What is consultation?

What is the role of teacher in nation building?

AbstractEducation is the key to successful or unsuccessful development of any nation. Rao (2008) noted that education gives the unity and solidarity of all existence, works for the happiness and welfare of all beings, and frees from disputations and contradictions, upholding the vision of harmony and tolerance. Based on this, there is need for quality teachers through which educational standards can be raised for effective manpower development and building of the nation.Teachers constitute not only a vital input to education, but also a major drive in the production process and in the determination of the output (Oyewole, 2008). The report of the Baguada Seminar (NERC, 1980) stated that, teachers are the main determinant of quality in education. If they are apathetic, uncommitted, uninspired, lazy, unmotivated, immoral, antisocial, the whole nation is doomed.IntroductionEvery profession is important and prestigious but permits me to say that the most important and most prestigious is teaching profession because teaching profession can be seen as the mother of all profession. This is because every profession is born out of teaching. Also, the future of every individual and nation lies in the hands of the teacher. Ukeji (1986) in Ihua-Maduenyi (2002) confirmed this when he observed that if a doctor makes a mistake, perhaps one person might die, if a lawyer makes a mistake, perhaps, one person might go to jail, if an engineer makes a mistake, may be a bridge might collapse, but if a teacher makes a mistake, generations yet unborn will come to suffer the effect of that mistake. This explains the importance of a teacher in the society and in nation building. No wonder Nnubia (2001) quoted, Iroegbu(1993) as saying that no person ever argues that education and teacher are the life wire and mainstay of the nation. And in the National Policy on Education it is stated that, since no education system may rise above the quality of its teacher, teacher education shall continue to be given major emphasis in all educational planning and development. This is to say that the present quality of Nigerian education is the quality of Nigerian teacher.Hence it must be noted that it is of great importance to examine some of the major concepts that will be relevant in discussing the role of a teacher in nation building.CONCEPT OF A TEACHERA teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils (children) and students (adults). The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional qualifications or credentials from a university or college. These professional qualifications may include the study of pedagogy, the science of teaching. Teachers, like other professionals, may have to continue their education after they qualify, a process known as continuing professional development. Teachers may use a lesson plan to facilitate student learning, providing a course of study which is called the curriculum. Ateacher's role may vary among cultures. Teachers may provide instruction in literacy and numeracy, craftsmanship or vocational training, the arts, religion, civics, community roles, or life skills. A teacher who facilitates education for an individual may also be described as a personal tutor or, largely historically, a governess etc. "Teacher is a maker of man. He is foundation of all Education, and thus of the whole civilization of mankind, present and future. No nation reconstruction is possible without the active cooperation of the teacher." - John AdamsNATION BUILDING"Nation building is the conscious and focused application of our people's collective resources, energies, and knowledge to the task of liberating and developing the psychic and physical space that we identify as ours. It involves the development of behaviors, values, languages, institutions, and physical structures that elucidate our history and culture, concretize and protect the present, and insure the future identity and independence of the nation. Nation building is the deliberate, keenly directed and focused, and energetic projection of national culture, and the collective identity."- Mzee Kwame Agyei AkotoTherefore nation building refers to the process of constructing or structuring a national identity using the power of the state. This process aims at the unification of the people within the state so that it remains politically stable and viable in the long run. Nation-building can involve the use of propaganda or major infrastructure development to foster social harmony and economic growth.ROLES OF A TEACHER IN NATION BUILDINGThe role of the teacher in nation building cannot be over- emphasised.National development hinges inextricably on the contributions of the teacher. This fact has been recognized by the Federal Government of Nigeria in its National Policy on Education (Revised 2004), that no education system can rise above the quality of its teachers. The policy further noted the need for a "highly motivated, conscientious and effective" teaching staff at all levels of education.Teaching is a humble profession; in a classroom situation the teacher imparts the knowledge to his pupils each child being guided to develop their peculiar potentialities. Among these pupils are those who are undergoing the training to become lawyers, teachers, doctors, engineers, farmers, pharmacists and a host of other professions. Human resources development is the work of the teacher, and it is a truism that no nation can develop above her human resources, the different professionals trained by the teacher all have their contributions to make to national development. Teaching is a mother profession giving birth to all other pro- fessions. Various governments of the world should therefore fashion out ways of making teaching very attractive. Incentives should be given to teachers all over the world to enhance their productivity. These incentives are in unquestioned appreciation of their contributions to national development. In the Nigerian context, the role of the teacher is not always appreciated by parents and even the governments. The various education programmes like the 1955 free and compulsory education programme of the Western Region, was ably utilised by teachers to realise the objectives of reducing illiteracy, superstitious beliefs and ignorance, which were prevalent in the post independence era. The Universal Basic Education (UBE), the 6-3-3-4 and the Basic Education Programme were successful because of the unparalleled commitments of teachers - in spite of daunting challenges of poor funding, inadequate teaching facilities and acute shortage of teaching personnel. A teacher determines the quality of the citizens of a nation; childhood shows manhood. It is the teacher that inculcates the habits of honesty, hard work and the fear of God in a child.Again, at school, the child is taught to be obedient to rules and regulations, respect for elders and the laws of the nation. He is also taught to appreciate the value of unity, culture and traditions of his nation. In the early years, he acquires the habit of reading, which becomes useful throughout life. The adolescent stage of a child's life is a crisis-ridden stage of development. It is the duty of the teacher and the school counselor to mould, nurture and control this tendency along useful and orderly line. It is the work of the teacher that produces the type of politicians, accountants, businessmen and bankers a nation ultimately gets. Childhood is the father of manhood and bad habits cultivated t home are corrected at school.Moreover, teachers in the seminaries and other theological institutions also make incalculable contributions to nation building. Apart from corporate contributions of teachers to nation building, there were also some teachers who made their own personal and selfless contributions to the nation's social, economic and political growth. These teachers are not professional politicians, but did so purely on invitation to use their professional and intellectual investments to serve the nation - not for personal enrichment. Teachers in such category are Dr. Tai Solarin a radical educationist and founder of May Flower, Ikenne . He helped to wipe out corruption from the Federal Road Safety Corps at its early stage; Prof. Tekena Tamano - successful university administrator and member of senate; Prof. Jubril Aminu - member of senate and exponent of Nomadic Education. He criticised external borrowing on the floor of the House; Alhaji Bolomope - member of the Oyo State House of Assembly and an astute defender of Workers' Rights; Ven. S.A. Banjo(former Principal of St. Luke's College and the first deputy speaker of the Western House of Assembly; Alhaji (Dr) Ibrahim Shakarau, immediate two-term past governor of Kano State, and who ran an Executive Council, made up of the three major tribes in Nigeria - Ibo, Hausa, Yoruba - for unity and peace; Prof. Nwabueze, Federal Minister of Education - free from tribalism.Hence, the importance of the teacher in national life cannot be over-emphasized. It is he who influences the immature minds of the youth. He treats and tries to mould the living stuff into various forms. The future of the nation is fashioned by him through the process of education. A nation trying to march ahead on the roads to progress can leave the education of her sons and daughter in the hands of incompetent teachers only at its own risk. "The