Knowledge from ‘inside’ can transform secondary preservice teacher education practice in English

"The Global Educational Reform Movement (GERM) has, according to a leading Finnish educator Pasi Sahlberg (2011), polluted educational waters in Australia and elsewhere for the past two decades to an extent that educational systems are founded on ideologies of testing, accountability and competition which are alien to ‘purist’ educational agendas. In Australia, where over the same time period there is increasing evidence of politicisation of the education sector, the afore-mentioned ideologies have received federal and state government support which is evident in policy endorsements (Gillard, 2013; Loughran, 2006; Wyatt-Smith, 2000; Donnelly, 2012). Adoption of neo-liberal policies in government has been accompanied by substantial shifts in the nature, contexts and objectives of preservice teacher education at university sites. As a consequence, preservice teacher educators and ultimately the students whom they encounter in classrooms are disadvantaged as the level, depth and extent of English learning that occurs in courses and university programs is compromised by a variety of competing agendas that are not necessarily educational in intent or purpose (Freebody, 2007; Christie, 2003; Wilkinson, 2011). As an educator who trained and taught as a secondary English teacher in the 1980s and 90s, then completed post-graduate studies in language acquisition and intervention practices prior to working as a Reading Recovery Consultant from 2001, I am both amazed and concerned by the lack of synergy between the theory around language and literacy instruction and what I am able to produce in my practice to prepare those who will undertake “the biggest job in town” (Freebody, 2013). In fact, the level of external contestation around what to include in teacher preparation courses is such that I am pursuing a different pathway and undertaking as part of my dissertation, practitioner based inquiry via action research methodology to inquire into my own concerns (Cochrane-Smith and Lytle, 1993). In terms reminiscent of those expressed by Bolam et (2005) it is anticipated that the methodology will provide a sustainable and critically reflective way of investigating the overall research question which is: How well can I prepare pre-service teachers to teach English in relation to the context of demands and expectations in Australia?