‘Towards professional multilingualism?’ Reconceptualising the school coordinator role in initial teacher training

Abstract

This article explores the school coordinator role in initial teacher training (ITT) in England. Recognising that mentoring is fully embedded and highly researched in ITT, it argues the role of the coordinator, while integral to partnerships, is far less researched. This paper investigates tensions in the role, between managing programme-wide quality assurance, teaching professional studies and developing school-based mentors. These questions were explored through multi-site case-studies with four HEIs and their partner schools in four linked phases of data collection. Data analysis established a range of different conceptualisations of the role, with only limited evidence of a development role with their mentors. The authors argue for policies which establish a more coherent conceptualisation of the role, and an agreed nomenclature. A key recommendation is to free coordinators from bureaucratic demands on their time to enable them to exemplify a new ‘professional multilingualism’.

Keywords:

• ITT coordinator role
• school/HEI ITT partnerships

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the contribution of a research award from the Teacher Training Agency, supported by Keith Saunders, for the project ‘The role of the ITT coordinator in primary and secondary schools’ (Best et al. 2005) on which this article is based, and of the contributions of other members of the project team: Christine Donahue, Oxford Brookes University; Andy Kempe, Reading University; Kiersten Best, St Paul's School, Milton Keynes.