world of tomorrow will be born from the schools of today" says M.L Jacks. In this way, teachers, indeed, is the true builder of the nation.Teachers are an extremely important facet of any society for a multitude of reasons. Teachers are the people who educate the youth of society who in turn become the leaders of the next generation of people. Teachers are the people who are teaching children and imparting knowledge upon them in their most impressionable years, what these kids learn from their teachers at a young age will most likely stay with them in some facet for the rest of their lives. So, teachers certainly have a significant mark on the development of young children and even older children alike, as they are teaching them and helping them develop their knowledge so that they can go on in life and be responsible and productive members of society.One of the most important aspects of any society is the youngest generation, they represent the future and the direction that society will take. Teachers can enrich a young generation of children so that the future is a safe, secure and great place to live in for every person in the society. The role of teachers in the building of a nation cannot be ignored. It is they who influence the immature minds of the youth and tries to mould the living stuff into various forms. It is they on who depends the future of the nation. Hence, they are the most important part of the society.In the past, teachers were considered respectable figures even by the kings and the emperors, because only teachers were there to guide and advice them in hours of crisis. They were the true benefactors of the society. With the change of time they lost their dignity to some extent. Still, they are considered the backbone of a nation, and a society. Teachers are the real guide of the students. With their deep knowledge of the subject and teaching technique they can impart valuable information to the students. They can guide them towards noble deeds, studies, health, and cleanliness and above ail the moral values of life. All these qualities enable a child to grow into an ideal citizen of his/her nation. Teachers are considered the noblest section of the society. This increases their responsibility towards nation and the students to a great extent; they must be dedicated to the service of the students. Their own actions and high ideas about life can easily shape the young minds into good personalities and responsible citizens of tomorrow. They are a guiding light for students throughout their lives. The importance of the role of the teachers as an agent of change, promoting understanding and tolerance has become more obvious today. This places enormous responsibilities on teachers who participate in the moulding of the character and minds of the new generation.Nevertheless, Education is one of the greatest services provided by teachers. It is vital for anything. The role played by teachers becomes a very important component and in fact it can be said that they are in way our nation builders. Teachers work in close co-ordination with students to help them in building up their future. They mould the students to bring out their skills or improvise them, teaching good habits/attitudes and helping them to become good citizens of the nation. There are many students who feel shy or have some personality problems. It becomes quite important for teachers to attend to these students personally and encourage them to overcome this shyness or personality disorders. A good teacher in fact becomes a role model for students. Students tend to follow their teacher in almost every way like manners, style etc. Students tend to get affected by the teacher's affection as well as love for them. So the teacher should have the professional competence as well as good moral background in order to impart these values to students. Teachers form religious leaders, world super powers, and everyone else in between. Due to the success of teachings we have increased the knowledge base of our doctors to create safer and more efficient ways to operate while under pressure by exposing new strategies and equipment to better prepare them for whatever they come across. Everything starts with teachers and the mentality they possess to drive students to new levels. Teachers make the lifeboat because they are the first to interrupt the field of unknown and transform thoughts into reality by learning and passing it on to the body.Education is the ultimate realm of the Homosapiens. It is a process aimed at socialized and humanizing individual citizen through their life from birth till death. It is institutionalized and formal for a specific period but lifelong and suited to ones environment, ability, interest, aspiration, aptitude etc. and carried on preferably outside the institutional premises through life nonformally and informally and more significant and rewarding. Education is a process of enlightenment and empowerment of the individual for achievement of better and high quality of life. The Education Commission (1964-66) has emphatically opined that "The quality and competence and character of teachers to be the most significant factor influencing the quality of education and its contribution to National development."A nation is built by its citizens, citizens are moulded by teachers and teachers are made by teacher-educators. Chanakya has rightly stated, "Teacher is the maker of nation" So for the development of the country, it is very important to have good teachers and good teachers can be produced only if we have a good system of teacher education and dedicated and efficient teacher-educators. The teacher can be rightly called a nation builder. Teachers through their perseverance love and sacrifices have shown us the right path in which great men have built our nation. It is our dear teachers who mould our character, our personality and show us the right direction which leads us to our final destination.The role of the teacher is a multi-faceted one comprising academic, pedagogical and social roles. Academic roles comprise teaching, counseling and supervisory roles while pedagogical roles include instructional, evaluation and facilitating roles. As a facilitator of learning, the teacher is involved in motivating pupils to learn, maintaining control in the classroom and the school in general, and creating a conducive environment for learning to take place. Social roles of the teacher includes among others socializing roles which is preparing pupils to participate in the way of life of the society; others include reference roles, detective roles, parent surrogate (or substitute parent), confidants and affectionate roles.No other personality can have an influence more profound than that of a teacher. Students are deeply affected by the teacher's love and affection, his character, his competence, and his moral commitment. A popular teacher becomes a model for his students. The students try to follow their teacher in his manners, customs, etiquette, style of conversation and his get up. He is their ideal. He can lead them anywhere. During their early education, the students tend to determine their aims in life and their future plans, in consultation with their teachers.Therefore, a corrupt and decadent class of teachers can harm a nation more seriously than a class of corrupt and perverted judiciary, army, police, bureaucracy, politicians or technocrats. A corrupt and incompetent teacher is not only a bad individual, but also the harbinger of a corrupt and incompetent generation. A nation with corrupt teachers is a nation at risk; every coming day announces the advent of its approaching destruction.Teachers therefore, have to play a cardinal role in the building up of the character of the next generation. It is a fact that a civilization cannot rise out of a skeleton of mere ideas and abstract concepts. Civilization finds a concrete shape in the practical behaviour of a nation, based on these principles and concepts. Once the practical aspect is gone, the civilization also disappears and can only be studied through its remnants preserved in museums and chronicles. This necessitates the provision of a learning atmosphere throbbing with life in our educational institutions through the presence of the teacher, with a view to infuse confidence in our students and to enable them to be proud of their culture, to respect their national character and national emblems, and to ornament themselves with societal conduct and morals. They should stand firm on the centuries old foundations of their cultural tradition and at the same time should establish standards of excellence in their academic performance. The essence of the teacher as a nation builder cannot be over-stressed. Good teachers need to be themselves constantly seeking knowledge, be of good character, have high motivation and be creative, innovative and effective in the teaching strategies. The good deeds of teachers are great; because of them, we will grow to become knowledgeable people who will be of use to society, religion and our nation and country.CHALLENGES TEACHERS FACE IN NATION BUILDINGHowever, it must be noted that to be an effective teacher one must be happy, contented and secure. A teacher who is distraught, worried, anxious, restless, discontented cannot have the poise, the serenity or the self-possession necessary for good teaching. The importance of a [teacher] as an [architect] of