Beth Dickson, deputy head of the School of Education at the University of Glasgow, will give a talk in which she will describe efforts to help new teachers improve their
practice. The March 5 talk is entitled “The end of ‘sink or swim?’ Clinical approaches to teacher preparation in the early phase” and is part of the School of Education’s “Research and Practice Series” brown bag lunches.
The talk will be held in Peabody 02, starting at noon.
Dickson will describe work at the University of Glasgow to develop new approaches to teacher preparation in the early part of their careers. Those approaches include school-based seminars, learning rounds that include peer observation with facilitated expert conversation and joint assessment. During practicums, university tutors work full time in a cluster of schools to support students in learning to teach. The project is in its third cycle of development, with evaluations of the first two phases having been completed.
In her talk, Dickson will examine the evidence of the program’s effect on the experience of student teachers, classroom teachers, university tutors, local administrators and university managers.
Dickson has worked extensively in initial teacher education in teaching, research and management. Over the last seven years she has led changes to her school’s one-year preparation program and is now working on a redesign of the four-year program. Her research interests are in teacher education in the early phase. She is the author of “Education and the Arts” and has an abiding interest in Scottish Literature and Culture.