Exploring the influence of Intensive Training And Practice (ITAP) on student teachers’ pedagogical understanding and professional decision-making in practice

Copping, Adrian ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0257-297X (2024) Exploring the influence of Intensive Training And Practice (ITAP) on student teachers’ pedagogical understanding and professional decision-making in practice. In: TEAN (Teacher Education Advancement Network) Conference 2024, 22-23 May 2024, Manchester, UK. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

The Department for Education (England and Wales) has stated that from September 2024, Initial Teacher Education programmes must contain 20 days (postgraduate) and 30 days (undergraduate) of Intensive Training and Practice (ITAP). The aim, as Hewitt (2023) outlines is to intensify the focus on specific areas of pedagogy and strengthen the link between evidence and classroom practice. The National Institute of Teaching undertook a pilot project (2022-23) with four providers of Initial Teacher Education exploring the effectiveness of the ITAP approach to develop student teacher learning. This was evaluated by Marshall et al (2023) from Oxford MeasurEd. The findings related ostensibly to the design and management of the ITAPs and presented clear advice to providers. This paper reports on emerging findings from an ongoing small-scale enquiry, exploring the influence of the proposed ITAP structure (Introduce, analyse, prepare, enact, assess) on student teachers’ understanding and later enactment of pivotal pedagogies. Meijer et al (2011), cited by Allen and Wright (2014) highlight what they term a huge disparity between what is taught in teacher education programmes and what happens in the workplace. Therefore, this gulf can often be a barrier to effective practice enactment.

For this enquiry, as part of their programme, postgraduate primary students engaged with input on a key pedagogy per week (managing behaviour, adaptive teaching, assessment for learning, planning units of work). The following two days were in practice with focused tasks to contextualise the input, the fourth day involved a reflective, independent task. Focus group discussion with participants followed each four-day process. This was followed up with classroom observation of participants in assessed school placement and subsequent interview discussing the influence of the four-day process on enactment. Interviews also explored the influence of contextual factors on enactment. Early findings suggest that centre-based input does provide important frames of reference that help navigate the complexity of classroom interactions. Findings also suggest that where school ethos and aligned pedagogy coheres with centre-based input, student teachers are more easily able to occupy the ‘third space’ (Daza et al 2021) and adopt the hybrid role of learner and teacher more effectively. The enquiry aims to understand effective ways to implement the proposed structure and provide context-based evidence to support preparation for new teacher education programmes from September 2024.

Key References:
Allen, J. Wright, S. (2014) Integrating theory and practice in the pre-service teacher education practicum, Teachers and Teaching, 20:2: 136-151. Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13540602.2013.848568. (Accessed: 8 Dec 2023).
Daza, V. Gudmundsdottir, G. Lund, A. (2021). Partnerships as third spaces for professional practice in initial teacher education: A scoping review. Teaching and Teacher Education. 102: 10338: 1-14. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0742051X21000627. (Accessed: 8 Dec 2023).
Hewitt, D. (2023). Making sense of Intensive Training And Practice (ITAPs). [Online]. Available at: https://www.ucet.ac.uk/downloads/15246-Hewitt_MakingSenseOfITAPs_Feb2023.pdf (Accessed: 8 Dec 2023).
Marshall, L. Vidolova, D. Channa, A. Bashir Malik, S. Mackin, A. (2023). Intensive Training and Practice Pilot Evaluation Report. Available at: https://niot.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/Intensive_Training_and_Practice_Pilot_Evaluation_Report.pdf. (Accessed: 8 Dec 2023).
Meijer, P. de Graaf, G. & Meirink, J. (2011). Key experiences in student teachers’ development. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 17: 115–129. Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13540602.2011.538502. (Accessed: 8 Dec 2023).

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Departments:	Institute of Education > Primary PGCE
Additional Information:	Presentation 28 at this conference.
Depositing User:	Anna Lupton
Date Deposited:	19 Jun 2024 16:14
Last Modified:	19 Jun 2024 16:15
URI:	https://insight.cumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/7746

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