our future generations demands that only the best and the most [intelligent] and competent members of our intelligentsia be allowed to qualify for this noble profession. It is unfortunate to find that generally the worst and the most incapable people of the society find their way into this profession. Anyone who fails to find an opening in any other walk of life gets into this profession and recklessly plays with the destiny of the nation. An important reason for this is understood to be the poor salaries of our primary and secondary teachers which are no better than that of clerks. A large number of our teachers are, therefore, frustrated and disinterested.Hence the following below are some of the problems faced by teachers1. Corruption In Our Educational Sector: Corruption is the root of the problems facing education in Nigeria. Nigeria is seen as a head with a totally worn out cap. Our leaders are very corrupt and unjust. Corruption affects education in Nigeria in two ways. The first is that owing to the corruption of our leaders, revenue allocated to the education sector and other sectors of the economy are embezzled. As a result of this, there is no quality teaching and good educational facilities in public and government schools where the less privilege and poor citizens enroll their children which make them lack valuable education, thereby making most of them become hoodlums, street urchins, drop-outs and what have you. Another way corruption affects the education sector in Nigeria is that when students are asked to take external examinations such as WAEC, NECO, JAMB, GCE, etc, we see that most of the children from rich and famous backgrounds who are not capable of passing the exams on their own are assisted by unjust examiners at places where most of these students call "Special Centres". There are even extreme cases where we see that results of the poor students who have worked hard to pass are exchanged with results of the rich dullards due to corruption in order to promote them to higher institutions for further education thereby making teachers to suffer it at the end of the day2. Lack Of Good Educational Facilities: Equipment and facilities are either lacking, inadequate or not enough for effective teaching in schools. Ikenga, Afolabi and Oru (2009) observed that even when some of these essential equipment or tools areAvailable, they are not functioning or are obsolete.In developed countries like U. S. A; Japan, etc. where education is greatly valued, students offering science related courses do more practical's than theory and the reason is that they have very good, standard and modern educational facilities unlike Nigeria, where these same class of students do more of theory than practical's. In such a situation, we see that Nigerian Science students rarely stand chances against the students of the developed countries. Also, in most of the public schools in Nigeria, there are very poor educational facilities. For example, in a school where there are no chairs, tables and even a chalkboard, the only thing teachers would do is to lecture and dictate notes to over a hundred students in a class. The classroom would be too congested thereby making the environment not conducive for learning and also putting the education of the children at jeopardy.3. Teachers Welfare:Teachers' welfare has never been taken as a priority by any government in Nigeria. The teachers are worst hit in welfare packages of public servants in this country. Enene (1999) noted that most staffers in colleges of education do not have decent accommodation neither do they have good office space to themselves. Ihua-Maduenyi (2002) observed that in 1999, teachers were owned over five months salary and schools closed down also for over months in Rivers State and several other states in the federation. Leave bonus and other legitimate claims due teachers were not paid for two years. Awanbor [2001] observed that teachers from primary level to tertiary, all work in largely similar conditions-poorly motivated, poorly paid and circumscribed socially and economically. A teacher who is not motivated to work cannot put in his best. And a student teacher, seeing the condition under which his teacher works will not be interested in teaching. He will rather prefer seeking for a job elsewhere in a related area to his area of specialization where condition of service is better.In Nigeria, teachers always complain of poor wages and salary given to them by the government, which is true. In such a situation, we see teachers going on strike, which is not meant to be heard of. There are even cases whereby some teachers would just stay in a class without teaching anything and if they are queried, they would say "Nigeria education is bad, we are not paid good salaries". Such actions of theirs put the education of the students in such school at risk.RECOMMENDATIONSThe quality of teachers largely determines the quality of education in the society (Oni, 2001). This means that the present poor quality of education in Nigeria is a reflection of poor quality teachers. Therefore, for teachers to be effective and contribute to nation building, quality of teachers must be improved. The following are suggested:1. Federal and state governments should endeavor to supply adequate and enough equipment, tools and facilities for effective training of teachers with the libraries equipped with current books2. Adequate funds should be made available for smooth running and management of teacher training programmes3. Teachers' salaries and claims should be paid promptly. New teachers' salary scheme should be implemented as soon as possible.4. Adequate and descent accommodation should be provided for teachers, irrespective of level.5. Entry requirements into teacher training programmes should be reviewed upward. There should be a special diagnostic assessment test properly conducted as a screening measure before admitting students into pre-NCE programme.6. Teacher Registration Council (TRC) should take up the responsibility for admission of students into NCE programme.7. A Board called Teachers Registration Examination Board (TREB) should be set up whose responsibility should be the conduction of examination called Teachers Selection Examination (TSE) to check and harmonize standard in admission policy of colleges of education.8. Effort should be made to control students' population to avoid overcrowded classrooms. There should be teacher-student ratio peculiar to teacher training programmes and which should be strictly be adhered to.9. Adequate supervision of the teachers' activities and conducts should be made always at all levels.CONCLUSION:Education is a vital instrument for national development. The importance of teachers in making process of education possible and successful is inevitable. They are nation builders; hence, any national development hinges on the abilities of the teachers to meet the challenges. The teaching profession needs to be repositioned to possess all the attributes/characteristics of a profession. Repositioning the teaching profession to meet developmental challenges in Nigeria should be paramount in the mind of all stakeholders. The drive towards making Nigeria one of the top 20 developed economies in the world by year 2020 could only be realized if teaching profession is highly recognized by the government, thereby putting education in a strategic position towards the realization of the lofty goals of the government. Teachers are indeed the pillar to the development and building of any nation.REFERENCESAdesina, S. Fagbongbe, E.O. & Talabi, J.K (1985) Foundation Studies in Education. Ibadan: University Press Limited.Federal Republic of Nigeria (2004). National Policy on Education (Revised). Lagos: Federal Government Press.Nigerian Educational Research Council (1980). Report of the Baguada Seminar on 'Quantities and Qualities in Nigerian Education: Lagos: NERC.Oyewole, B.K. & Oke, J.O. (2011). Teacher Education and ICT: Prospect and Challenges of E-teaching profession in Nigeria. A paper presented at 2nd International Conference on Teacher Education, University of Lagos, 17th - 21st October.Smith, Anthony. 1986. "State-Making and Nation-Building," in John Hall (ed.), States in History. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 228-263.Moos, R. H. (1979). Evaluating Educational Environments: Measures, procedures, findings, and policy implications. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Hornby, S.A. (1998). Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, Special Price Edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Oni, A.A. (2001). Evolving a Paradigm for Teacher Education in the 21st Century, Nigerian Journal of Education PhilosophyVIII (1), 47- 53for more on this topic contact peter osharive or you can send an email to peterosharive@yahoo.comOkejim, E.M. (2008). Resource for Education: Sharing the burden of Funding Basic Education in Nigeria, Studies in Technical TeacherEducation, 8(1), 28-36.Ihua-Maduanyi, R. (2002). Prospects for Teacher Education in the 21st Century, Omoku Journal of Women in Colleges of Education, Maiden Edition, 242, 243.Ikenga, G.U, Afolabi, S.O. and Oru, P.O (2009). Technical Vocational Education: Challenges and Way Forward in the Present Day NigeriaSearch Engines (google.com, edusearch.com, answer.com, wikipedia.com)

Need of professional development of secondary school teachers on a recurrent basis?

