Becoming professionally agentic : Researching pedagogical reasoning in initial teacher education

This research is concerned with the issue of providing effective initial teacher education (ITE) in contemporary times of rapidly changing technologies, increasing student diversity and pressing global problems. Being an effective teacher in a contemporary sense requires more ingenuity, agency and critical awareness than ever before. The chapter provides a discussion of developing preservice teachers’ pedagogical reasoning in ITE at two different sites, drawing on recent research and current initiatives to develop preservice teachers’ professional agency and in relation to policy requirements for the demonstration of graduate competence against professional standards. The authors introduce narratives of practice in ITE constructed from data related to initiatives positioning preservice teachers as responsible for pedagogical decision-making at two specific, separate sites. The chapter highlights the importance of a focus on preservice teachers’ professional agency in evaluations of success in ITE