Four spheres of knowledge required: an international study of the professional development of literacy/English teacher educators

Abstract

This paper reports on a research study of 28 literacy teacher educators (LTE) in four countries: Canada, the USA, England and Australia. It identifies three main forms of professional development: informal, formal and communities of practice and four spheres of knowledge: research; pedagogy of higher education; literacy and literacy teaching; and current school district and government initiatives. The study reveals the sheer scale of knowledge required to be an effective LTE and demonstrates how participants used the three forms of professional development to enhance their knowledge in each sphere. It concludes that the professional development of teacher educators is not conducted systematically; rather, it is quite ad hoc with much of it occurring through learning while doing. All had to construct their own programmes for professional development, which added yet another layer to their responsibilities.

Reference

Kosnik, C, Menna, L., Dharamshi, P., Miyata, C. Cleovolou, Y., & Beck, C. (2015). Four spheres of knowledge required: an international study of the professional development of literacy/English teacher educators. Journal of Education for Teaching, 41(1), 52-77.

Journal

Journal of Education for Teaching

Analysis

Is this article part of a larger project or series of studies?

Does this study draw on a large, preexisting data set?

Research Approach

Qualitiative

Geographic Setting

Australia
Canada
United Kingdom
United States

Institutional Context

University based

Certification Level

Not stated

Programatic Focus

English Language Arts (ELA)

Research Location Context

Courses related to English language arts
Multi-sited (across universities)

Preservice Participants

None

Preservice Sample Size

Other Participant Data

Teacher Educators

Duration of Data Collection

6 months

Data Sources

Interviews

Data Analysis Tools

grounded theory
NVivo software

Researcher Positionality

Outside (not directly invested in the program or operations)

Research Questions

What kinds of knowledge do Literacy Teacher Educators (LTEs) need?
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Yes

In what forms of professional development do Literacy Teacher Educators (LTEs) engage?
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Yes