The article concerns a case study of action research in an educational innovation project in a network of student teachers, teacher trainers and researchers of the Teacher Education Department of HAN University (ILS) and of teachers of a school for pre-vocational secondary education in a small town in the vicinity of Nijmegen in the Netherlands. The project aims at results on two levels: 1 The curriculum of the school and the learning by pupils 2The co-operation in a network of student teachers, teacher trainers and researchers and secondary school teachers, and the professional development of these participants The project is carried out within the framework of a research group, called 'Theory that works, learning as a symbiosis of theory and practice' (Prof. Dr. P.H. van de Ven). The Teacher Education Department of HAN University (ILS) carries out pre-service and in-service teacher education. At present ILS is developing networks of student teachers, teacher trainers and researchers of ILS and secondary school teachers in the context of a national policy in the field of pre-service and in-service teacher education. In this context ILS and a school for pre-vocational secondary education in a small town in the vicinity of Nijmegen, have been participating in an educational innovation project since the beginning of 2005. The school has initiated the project because of the educational problems it experienced, mainly problems concerning pupils' motivation. An actively and independently learning pupil should become the focus of all teaching and learning. Instead of a transmissive didactic approach, a socio-constructivist approach was required. That meant new teacher roles. The teacher had to become a coach helping the pupils to construct their knowledge. Another approach was required in a new organisational and didactic setting, focusing on integration of school subjects which was supposed to contribute to the pupils' motivation. But school management and teachers raised many questions as to how to put these ideas into practice. The participation of ILS in the project is focused on the development of knowledge about learning by pre-vocational pupils, but also on the development of knowledge about network co-operation in educational innovation projects. In chapter 1 the situational framework of the project is described. In paragraph 1.1 an explanation is given of the Dutch secondary education system. Special attention is paid to the characteristics of pre-vocational secondary education. Paragraph 1.2 focuses on recent developments in pre-service and in-service teacher education. In chapter 2 a report is given of the research activities in the first project year. It describes the process from general ideas and exploration of the educational problems of the school to problem definition and formulation, execution and evaluation of a general plan. Paragraph 2.1 focuses on the first phase: the exploration of the educational problems and problem definition. In paragraph 2.2 the general plan is described. Paragraph 2.3 elaborates on the execution of the general plan. Paragraph 2.4 deals with the results and conclusions and the follow-up activities. Chapter 3 focuses on the research activities in the second project year. Due to changes in management and teaching staff of the school a reorientation on the educational problems and problem definition appeared to be necessary. Paragraph 3.1 deals with this subject. In paragraph 3.2 the general plan of the second project year is described. The research activities concentrated around a project week organised by the school. Paragraph 3.3 elaborates on the execution of the general plan. Paragraph 3.4 presents the results and conclusions. Follow-up activities are formulated for the school year of 2006/2007. 1.1 The Dutch secondary education system Secondary education follows on ordinary and special primary education. It does not include special schools for disabled children, adult education, vocational education or higher education. In 1999 important organisational and didactic changes were introduced. Since 1999 secondary education has been provided at schools for: * Pre-university education (VWO) 6 years, age 12-18 * Senior general secondary education (HAVO) 5 years, age 12-17 * Pre-vocational secondary education (VMBO) 4 years, age 12-16 During the first two years all pupils follow a nationally defined core curriculum, a basic secondary education, at their own specific level. After that, the routes diverge. See figure 1. Figure 1 Upper VMBO (14 - 16 years) consists of four sectors: Engineering and Technology, Care and Welfare, Business, and Agriculture. In every sector there are four levels: the theoretical route offering a mixture of two theoretical subjects and a limited vocational part, a mixed route offering one theoretical subject and a larger vocational part, a practical route (level 1) entirely aimed at vocational training and a simplified practical route (level 2) aimed at vocational training too. See figure 2. Figure 2 As to the didactic changes: new ways of learning were prescribed by legislation. An actively and independently learning pupil should become the focus of all teaching and learning. Instead of a transmissive didactic approach, a socio-constructivist approach was required. That meant new teacher roles. The teacher had to become a coach helping pupils to construct their knowledge. Another approach was required in a new organisational and didactic setting. But many questions were raised as to how to put these ideas into practice. 1.2 Recent developments in pre-service and in-service teacher education Until recently, pre-service and in-service teacher education was the exclusive task of teacher education departments. At present, however, schools for primary education, secondary education and senior secondary vocational education are stimulated by the Ministry of Education and Science to take (more) responsibility for pre-service and in-service teacher education. Part of the budget for education is reserved for pilot studies. This initiative should contribute to the idea of teachers' life-long learning. == == Over the last years, ILS has initiated various projects anticipating the measures introduced by the Ministry of Education and Science. One of these projects was the co-operation of researchers of ILS with secondary school teachers in a project in the field of modern language acquisition in VMBO. The objectives were developing, trying out, and evaluating educational situations to stimulate active and independent learning, the development of evidence based knowledge of how VMBO pupils learn and the professional development of secondary school teachers, teacher trainers and researchers of ILS. The underlying project can be looked upon as a continuation of the route taken; further development of knowledge about learning by pupils in pre-vocational schools in the new setting and further development of knowledge about network co-operation in educational innovation projects of student teachers, teacher trainers and researchers of ILS and secondary school teachers. == 2 Research activities in the first project year 2.1 Exploration of the educational problems and problem definition In October 2004 the first conversations were held between teacher trainers and researchers of ILS and the management of the school. The school experienced educational problems and was involved in a major educational innovation project. Its objectives were: * modernising education e.g. developing more self-supporting learning by pupils; * developing curriculum differentiation options, offering choices to pupils * offering more responsibility to pupils * creating cohesion between school subjects The school had formed a number of project groups, meeting ever Tuesday afternoon. The school proposed to involve teacher trainers and researchers of ILS in the following two project groups: * one working on self-supporting learning for a number of subject areas in the theoretical and the mixed route of upper VMBO (a corridor) * the other working on integration of languages and vocational subjects in the practical route (levels 1 and 2) of the Business sector of upper VMBO The school and ILS would investigate how student teachers could be asked to assist in the projects. It was agreed that ILS would propose a plan for co-operation. In the first meeting of the project groups however, it turned out that the situation was different from what was expected by the ILS research group. Teachers appeared to differ in their opinion on educational change from school management. E-mail 26-01-05 (JK):Dear all, an alarming e-mail this time. Yesterday the first meeting of the two project groups took place at â€¦ in the presence of ILS people. The picture they now have of the situation and the role they can play differs somewhat from what they had expected. Participation in the meetings of the two project groups the week after was not considered to be wise, until expectations were exchanged. In the research group of ILS the problem was discussed. It was concluded that the two projects of the school were not compatible with each other and that the educational philosophy was not clear to the teachers. It was assumed that the educational innovations were introduced to enhance learning motivation and learning satisfaction of pupils. It was decided: * to work in the zone of proximal development of teachers: how do teachers teach now, and what can be the next step for them? * to use pupils' experiences as a reflection tool for teachers: what is the effect of the lessons on pupils? 