School-led Initial Teacher Training: Why are schools so attracted to the idea of ‘growing their own teachers’?

School-led Initial Teacher Training (ITT) is not a new concept, the current position of schools in ITT has been developed in line with government neoliberal agendas since the 1980s. The origins of school-led ITT, however, can be traced back to the Monitorial system of the early nineteenth century wh...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Joanne Hill
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The International Education Studies Association 2023-06-01
Series:Educational Futures
Subjects:
Online Access:https://educationstudies.org.uk/?p=20860
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849709134418542592
author Joanne Hill
author_facet Joanne Hill
author_sort Joanne Hill
collection DOAJ
description School-led Initial Teacher Training (ITT) is not a new concept, the current position of schools in ITT has been developed in line with government neoliberal agendas since the 1980s. The origins of school-led ITT, however, can be traced back to the Monitorial system of the early nineteenth century where teacher helpers were drawn from more able pupils, replaced in 1846 by the Victorian Pupil-Teacher model (Dent, 1977). This paper focuses specifically on one recent school-led model, School Direct (SD), which promoted schools’ role in recruiting, training and employing teachers as a means of ‘growing their own’. The paper problematises notions of ‘growing your own’, questioning why ‘growing’ teachers has become a seemingly attractive model for schools. The research basis for the paper drew on data from sixteen participants across four Teaching School Alliances (TSAs) which are school networks who developed and led SD training routes. It embraced multiple stakeholders’ lenses, including both those involved in, and those experiencing training. My findings conclude that there can be much advantage for schools in ‘growing’ teachers who know and can deliver school pedagogies from the start of their ECT year. However, this purpose of growing your own is very school-centred giving insufficient consideration of training teachers’ needs. For trainees, SD experiences can be very uncomfortable, they describe the subjectivity of being ‘moulded’ to fit within schools’ specific settings along with feelings of powerlessness to challenge pressures exerted on them. This paper concludes by challenging both the concept and practice of ‘growing your own’ teachers, and questions the risk this poses for the teaching profession’s systemic needs, as well as issues for the children it serves.
format Article
id doaj-art-6760d9cb531c4dbda9f3693d2a6a2f47
institution DOAJ
issn 1758-2199
language English
publishDate 2023-06-01
publisher The International Education Studies Association
record_format Article
series Educational Futures
spelling doaj-art-6760d9cb531c4dbda9f3693d2a6a2f472025-08-20T03:15:24ZengThe International Education Studies AssociationEducational Futures1758-21992023-06-01141530School-led Initial Teacher Training: Why are schools so attracted to the idea of ‘growing their own teachers’?Joanne Hill0Newman University, UKSchool-led Initial Teacher Training (ITT) is not a new concept, the current position of schools in ITT has been developed in line with government neoliberal agendas since the 1980s. The origins of school-led ITT, however, can be traced back to the Monitorial system of the early nineteenth century where teacher helpers were drawn from more able pupils, replaced in 1846 by the Victorian Pupil-Teacher model (Dent, 1977). This paper focuses specifically on one recent school-led model, School Direct (SD), which promoted schools’ role in recruiting, training and employing teachers as a means of ‘growing their own’. The paper problematises notions of ‘growing your own’, questioning why ‘growing’ teachers has become a seemingly attractive model for schools. The research basis for the paper drew on data from sixteen participants across four Teaching School Alliances (TSAs) which are school networks who developed and led SD training routes. It embraced multiple stakeholders’ lenses, including both those involved in, and those experiencing training. My findings conclude that there can be much advantage for schools in ‘growing’ teachers who know and can deliver school pedagogies from the start of their ECT year. However, this purpose of growing your own is very school-centred giving insufficient consideration of training teachers’ needs. For trainees, SD experiences can be very uncomfortable, they describe the subjectivity of being ‘moulded’ to fit within schools’ specific settings along with feelings of powerlessness to challenge pressures exerted on them. This paper concludes by challenging both the concept and practice of ‘growing your own’ teachers, and questions the risk this poses for the teaching profession’s systemic needs, as well as issues for the children it serves.https://educationstudies.org.uk/?p=20860being ‘moulded’career pathwaygrowing your ownittschool directschool readyspecific settingsteaching school alliancestheory and practice
spellingShingle Joanne Hill
School-led Initial Teacher Training: Why are schools so attracted to the idea of ‘growing their own teachers’?
Educational Futures
being ‘moulded’
career pathway
growing your own
itt
school direct
school ready
specific settings
teaching school alliances
theory and practice
title School-led Initial Teacher Training: Why are schools so attracted to the idea of ‘growing their own teachers’?
title_full School-led Initial Teacher Training: Why are schools so attracted to the idea of ‘growing their own teachers’?
title_fullStr School-led Initial Teacher Training: Why are schools so attracted to the idea of ‘growing their own teachers’?
title_full_unstemmed School-led Initial Teacher Training: Why are schools so attracted to the idea of ‘growing their own teachers’?
title_short School-led Initial Teacher Training: Why are schools so attracted to the idea of ‘growing their own teachers’?
title_sort school led initial teacher training why are schools so attracted to the idea of growing their own teachers
topic being ‘moulded’
career pathway
growing your own
itt
school direct
school ready
specific settings
teaching school alliances
theory and practice
url https://educationstudies.org.uk/?p=20860
work_keys_str_mv AT joannehill schoolledinitialteachertrainingwhyareschoolssoattractedtotheideaofgrowingtheirownteachers