Collegiality and student teachers: is there a role for the advanced skills teacher?

Abstract

This article draws on a parallel between the teacher leader designations of Career Ladder Plans (CLPs) introduced in the USA and the British government's proposed Advanced Skills Teacher (AST). The parallel highlights the significance of collaboration in developing student teachers' professional knowledge. It also raises the question of whether professional learning of students and the development of practice in schools in which they work might be assisted by ASTs. A study of how one high school developed its own practice shows how student teachers were included collaboratively to explore professional knowledge. Possible contradictions concerning the role of the AST as expert classroom teacher are raised; a managerial element would appear to be involved in developing classroom practice across the school. It is suggested that Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have a key role to play in assisting schools to develop practice, especially by helping them to manage the interface between teaching children and teaching teachers