 16
Encounters
others for the students’ learning was emphasised.
with pupils, teachers
classrooms are obviously a part of initial
training but it was suggested that the PGCE ’course’ needed contact
and
intervention
in these areas.
The school group tutors'
active negotiations with the school to place
students with individual
pupils or with small groups which was shown
in the previous section
provides an example of such intervention.
Both intervention and
contact are facilitated by
formal
and informal meetings in
the school. The structure of the course enables a wide range of
the students' experiences to become an active part of professional
learning.