Teaching teachers: what should teacher educators “know” and “do” and how and why it matters

Research conducted internationally an d nationally reveals a persistent finding: early career teachers feel under-prepared to work effectively with the full range of learners who comprise the contemporary school classroom. The National College for Teaching and Leadership survey of Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) (NCTL, 2015 ) revealed that UK graduates felt ill-prepared to meet “the needs of pupils from all ethnic back- grounds and those for whom English is an additional language” (pp. 88 – 89). Similarly, teachers in Canada contributing to The State of Educators ’ professional Learning in Canada identified “working with all students in an inclusive environment” ; “supporting diverse learner needs” , “social issues (e.g., poverty) ” and “equity and poverty education” as priorities for professional development (Campbell, et al., 2016 ,p.29). Furthermore, most recently in Australia, graduate teachers have reported feeling less than prepared when it comes to teaching students from culturally, linguistically and economically diverse backgrounds, students with a disability and those from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families (Mayer et al., 2017 ;Rowan,Kline,Mayer, 2017 )...