2.2 General plan After a few of meetings of the management of the school and ILS teacher trainers and researchers a general plan was formulated in March 2005. The following mutual project objectives were defined: # A deeper understanding of how innovation can be managed # A deeper understanding of the way teaching materials can be developed, implemented and evaluated within the innovation framework # A deeper understanding of the way ILS can co-operate with professional development schools within the framework of developing training-on-the-job and professional development of teachers # Insight into the experiences of pupils with regard to innovations. # Suitable and tested teaching materials # Publications # Professional development of staff of both ILS and the school The main activity of the two project groups was to develop, implement, evaluate and revise teaching materials, as depicted in figure 3: Figure 3 Two researchers were appointed as assistant project leaders in both projects. They were to support the two project leaders and teachers in the development process and record the proceedings; they would also conduct research activities. The third researcher was appointed to gather data at school level via classroom observations and interviews with pupils, trying to find out how teachers teach now and how pupils experience their lessons. Data would consist of class room observation, interviews with pupils, pupils' educational results (texts, papers and other products as results of their learning), recordings of meetings with teachers and teacher trainers and researchers and interviews with these participants. 2.3 Execution of the general plan Research activities were carried out in two projects and at school level. The theoretical and mixed route of upper VMBO One researcher of ILS prepared and evaluated meetings of the project group of the theoretical and mixed route of upper VMBO together with the project leader. It was decided to do a number of preliminary exercises on innovative elements for next school year. The researcher could not influence the choice of the innovative elements. Teachers considered it important to start with: * creating cohesion between the grammatical subjects of the languages * experimenting with study guides The researcher studied the study guides. He offered suggestions for approaches. He gave feedback on the results by confronting the project group with the difference in rhetoric and practice. The study guides did not present what the teachers said to aim for. For instance, study guides did not contain objectives, suggestions for learning approaches and assessment criteria. Teachers only focused on subject matter; there was no attention for the learning process. Pupils did not experience working with study guides as motivating. The practical route (levels 1 and 2) of the Business sector of upper VMBO The project group in the practical route of the Business sector of upper VMBO was working on a project for integration of listening and speech skills. Project objectives had only been formulated on the level of listening and speech skills. There were no objectives integrating language acquisition and vocational training. The second researcher of ILS assisted the project leader in preparing and evaluating the meetings of the project group. She intervened by suggesting measures to integrate language acquisition and vocational training, by asking questions (what motivates your pupils?) and by offering an evaluation instrument in which the following items of the project could be assessed: * cohesion between language acquisition and vocational training * responsibility to pupils * didactic setting (the project) * learning results: process skills, language skills and vocational skills In June the project was executed. The researcher was present at both project days to observe teacher and pupil activities. She talked with the teachers in the breaks and asked them how they experienced the project. She also talked with the pupils. She collected the papers the pupils made. Observations and activities at school level From March to May 2005 the third researcher observed lessons in a number of classes of teachers of the theoretical and mixed route of upper VMBO and interviewed the teachers involved (4 Dutch lessons of 2 different teachers, 1 French lesson, 2 English lessons and 4 German lessons). The next period she observed lessons and spoke with teachers in the practical route (levels 1 and 2) of the Business sector of upper VMBO (1 German lesson, 1 lesson window dressing and 1 business lesson). The researcher used an observational framework determining which innovative elements could be identified and how pupils experienced the lessons. See figure 4. Innovative elements Characteristics of the learning environment Differentiation options Cohesion between school subjects Teaching methods accommodating pupils' needs Responsibility to pupils Teacher activities Pupil activities Tasks / assignments Physical environment Figure 4 When pupils were working independently, the researcher interviewed pupils about what they were doing, how they approached their tasks and how they valued the lessons. In conversations with the teachers the researcher noticed that the school needed practical examples. She proposed to the project leader of the theoretical and mixed route of upper VMBO to organise a study visit to a school with a large VMBO department which had been carrying out innovations for a few years. A delegation of the school visited this school. In May the preliminary results were assessed in a meeting of the management of the school and researchers of ILS. The researchers reported their observations. A confrontation with the experiences of pupils turned out to be a powerful instrument for reflection. The school now indicated that it was specifically interested in how pupils valued the innovations. On 31 May 2005 three researchers were present at a school meeting in which all project groups presented their results. The teachers were proud of their accomplishments and were very interested in each others' experiences. On 15 June 2005 the co-operation was evaluated. The researchers presented their analyses and conclusions. It was obvious that the learning of pupils (how pupils learn and what role teachers play) had to become the central focus in order to implement the innovations successfully. It was decided to continue the co-operation. New appointments were made for the school year of 2005/2006. 