ABSTRACT
The focus of the thesis is research carried out in 1981-82 into the
structure and process of an innovative form of teacher education,
the Alternative Course, in the London University Institute of Education.
Four themes are emphasised:
i) the responsiveness of PGCE course structures;
ii) the pedagogy which informs them and the extent to which
it enables active learning to take place.
iii) the extent to which the PGCE is receptive to students’
past experience and future expectations;
iv) the nature of reflection and theorising in initial teacher
education.
The themes are analysed and developed from the transcripts of fifteen
discussions which took place in three School Groups throughout the
year. The data is presented sequentially to allow examination of
the salience
of
themes
during
each phase of
the course.
The nature of the research and the mode of analysis was developed
during a pilot phase 1979-80 when a group of PGCE Alternative Course
students
met
as
the Research Group to discuss
their experience.
These findings are presented on microfiche and are
referred to
throughout the empirical chapters.
The basis of the Alternative Course and the research on it is the
development of partnership between the training institution and
the
school.
The
importance
of understanding new modes of working
as
well as new structures is emphasised as an essential precursor to
any fundamental change in teacher education. Recent research upon
the PGCE is examined to enable an understanding of the situation
faced by teacher educators in Universities who face the necessity
for changes which are distinct from their present practice. Attention
is drawn to the relationship of research to the requirements of a
professional audience who are
The conclusion considers the
involved in change and development.
applicability of the findings presented
to the development of teacher
education based upon partnership.