Modalities of teacher education discourse and the education of effective practitioners

Abstract

This article is concerned with the different ways in which teacher education pedagogic discourse is structured, and the potential of different types of structure to successfully induct student teachers as effective practitioners. The article uses Bernstein's concepts of classification and framing as axes of variation in describing different types or modalities of teacher education discourse, and his notion of recognition and realisation rules as a measure of potential induction. The article begins with the description of a longitudinal study that tracked a group of seven students through the mathematics method component of a university-based Postgraduate Certificate of Education course in South Africa, and then into schools during their first year of teaching. This mathematics method course is discussed as a particular modality of teacher education discourse, and serves as the basis for discussing other modalities. The implications of these different types for student access is considered. Access to recognition and realisation rules has particular salience for developing countries, where very often the professional development of teachers is regarded as a primary mechanism for transforming classroom practice. © 2004 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.