2.4 Results and conclusions, and follow-up activities First the results and conclusions will be given for the curriculum and the learning by pupils, then those for the development of knowledge about network co-operation in educational innovation projects. Finally the follow-up activities will be mentioned. Results and conclusions with regard to the curriculum and the learning by pupils Differentiation options The researchers observed that all pupils had to do the same programme. The only differentiation option they had was to start working on another subject, when they had finished. The researcher saw that some pupils started working on other subjects; others began talking with each other or started to play computer games. Cohesion between school subjects In the practical route (levels 1 and 2) of the Business sector of upper VMBO the researcher did not see the teachers explain the relevance of modern foreign languages and vocational training in the lessons she observed. Pupils did not seem to understand the relevance of modern foreign languages. A fragment of a pupil interview: Researcher: "What do you think of German?" Lieke: "I don't think it makes any sense." Researcher: "When would it start making sense to you?" Lieke: "If we lived in Germany." Researcher: "But if you want to trade with Germany and if you want to earn money, you will have to speak the language, won't you?" Lieke: "No." The project days for listening and speech skills integrating language acquisition and vocational training was very successful, however. Two reactions of pupils in their paper:"It was a nice experience to do something else for a change than sitting at the computer and working from a book." (Timo) "We find this project mega cool. We learnt a lot, and we enjoyed doing it. It is much nicer than the business lessons. We should do this more often." (Boris and Mohammed) Also the teachers were very enthusiastic. They saw that the pupils were very motivated. One of them was surprised the pupils never asked if their activities would be marked. Normally the first question pupils ask is: "Do we get a mark?" Teaching methods accommodating pupils' needs Pupils appreciated the possibility of being able to ask for help while working individually and independently. Few pupils asked for help in the lessons observed. One of the teachers explained that one of the disadvantages of working like this is that pupils do not learn from each others' questions anymore. The social dimension of learning had disappeared. Teachers sighed they always used to work so well with pupils and that they were now forced by the management to work differently. One pupil remarked: "Madam, are you now going to teach normally again, please?"Responsibility to pupilsPupils said they appreciate having more responsibility, but some pupils said they would like to have more guidance, because they lack discipline. One pupil's reaction: "You are left to your fate, which is rather unwise at this age. Pupils tend to do different things." (Karin) Pupils do not always choose the best working order: they often start with the easy looking assignments. The mutual relationship between the assignments and the relationship between the assignments and theory disappears. A discussion between two pupils working together from one book: A: "We will begin with this assignment, because it is an easy one." B: "I have a key at home, that I will copy." Plenary moments were mostly dedicated to general instruction or correction of assignments. Attention was only paid to results, not to the process. Pupils could not explain the goal of their activities in class. Their only frames of reference were the test results. Pupils very often remarked that they considered working individually and independently, boring. They preferred working together and being regularly helped by the teacher. A pupil explains: "I think it is boring to work like this. All Mondays we do this all day. Five hours at a stretch. Sometimes we have tea together. We have to go through the book independently. We work together, only if it is a difficult chapter. It is nicer to do this together." (Chris) General conclusion A number of innovative measures were already recognisable in the lessons. The effects, however, were not congruent with the underlying objectives of the innovations: enhancing learning motivation and learning satisfaction of pupils. The listening and speech skills project, however, was successful in term of pupils' motivation. Other innovative measures were still absent. Results and conclusions for network co-operation in educational innovation projects In the first project year the focus of the ILS research group was on finding ways to coach the school: experimenting with, and choosing, positions and strategies. The research group used action research to determine how practice related to the ambitions of the teachers and the management of the school with regard to the educational innovations in order to be able to coach the school in its development process. It started the co-operation with the school by linking up with the ambitions of its management. Soon it became clear that there was a gap between management ambitions and ambitions of teachers. Moreover, the school appeared to use a rather narrow definition of learning; the social component of learning seemed to be absent. It is striking, that pupils, on the contrary, regularly mentioned the social component. ILS researchers concluded it was important to start problematizing: to make management and teachers aware of their learning needs. The research group chose to work via two routes: working with the teachers in the project groups and meeting on a regular basis with management. It was decided to use data, registering actual teaching behaviour and pupil's experiences, as a reflection tool. On the one hand, this was to determine the zone of proximal development of teachers and on the other hand to stimulate them to start raising questions. A statement of one of the managers of the school at the end of the school year was illustrative for the success of the strategy chosen: "We still have a lot to learn!" Members of the research group also learnt how to do action research using pupils as the most important source of information. They experienced its value. They realized that is was important to disseminate these learning results amongst other ILS colleagues and to integrate this form of action research into pre-service and in-service teacher education. Student teachers should be trained in aspects of action research as part of their ability to analyse and improve their own teaching behaviour. Action research could therefore be a strong additional instrument in the reflective area of learning. Until then only little attention was paid to the systematic collection and analysis of data, using pupils as the most important source of information, to improve teacher behaviour. One of the results was that student teachers often did not have an eye for the individual learning needs of the pupil until late in the programme. It was concluded that the participation of student teachers in the project could offer interesting opportunities for improvement of the ILS programme. Follow-up activities Co-operation would be continued by asking ILS student teachers to collect data on pupil's experiences. Data would be used again to determine the zone of proximal development of teachers and as a reflection tool in the innovation process. Student teachers would also conduct small didactic experiments. On the one hand this would help the innovation process at the school and on the other hand ILS would offer student teachers the opportunity to learn how to do action research using the pupil's voice, thus also contributing to the professional competencies of the student teachers. 3 Research activities in the second project year 3.1Reorientation on theeducational problems and problem definition The new school year at the school started with a new management and some changes in teaching staff. Responsibilities for innovations had become unclear. The educational philosophy endorsed before the summer holidays seemed to be temporarily forgotten. Efforts were made by the school to adjust teaching and pupils to the new structures. A number of conversations were held between teacher trainers and researchers of ILS and the management of the school to discuss continuation of the co-operation. At his time critical questions were asked in the research group about the desirability for continuation. The new management of the school however was eager to continue the co-operation. One of the results of the research activities of ILS in the first project year was that pupils said that individual and independent working was, above all, boring. The school had therefore decided to organize a project week for the third form of the theoretical and mixed route of upper VMBO. The main objective of the project week was that is had to be 'fun'. It was agreed upon that ILS teacher trainers and researchers and student teachers would observe and register the activities, explicitly using the pupils' voice. The working method would be participatory observation. The results would be used for feedback for the school. 3.2 General plan The project week would take place from 20 February - 24 February 2006. The target group was the third form of the theoretical and mixed route of upper VMBO. This form consisted of 42 pupils. The main theme of the project week was the question "How would the school look like in 2007?" The pupils would work in small groups on projects contributing to the main theme. The project week would end on Friday morning with final presentations of each group. Organisation and preparation of the project week would be the responsibility of the school. Teacher trainers and researchers of ILS would take care of the preparation of the student teachers. A group of 11 student teachers would participate in the project. They were first, second or third year student teachers from various courses (Dutch, English, geography and history). 