Initial Teacher Education as Practical Theorising: A Response to Paul Hirst

Abstract

This article explores an approach to initial teacher education which emphasises the process of ‘practical theorising’ as the context in which educational theory can contribute to this professional education. The practical theorising approach is exemplified by reference to the Oxford Internship Scheme, and the article focusses especially on arguments against a practical theorising approach presented by Paul Hirst in a commentary on the Oxford scheme. These arguments are concerned with: the need for a public rationally defended consensual body of professional knowledge; the unreasonable demands which a practical theorising approach makes of student‐teachers; and the perceived failure of a practical theorising approach, at least in the Oxford context, to differentiate adequately among different kinds of theory and their place in initial teacher education.

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