Time for Architectural Change in Teacher Education: A Continuum of Professional Learning. Paper presented at the British Education Research Association Conference, University of Sussex September 2017

In this paper we propose and explore the evidence for what some have called ‘long, thin’ professional education. This is based on the design principle of a continuum of formal learning opportunities that begin with an initial preparation that should last two to three years. Only at the end of this longer, initial programme would teachers be deemed to have qualified and during these years, pre-service teachers would have to show not only a level of professional competence appropriate to a new entrant to the profession, but also the habits of mind and capacity for analysis and informed judgement that would suggest they have the ability to continue to develop as professionals over their career. Such fundamental changes to the temporal architecture of teacher education and the benefits to be gained are also contingent upon other architectural enablers and constraints which we examine in terms of the potential benefits that could be brought to teacher education.