3.3 Execution of the general planThe research group was concerned about the fact that the main objective of the project week was narrowed down to that it had to be 'fun'. No learning objectives were mentioned by the school. The research group therefore decided to use a written instruction for the student teachers as a discussion paper for the school. In the text two major learning objectives were suggested which were in line with the ambitions of the innovation process: * stimulating independent, inquiring and co-operative learning, giving more responsibilities to pupils * creating more cohesion between subjects. Suggestions were done for objectives in terms of knowledge, skills and attitudes and ideas were given for operationalizing the objectives with the help of a work plan. The school endorsed the suggestions. The research group organized two meetings with the student teachers preparing them for their tasks. In the second meeting two delegates of the school were present to present their plans for the project week. Student teachers (and teacher trainers and researchers of ILS) would have to do three main tasks during the project week: * keeping a log (for reflection purposes) * guiding, or assisting in guiding, small groups of pupils * collecting information about one specific pupil by mains of observations, interviews, learner products and learner reports (reflections written by pupils about what they had learnt and how they had experienced the project). This would be the basis for a pupil's portrait: a coherent description of a pupil. For the instruction see figure 5. A pupil's portrait A pupil's portrait consists of the following ingredients: # The pupil in the project: # ## Activities of the pupil ## Observations ## Learner products ## Learner reports ## Activities of the pupil at school ## Experiences of the pupil at and with school ## Background information about the pupil (using the pupil as source) # The pupil in the school: ## Organizers, patterns, recurring themes ## Cohesion in experience, interests, learning and learning style # De analysis: ## Conclusions about the pupil # Conclusions: Instruction: Summarize the information you have collected about the pupil in the project and the pupil in the school (parts 1 en 2). This summary is the basis for the analysis on the level of the individual pupil. Analyse the information by answering the following questions: which organizers and patterns can be identified? Which themes reoccur? Which cohesion is there in experience, interests, learning and learning style? Parts 3 consist of the answers on these questions. In part 4 you write down your conclusion with regard to the pupil. Figure 5 When all pupil's portraits were written an exchange would take place aimed at two main questions: * What are the most important similarities and differences? * Which conclusions can be drawn by the school with regard to the organisation and preparation of a second project week? On the first day of the project week it became clear that the organisation and preparation of the project week was different from what ILS had expected. There was no general scenario and there was no work plan for the project groups. Objectives, content and working methods were missing. As a result, many materials were not present. It turned out that many of the school teachers could not guide the groups, because they had other responsibilities. Teacher trainers, researchers and student teachers decided to concentrate on guiding the project groups in order to make the project week as successful as possible for the pupils. The consequence was that only few of them could find the time to collect information for the pupil's portraits. All participants kept logs however and these turned out to be very valuable. The student teachers discussed their personal logs in face-to-face communication with a teacher trainer or researcher, exploring their own presuppositions. This made it easier for them to become aware of their own educational viewpoints. After the project week the research group collected the logs and reports and analysed these along the following questions: * To what extent were the activities 'fun' for the pupils? How do we know this? * What have pupils learnt, and how do we know? * What have student teachers learnt, and how do we know this? * How was guidance organised and to what extent has this contributed to the learning results? * Which methods were used and to what extent have these contributed to the learning results? * What are the reflections on the organisation? First all teacher trainers and researchers analysed the logs and reports individually, answering all questions (a vertical approach). Then a division of tasks was made. Each teacher trainer or researcher analysed one question using the analyses collected in the vertical approach. The objective of this additional horizontal approach was to achieve a more objective interpretation of the data. In a report these questions were answered. The last question was subdivided into a part dedicated to organisation and a part dedicated to communication. A discussion paragraph was added. In the report quotes were embodied from student teachers or teacher trainers or researchers. A concept of the report was presented to the school and discussed in various sessions. The final version is endorsed by both ILS and school. Student teachers have received the final version of the report as well. In the last meeting decisions have been taken for follow-up activities. 3.4Results and conclusions, and follow-up activities In this paragraph firstly the results and conclusions will be presented with regard to the project week and the learning by pupils and secondly for the network co-operation in educational innovation projects and the learning by student teachers. Finally the follow-up activities will be given. Results and conclusions for the project week and the learning by pupils The extent in which the activities were 'fun' for the pupils Large differences were found in the experiences of pupils. Some project groups were 'fun' and others were not. 'Fun' was often interpreted as working with your hands, doing things. "When I asked her why she liked it so much, the answer was: because we are working with our hands, fiddling nicely, no so boring, just reading and writing." (student teacher) The pupils said they appreciated the presence of the student teachers. Bad preparation appeared to have had its impact on the motivation of pupils. Sometimes they had to wait for a long time in idleness, because the materials were not present. This influenced their motivation negatively. In some project groups there was a large gap between the tasks the pupils had to do and the abilities they had or thought they had (perceived abilities). This influenced their motivation in a negative way. Pupils' learning results Pupils expected the project week to be 'fun'. From their perspective this meant that the week would not contain (traditional) learning activities. Nevertheless they learnt a number of things: co-operating, especially in finding solutions for (ad-hoc) problems, planning, being flexible, and dealing with responsibilities. Pupils very much focussed on products; there was little reflection on the learning process. Guidance Student teachers, teacher trainers and researchers felt the need to operate in a rather directive manner at the start of the week. Pupils were not prepared at all to operate independently. "Pupils were hardly stimulated in co-operative and active learning during the regular lessons. According to themselves most of the time is devoted to working from textbooks and assignments from workbooks." (teacher trainer / researcher) Through methods like mind-mapping, and planning suggestions a structure was offered. Pupils appeared to be glad with the help and the attention given to them. The fact that they had to make a presentation on the last day was motivating. Student teachers, teacher trainers and researchers reported that they thought the learning results could have been better, if objectives, content, and methods would have been clearer, not in the sense of a static set of objectives etc., but as guidelines which could support the pupils formulating their own elaborations of the project. Now, they spent much of their time finding solutions for unforeseen problems. Materials were not present