Initial teacher education in England and the Covid-19 pandemic: challenges and opportunities

la Velle, L, Newman, S, Montgomery, C and Hyatt, D (2020) 'Initial teacher education in England and the Covid-19 pandemic: challenges and opportunities.' Journal of Education for Teaching, 46 (4). pp. 596-608. ISSN 0260-7476

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2020.1803051

Abstract

This paper examines the impact and implications on initial teacher education (ITE) of the crisis brought about by the Covid-19 lockdown of schools and universities from the perspectives of four university providers in England. The start of the pandemic meant that, in England, schools were closed to all but vulnerable pupils and the children of ‘key workers’, and so the normal placements of students in teacher education (ITE students) could not continue. The ‘virtualisation’ of the ITE programmes by, in some cases, both schools and universities, raised significant issues of both equity and pedagogy. The loss of time on school placement had the effect of lost opportunities for practising teaching but increasing the time for reading and reflection. We consider the effects on a teacher education programme when the practicum experience is abruptly curtailed, yet the programme is able to continue in a different way. We present a model framework for a new digital pedagogy for ITE and discuss the opportunities and affordances available as the post-Covid educational landscape emerges, and suggest that the Covid-19 crisis provides an opportunity to reflect on the idea that practicum experience may be a necessary but not, in itself, a sufficient condition for teacher learning.

Item Type: Article
Keywords: teacher education, post-covid-19, digital pedagogy, knowledge enhancement framework
Divisions: School of Education
Research Centres and Groups: Research Centre on Policy, Pedagogy and Practice in Education (PPP)
UoA: Education
Identification Number: https://doi.org/10.1080/02607476.2020.1803051
Date Deposited: 22 Sep 2020 17:24
Last Modified: 16 May 2022 11:16
URI / Page ID: https://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/id/eprint/13512
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