The Work of Teacher Educators

Dr. Darul Aman, M. Pd*

Research on the work of teacher educators (such as Perry & Cooper, 2001; Guilfoyle et al., 1995; Cooper et al., 1999) characterizes it as multi-layered and complex work that is often fragmented and at times quite disconnected. Teacher educators are not only responsible for teaching their students, but indirectly also for the teaching of the pupils who will be taught by their student teachers. This makes the work of teacher educators socially complex: ‘We have a moral obligation to all participants: the student teacher, the co-operating teacher, and the student in the classroom. On top of that teacher educators collaborate with other faculties (like science, languages,  arts, geography and history) about the content of the curriculum, they work together with school boards and all kinds of institutes and institutions related to teaching’ 94 A. Swennen et al. (Guilfoyle et al., 1995, p. 37). Teacher educators have their own views on good teaching, but have to take into account the sometimes different views of their student teachers, the mentors in the schools and of the management of the schools. Moreover, the politics of education and national and international debates about teacher education have a great impact on the work of teacher educators. In short, teacher educators do their work in diverse and complex social and cultural environments in which many players have their own agendas and justifiable goals.

An important aspect of the complexity of teacher education is that teacher educators have to build three sets of relationships. Teacher educators have to build relationships with their adult students. Although they are experienced teachers with primary and/or secondary pupils, the relationship with young adults, and often mature age students, is quite different. At the university, the teacher educator is the teacher/lecturer for the student teachers, and in the schools, he/she is their supervisor, advisor, and a person who empowers and supports them in their practices of classroom teaching and other aspects of their professional work as teachers. Teacher educators also have to build a relationship with their new colleagues in the teacher education institutions and with many other university workers. Additionally, teacher educators have to build a good relationship with the staff in the schools where the students are undertaking their professional practices. In the school settings, there are various people who are involved in the education of the student teachers: the headmaster/principal, the mentor teachers, other teachers and other functionaries in school such as specialist teachers, parents and other members of the community. It is even more complicated and demanding when a teacher educator wants to build relationships with those working in professional development schools (Teitel, 2003).Beginning teacher educators have to gain an insight in this multi-layered and complex context and find their own identities,  place and space within the teacher education context. The work of teacher educators is especially complex because they have many and varied tasks.  They are usually expected to teach student teachers, supervise their students in schools, collaborate with mentors, design parts of the curriculum for their Institutions, supervise research or thesis writing of their students, and many have to do research and publish in reputable journals. When finding the time, they study and work on their own professional development and academic learning. In their study on teacher educators, Perry and Cooper (2001) highlighted metaphors of teacher educators, and Myra used the metaphor of being a traveler overloaded with ‘luggage of all shapes and sizes’, Ruth described a ‘maelstrom of rapidly tumbling kaleidoscope pictures’ and Margaret wrote about ‘being a swimmer in cold and deep water’. Inherent to the work of teachers of teachers is that they always serve as models, good or bad, for the student teachers. It is taken for granted in the literature that teacher educators should be able to ‘teach as they preach’ and that they should be a good model for their student teachers. Most authors (Loughran & Russell, 2002; Lunenberg, Korthagen, & Swennen, 2007; Wood & Geddis, 1999) agree that ’modeling’ is important but modeling alone is not enough. Student teachers who observe teacher educators who model good teaching may not be conscious of the intentions  of the teacher educators. They may appreciate the teacher educator as a good teacher, but it is left to the individual student teacher to find out what good practice 6 becoming a Teacher Educator 95 or theory the teacher educator is modeling. It is, therefore, important that teacher educators not only model good practice or theory but also communicate explicitly with their students about their own learning and teaching.

*Dosen Bahasa Inggris STAI GP Takengon