Site-Based Teacher Education as a Context for Attending to the Complexity and Person-Centred Nature of Teaching and Learning: A Narrative Inquiry Involving Teacher Educators from Australia and the United States

Abstract

While research suggests that those who graduate from site-based teacher education programs are better prepared to teach (Darling-Hammond and Baratz-Snowden 2007), (Zeichner 2012) reminds us that advocates of practice-based teacher education “give insufficient attention to other aspects of teaching that are fundamentally important to improving the quality of teaching” (p. 376). This narrative inquiry foregrounds stories told by teacher educators who work within site-based teacher education programs separated by vast distances (one in Australia and the other in the United States). While the university and school contexts differ in some cultural respects, there are fundamental similarities between the site-based programs which have emerged through responsive, social, dynamic processes. Theory/practice connections are heightened through a focus on movement between diverse spaces and learning from different voices; critical attention to teaching and learning situations; the use of experiential learning processes; and the ongoing commitment and passion of those who work behind the scenes to develop and maintain partnerships. We write narratively about significant experiences related to site-based teacher education and as a ‘response community’ (2013) demonstrate the way improvement occurs through interaction. We examine the challenges associated with measuring the impact of site-based teacher education; however, argue that the experiential and critically responsive processes central in our programs prepare pre-service teachers for the complex system of schooling (Cochran-Smith et al. 2014) and its person-centred nature (Fielding 2006).