This chapter comprises a summary of the pilot study to highlight lessons learned
and to provide a rationale for the refocus of the main and in the context of a
changing landscape of teacher training.
The pilot study was a retrospective case study where key participants in a
successful teacher training year were invited to reflect on factors they perceived
contributed to the outcome. The successful outcome was that a trainee teacher on
the Graduate Teacher Programme (GTP) achieved grades of outstanding in all four
categories of the Ofsted grading criteria (2009) used at the time for assessing
trainees (Appendix A). The key participants in the case study were: the former
trainee, who was then an NQT in the same school; the school-based mentor who
supported him in the training year; and the headteacher. Three sets of interviews,
conducted over a six month period, were undertaken to allow for recursive data
analysis to promote exploration of key categories in greater depth.
As each set of interviews was analysed and explored in further depth in the next set
of interviews the crucial role of the headteacher in the successful outcome began to
emerge. Table 4.1 records the perceptions of each of the participants of the role of
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Table 4.1: Summary of respondents’ perceptions of the role of the headteacher
Headteacher School-based mentor Former Trainee
Headteacher Provided time Used funds appropriately Ensured SBT was competent Spoke with SBT and GT
Observed and fed back Advised, supported, encouraged Advised Made my role possible Support Value what I do Open Advised Warm Supportive Made me feel wanted
The headteacher believed it was her role to take a strategic lead in establishing a
climate in which the training could thrive. The school-based mentor acknowledged
this by noting that it was the headteacher who made her role possible. The former
trainee welcomed the support of the headteacher but it was his remark about the
headteacher making him feel wanted which was most interesting – he perceived
that the headteacher made him feel part of the school and that she welcomed
teacher training in her school. There was a sense here of the crucial role of the
headteacher in teacher training in the school.
The headteacher believed that each of the participants needed to contribute to a
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Table 4.2: Summary of headteacher’s perceptions of the roles of key participants
Headteacher School-based mentor Former trainee
Headteacher Provided time Used funds appropriately Ensured SBT was competent Spoke with SBT and GT
Observed and fed back Advised, supported, encouraged Commitment to support adult learner
Valued the role Willing to train Rigorous with training plan Consistent in judgements and with external moderations Wanted to be a teacher Reflected Open Listened Willing to try things Willing to seek advice
Put the hours in
The headteacher believed the school based mentor’s role was: to be
knowledgeable about teaching and teacher training; and be willing and able to
share that knowledge. The headteacher wanted the trainee to work hard and to be
open but she also wanted the trainee to be committed to teaching – to want to be
a teacher.
In identifying the three most important contributors to the successful outcome of
the training year studied, the headteacher believed these comprised: the school
ethos which supported and included all those involved; the selection of a
competent and confident school-based mentor who was given time to undertake
her role; and the commitment of the trainee to doing his best during the training
year.
In reflecting on the findings of the pilot study and particularly on the emergence of
the participants’ perceptions that the headteacher had played a critical role in the
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main study. These reflections were supported by proposed changes to teacher
training where trainees were to spend more of a training year in school and where
schools were to take greater responsibilities for teacher training. Discussions on
these changes were a frequent part of my professional life at this time. Originally I
had intended the main study would explore the perceptions of experienced
members of staff, in a number of primary schools, of how schools could support
trainee teachers, focusing on the community of practice involved in the training in
the schools. However as a primary school headteacher myself and now a university
academic working in the teacher training field I wanted to make the outcomes of
my research as useful as possible. I therefore decided to adjust the focus away from
the community of practice itself to the context that might facilitate such a
community. Therefore I aimed to question headteachers, as lead experts in the
community, about contextual issues including:
Their beliefs on the attributes of teachers they perceive to be fit to practise in their schools
Their perceptions of the most effective routes to train primary school
teachers to be the kind of teachers the headteachers wish to employ in their
schools
What resources and systems they believe a primary school needs to have or create to train teachers
Whether they believe a primary school can meet all the needs of a trainee teacher and if not what other systems/resources are required
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Their perceptions of the role and use in teacher training of the external benchmarks of the Teachers’ Standards and the Ofsted grading criteria for
trainee teachers which was used for making judgement on the quality of
teaching
The main study used a similar methodology to the pilot study. It was an
interpretivist study using a grounded theory approach. The use of semi-structured
interviews had been tested in the pilot and found to be an effective way to gather
data. The main study took the conclusions of the pilot study in respect of the
climate that was conducive to teacher training, which were from one primary
school, and probed these in twelve primary schools to explore whether these
supported the training of the teachers fit to practise by examining whether the
conclusions of the pilot study reflected the perceptions of headteachers in other
schools. Data were gathered by means of interviews which were thematically
analysed with the aim of creating thick description of participants’ experiences and
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