and, sometimes they could not help pupils because they did not have the knowledge and skills about the subjects themselves. "Still not everyone could start and pupils came asking questions I could not answer, because I cannot sew." (student teacher) Methods Various methods were used. The focus was on concrete and active methods with an open form. The explicit objective of the school was to stimulate a pleasant working environment. It had to be 'fun'. The methods used offered pupils the opportunity to learn from their own experiences and offered room for personal input in both learning process and product. Two groups of methods could be distinguished: methods focusing on acquiring and processing information and methods aimed at vocational skills. Some of the methods offered the opportunity for co-operative learning. However, pupils had problems working together. Probably, this is due to the fact that they were not used to do so. See above. Theorizing and reflective methods were hardly used. It was striking that pupils had much more capabilities than was anticipated by ILS participants. Organisation There was no general scenario available. Planning, infrastructure and tasks were not clear. In retrospect it appeared that school teachers were not exempted from other tasks, so they were hardly available for the project groups. Although a general theme was chosen, the translation into sub themes remained unclear. The same applied to the objectives. All this greatly influenced the way pupils were guided and their learning results. Communication Student teachers, ILS teacher trainers and researchers had expected to be able to focus on research activities, but found themselves practically fulltime guiding the project groups. Communication between student teachers, teacher trainers and school teachers was problematic, because the school teachers were hardly available for the project. The communication in the school amongst school teachers and management was inadequate. School teachers who were not involved in the project were not informed at all. Arrangements were not communicated. Communication between school and pupils turned out to be insufficient, because most pupils did not know what to expect. A quote of one of the student teachers summarizes it nicely. "I think the â€¦ school is a good school, but it needs more consultation. This was what was lacking and many people were therefore frustrated. All in all an enervating week, tiring, but in the end very valuable!" (student teacher) Results and conclusions for network co-operation in educational innovation projects and the learning by student teachers The second project year was not without problems. In the final meeting the management of the school confessed that the communication and organisation around the project week had been insufficient. Nevertheless they had learnt a lot and hoped to continue the co-operation. The research group learnt a lot as well. The following conclusions have been drawn and will be used in similar co-operative educational innovation projects: * Explicit go and no-go moments will be build in * The focus will be on the learning of pupils, student teachers and teachers. School management will have to support this. * ILS participants will work at teacher level (with teachers), not only with school management. * School teachers will have to participate as well in the preparation, as in the execution and evaluation of activities. * Participating observation will be one of the major methods * If possible, interdisciplinary groups will be formed * A badly organised project can be a very good learning environment for the student teachers: an interesting thought. * Student teachers should be given more faith, and as a result probably more responsibilities Student teachers' learning results In the teacher trainer programme student teachers develop their professional identity in different ways. Generally speaking, they develop their poorly based and structured pre-concepts about teaching and learning into better or well-based and structured concepts. Participation in the preparation, execution and evaluation of the project week turned out to be a strong instrument to make student teachers aware of their own subjective theories and question, adjust and / or re-confirm them. Strikingly, the fact that the preparation and organisation of the school was poor, helped the student teachers to discover what they thought was important in teaching and learning. The majority of the student teachers graduated from senior general secondary education (HAVO) or pre-university education (VWO). They are unfamiliar with pre-vocational secondary education (VMBO). Participating in the project gave them the opportunity to get to know VMBO and VMBO pupils. Some student teachers reported that VMBO pupils were different from what they had expected. For instance, they were impressed by the capabilities of the pupils. These student teachers corrected their pre-concepts. In Dutch education the transmissive didactic approach is making way for a more socio-constructivist approach. The teacher has to become more and more a coach helping pupils to construct their knowledge. This means a more prominent role for guidance skills. Participation in the project offered the student teachers the opportunity to further develop these skills. From literature it has become apparent that action research is a strong instrument for professional development. Student teachers have participated in collecting and analysing data in a structured way and have therefore developed some aspects of action research. By using the pupil as the most important source, they learnt to see the individual pupil. Follow-up activities The school would like to continue the co-operation. Its management has discussed the final report made by the research group and has made an overview of the questions they would like to work on next school year. The research group has written a project proposal for ILS management asking for continuation of the co-operation as well. Focus would be on the learning process of the school teachers and participation of student teachers. Important points for attention for ILS are the dissemination of the learning results and the integration of action research, using the pupil as important source, in the ILS curriculum. At the moment action research is rarely used as didactic instrument at ILS. Reflective learning is an import aspect of the programme, but the focus is very much the student teacher's own experiences. There is little attention for the systematic collection and analysis of data. The final paper student teachers have to write in the fourth form is an exception. It has become clear that action research was a powerful instrument for reflective learning for the student teachers who participated in the project. The following conclusions have been drawn with regard to the ILS curriculum: * ILS teacher trainers, researchers and student teachers can participate in the development, realisation and evaluation of educational innovation projects. The focus will be on aspects of action research into the learning of pupils and its relationship with the professional development of teachers. Student teachers will have to acquire the knowledge and skills in order to be able to do these tasks. Teacher trainers and researchers will have to acquire the skills to coach the student teachers. * More in general, participatory research will have to become part of placement assignments. Student teachers can learn to guide pupils and at the same time observe the activities and behaviour of pupils. They make reports and use the information as feedback for their own teaching behaviour. * The student teacher reports can also be used as feedback for ILS. The reports can be collected and analysed by teacher trainers and researchers and thus be used as feedback for ILS (monitoring) ReferencesKelchtermans, G. (2001). Reflectief ervaringsleren voor leerkrachten. Deurne: Wolters Plantijn. Kemmis, Stephen (2005). Participatory action research and the public sphere. PRAR / CARN Conference, Utrecht, the Netherlands, 2005. Malmgren, L-G. & P-H. van de Ven, Kalle, a reader's portrait. A speculative analysis within the IMEN research project Reading Literature in Comprehensive School (Age 11-13). Occasional papar in Mother Tongue Education 4, Enschede: VALO-M, 1990. Ponte, P. (2002). Onderwijs van eigen makelij. Baarn: Nelissen. Reason, P. and Bradbury, H. (2001). Handbook of Action Research. Participative Inquiry and Practice. London, Thousand Oaks, New Delhi: SAGE Publications Ltd.

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