Confidence, risk, and the journey into praxis: work-based learning and teacher development

Iredale, Alison, Orr, Kevin, Bailey, Wayne and Wormald, Jane (2013) Confidence, risk, and the journey into praxis: work-based learning and teacher development. Journal of Education for Teaching, 39 (2). pp. 197-208. ISSN 0260-7476

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Abstract

This article examines the relationship between confidence and risk in relation to the initial education and continuing professional development of teachers. The context for this examination is the Lifelong Learning sector in England, which sits between secondary schools and universities, and the discussion is illustrated with data gathered from trainee teachers in this sector. Understandings of confidence are considered and it is argued that the inculcation of confidence through risk-taking is important for new teachers in their journey to praxis. Confidence, whether seen as imbued in the self or as inculcated through professional training and development, correlates with both the new teacher’s vulnerability and their capacity to take risks. Central to the inculcation of confidence are the opportunities available to teachers as they develop, which are circumscribed by the conditions and expectations of their teacher education course and their workplace. The article concludes by arguing that the transformative potential of critical engagement with professional knowledge on teacher education courses and through work-based learning should be balanced with the need for the good and appropriate time necessary for the risky political act of reflection, not merely the immediate technical evaluation of practice.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	L Education > L Education (General)
Schools:	School of Education and Professional Development School of Education and Professional Development > Centre of Lifelong Learning and Social Justice School of Education and Professional Development > Centre of Lifelong Learning and Social Justice > Teaching, Public Pedagogies and Professionalism Research Group School of Education and Professional Development > Centre of Lifelong Learning and Social Justice > Technology Enhanced Learning Research Group
Related URLs:	Author
Depositing User:	Kevin Orr
Date Deposited:	21 Feb 2013 16:41
Last Modified:	01 Dec 2016 12:17
URI:	http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/16735

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