Fast Track Teacher Education: A Review of the Research Literature on "Teach For All" Schemes.
Year: 2012
Type: report
Abstract: This review of the research literature is about fast track schemes in teacher education, and specifically focuses on what is currently known about such schemes run by the organisation Teach For All (TFA).In stark contrast to traditional university-based teacher education, schemes characterised as fast track provide would-be teachers a greatly accelerated programme of study and practical experience for gaining entry to teaching in schools.Within a wide variety of alternative routes for teacher training and eventual certification (credentialing), so-called fast track programs have been one of the more visible and aggressively developed and marketed schemes over the last twenty-five years.Initially conceived and developed as Teach For America, similar fast track teacher education programs are now also established as Teach First UK and Teach For Australia, and such a scheme is currently under negotiation and development as Teach First New Zealand.TFA schemes have been established in some 18 countries around the world.This review of the literature was commissioned by the New Zealand Post-Primary Teachers Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua as a means of informing the decision-making of the Association and its members about the TFA scheme seeking to prepare teachers for New Zealand's schools.The review was conducted by Andrew McConney, Anne Price and Amanda Woods-McConney, all lecturers at Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia.All three reviewers have substantial experience in traditional university-based teacher preparation; two have experience as teachers in public schools in the US and Australia; and, one co-led the design and implementation of a federally-funded, competency-based, alternative pathway to teacher certification in the US during the mid-1990s.The identification of studies to be included for the literature review was approached systematically, using electronic searches of relevant scholarly databases such as the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) and the British Education Index (BEI) and also utilizing commonly available internet search tools like Google Scholar.The review was confined to literature published in English, and prioritised primary, empirically-based research literature published during the last twenty years.In all, about 100 studies are included, the majority from peer-reviewed, scholarly journals, but also including several key reports produced by government agencies and by education or public policy think-tanks that are freely available via the Internet.Some of these reports were commissioned by TFA, and funded by its philanthropic or corporate supporters.
Authors: A. McConney, Amanda Woods‐McConney, Anne Price
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1505741559