Teacher Education in the Spotlight. What is happening in other countries?

Dr. Karen Hammerness is Senior Director, Educational Research and Evaluation at the American Museum of Natural History gives the talk Empowering educators:  An international view of teacher education Thursday, February 20 at 15-16.30 in Hátíðarsal. 

As well as in live stream.

Berglind Gísladóttir, associate professor at the School of Education, is the moderator and leads the discussions after the talk.

All are welcome!

Abstract:

Dr. Hammerness’ talk will focus on two questions: 1) What can we learn from international research about systemic supports for teacher learning and preparation that lead to a high quality teaching profession?; and 2) How have teacher educators used these findings to help strengthen their teacher education programs? Drawing on a large-scale international research project (the “Empowered Educators” study, which she co-authored) as well as case studies of teacher education reform, she will share examples of strategies, policies and practices from countries including Australia, Canada, Finland, Norway, Singapore and the United States.

Bio:

Dr. Karen Hammerness is Senior Director, Educational Research and Evaluation at the American Museum of Natural History. Her research focuses upon the design and pedagogy of teacher education in the United States and internationally. She recently completed a four-year international, comparative study of teacher education programs in five countries, including Chile, Norway, Cuba, Finland and the United States, with colleagues at the University of Oslo. She has authored a book on teacher policy with Pasi Sahlberg and Raisa Ahtiainen, Empowered Educators in Finland: How high-performing systems shape teaching quality (2017), on the coherent systems supporting quality teaching in Finland. Her latest book Preparing Science Teachers Through Practice-Based Education (Harvard Education Press, 2020) focuses on preparing teachers to engage in equitable teaching practices so that students’ ideas drive teaching. It may seem unusual for an educational researcher to work in a museum; but the American Museum of Natural History has been providing preparation for teachers for over 100 years and currently has a teacher preparation program. Through a long-standing partnership with the city’s Department of Education, the museum also provides inservice science professional development to over 900 teachers a year. At the museum, Dr. Hammerness’ directs the Department of Educational Research and Evaluation; the research in the department focuses upon studies of science learning for teachers, youth, children, families and visitors to the museum.