Reclaiming Initial Teacher Education in universities: Moving beyond a technicist model

Abstract

Recent policy developments in England, particularly since 2021, have resulted in increased regulation and marketisation of Initial Teacher Training (ITT)/Initial Teacher Education (ITE). Although the origins of these developments go back much further than 2021, the current context in which ITE operates in England is, arguably, both challenging and unstable. Since 2010, the Government has increased the involvement of schools in ITE, creating an unstable climate for those who work in ITE in universities, through the School Direct initiative. School-Centred Initial teacher Training (SCITT) routes also precede this. The involvement of schools in ITE in England has extended to schools taking a leading role in the recruitment, selection and training of teachers and these developments have also, in some quarters, resulted in an anti-intellectual, anti-theoretical and anti-university discourse, which has been damaging to universities. This paper argues that current policy developments in ITE are reductionist and technicist and makes a case for the role of universities in ITE.