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Promoting Quality in Teacher Education

Note of the meeting of the UCET Research & International Forum held on-line at 1.00pm on Tuesday 11 May 2021

Welcome, introductions and minutes of the previous meeting

Colleagues were welcomed to the meeting. The note of the meeting held on 16 October 2020 was agreed. On matters arising: the work of the ‘Institutional Pressures’ working group had been re-focussed to look at the valued added by the HE sector to teacher education; and all UCET meetings, including the 2-3 November annual conference, would be held on line for the remainder of the calendar year.

Discussion

A range of issues was discussed, including:

An update from JNR on non-R&I related issues, including: teacher education for the post-compulsory sector, recruitment to ITE; and developments in Wales and Northern Ireland.

Feedback from the morning symposium on the implications for education research of the DFE review of the ITE market, the Institute of Teaching (IOT); teaching school hubs and the Early Career Framework. This included feedback from JNR on the background to the policy developments, action taken in response by UCET and other organisations, the emerging conclusions from the Market Review now being shared by DfE at sector engagement events and the forthcoming public consultation. Significant risks, depending on final outcomes, were identified in respect of: the continued involvement in ITE of some accredited providers (both SCITT and HEI); teacher supply; placement availability; school engagement with HEI research activities; criticality; and the future on master’s level CPD and doctoral studies. It was agreed that the next morning symposium would consider again the implications of the MR, including how to engage ITE colleagues in research activities under new structures and how to facilitate cross-institutional research collaboration. A future symposium might look at research into the longer term impacts of the pandemic.

International issues, including the DfE’s consultation on a new iQTS qualification and UCET’s response which, inter alia, pointed out the in-appropriateness of imposing English structures and regulatory processes on ITE for overseas teachers, particularly for those not training to teach in British schools overseas or international schools.

Feedback from individual institutions, including: the implications for some HEIs of proposed reductions in funding for arts-based subjects; institutional restructuring; funding constraints (including the imposition of part-time working and freezing of salaries); the reduction of the proportion of activities related to education; and the splitting of education work across faculties in some institutions, while bringing them together in others.

The Research Excellence Framework, with particular discussion about the relationship between institutional codes of practice on staff deemed to have significant responsibilities for research and contracts of employment. An analysis of the proportion of education submissions that covered teacher education was to be conducted. The postponement of submission deadlines had, it was noted, had a positive impact of the number and profile of submissions made, as had (at one institution) a requirement on doctoral students to publish their work.

Equalities issues and a report from the Equalities sub-group. The group had met once, would meet again the following day and would meet again before the next R&I forum to allow a full report to be made. Discussions had focused so far on the availability of data at global, national and institutional levels and how it was used and might be used. R&I forum members were asked to ensure that a survey on equality issues, which would be issued soon, was passed onto the appropriate people to respond. Reference was made to recent research on the career progression of BAME teachers, and the interrelationship between fitness to practice processes and on the retention of teachers from a range of inter-connected under-represented groups, including people with disabilities. The difficulty of covering equalities issues in addition to Core Content Framework and other requirements was also noted. Nick Johnson’s BERA blog issued in response to the recent report from the Commission on Race and Disparities report was welcomed.

Items for information

The UCET Easter newsletter and the UCET Effective CPD paper were noted.

Any other business

None.

Date of next meeting

12 October 2021, via Zoom.