Sérsniðið framhaldsnám grunnskólakennara: starfsþróun fagstéttar eða praktískt nám til almennra kennslustarfa?

Abstract

Frá því að Kennaraháskóli Íslands öðlaðist lagaheimild til að útskrifa kennara með framhaldsgráður háskólanáms árið 1988 hefur þar verið boðið upp á fjölmargar leiðir í framhaldsnámi og starfsþróun kennara og fleiri stétta. Vorið 2014 stóð Menntavísindasvið Háskóla Íslands fyrir könnun meðal grunnskólakennara með bakkalárgráðu í samstarfi við Kennarasamband Íslands. Spurt var um æskilegt inntak og skipulag framhaldsnáms, hugsanlega hvata til að sækja slíkt nám og hvernig mætti útfæra það. Af 734 svörum mátti ráða að umtalsverður áhugi væri á slíku framhaldsnámi. Haustið 2015 hófu 35 starfandi kennarar sérsniðið framhaldsnám byggt á niðurstöðum könnunarinnar og stefnu Háskóla Íslands um meistaranám grunnskólakennara. Hér er greint frá rannsókn á viðhorfum og reynslu þeirra sem sóttu hið sérsniðna nám á tímabilinu 2015 til 2019. Sjónum var beint að samhenginu milli fræða (teoríu) og starfs á vettvangi (praxis), hugmyndum þátttakenda um eigin fagmennsku og fagvitund og hugmyndum um möguleika og þarfir á starfsþróun. Niðurstöður benda til þess að tengsl fræða við starfið á vettvangi séu óskýr þegar kemur að starfsþróun og tilteknir þættir í kerfinu hindri jafnvel eðlilega þróun fagmennsku og fagvitundar kennara. Þar ber helst að nefna margþættar væntingar til starfsins og óljósar hugmyndir um það í hvers þágu starfsþróun kennara ætti að vera.

This article addresses continuing professional development among experienced compulsory school teachers. In May 2014 a survey was conducted among practicing elementary and lower-secondary school teachers, where 734 participants gave answers to questions about a specially organised master’s program. The program was offered to all experienced teachers in elementary and lower-secondary schools, who had not finished a master’s degree.

Nearly 80% confirmed that they were interested in the program, most arguing that it would strengthen their professional status, they would become more qualified in their professional environment and increase the possibilities of promotions in their work. When asked what kind of contents they would prefer, most participants answered that they wanted to develop their skills regarding ICT and knowledge about general literacy, mathematical literacy and science literacy. Furthermore, many said they needed to strengthen their competence regarding assessment and testing, arts and crafts and, finally, there was considerable interest in inclusive education.

The first cohort that started the program in 2015 comprised 35 participants. According to official directives the program was defined as education on a second higher education cycle including a final master’s thesis of 30 ECTS. The purpose of this paper is to give an insight into the experience of those first participants in the program. University teachers involved in the program were also interviewed.

The first problem organisers had to deal with was how to adjust this new program to the prescribed learning outcomes included in the M.Ed. program for general teacher education. The second hurdle was the fact that most of the students had not attended academic education for some time so they were not expected to be as well prepared for the theoretical part as regular students attending teacher education. Thirdly, the program was offered to teachers working full time in the field, some needing to travel a long way to attend courses at the university. Finally the organisers had to consider the university’s policy in adopting the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) stressing defined competences regarding teachers’ learning outcomes with respect to praxis and theory.

Data comprised interviews and questionnaires. Collection started with the survey mentioned above. Collection of qualitative data took place in March and April 2017 featuring interviews with six students and five university teachers. Finally, a questionnaire was sent to all those who still participated in the program in spring 2019. All this data was organised and analysed from which three main themes emerged, leading to the results.

The first theme concerned questions about theory versus praxis. The results indicated that some believed there was a good balance between theory and praxis, but it turned out to be a stronger belief among participants that courses were too theoretical and there was a call for more praxis. The results indicate that participants believe empirical experience in the field (cf. McDonough, 2012) is an important precondition for combining theory and practice. The second theme concerned professionalism and professional identity. According to the findings professional identity appears to be declining and the notion of conceiving teaching as a ʻjobʼ seems stronger than conceiving it as a ʻprofession ʼ. The third theme was professional development, and questions about how to organise it and for whom? According to literature and research regarding professional development, the kind of education offered here has been considered an important part of a three step model of teacher development (Donaldson, 2010); firstly, initial teacher education; secondly, enculturation into the field of practice and; thirdly, actual life-long professional development. Results indicate that after being employed as teachers, most participants appear to find themselves trapped in a ʻjobʼ that needs to be done rather than having joined a community of ʻprofessionalsʼ. Opportunities for professional promotion and development seem hard to find, and lack of support from the environment, especially from administrators and local authorities, was confirmed.