Project Goal
PREP is a collaborative and knowledge-building project between schools in Larvik municipality and Lillestrøm municipality, teacher education programmes at the University of South-Eastern Norway (USN) and OsloMet, Aalborg University and Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences, Germany.
In addition, we have an interdisciplinary international advisory board of researchers, an implementation group representing decision-makers, school leaders, leaders within teacher education, and the Norwegian National Network for Mentoring Newly Graduated Teachers.
The overarching goal of PREP is to expand and nuance the current cognitive understanding of teachers' practical knowledge towards an embodied cognitive approach, which we will achieve through
- developing experience- and research-based knowledge on how to illuminate and improve teachers' and teacher students' practical knowledge by researching their emotional experiences in unforeseen teaching situations.
- strengthening the teacher profession’s educational preparedness for unforeseen teaching situations in schools and teacher education by developing embodied cognitive theoretical concepts, didactic methods, mentoring principles, and research methodology.
Overarching Research Question
How can an embodied cognitive approach to practical knowledge strengthen the teacher profession’s educational preparedness for unforeseen teaching situations?
Watch a video illustrating the research question:
Organisation
PREP is organised into six interconnected work packages (Work package 1-5), responsible for coordination, communication, and synthesis of research findings. These are the focus areas of the different work packages:
Work package 1: Teachers’ emotional experiences in unforeseen teaching situations. We conduct an intervention study at a school to explore teachers’ emotional experiences in unforeseen teaching situations.
Work package 2: Mentors’ guidance of emotional experiences in unforeseen teaching situations. Collaborating with mentors who guide newly graduated teachers, this work package explores how an embodied cognitive understanding of emotions can expand and nuance the current cognitive approach to mentoring of newly graduated teachers.
Work package 3: Teacher students’ emotional experiences in unforeseen teaching situations (RQ6-9, RO1-2). In cooperation with work packages 1 and 2, this involves conducting an intervention study at the teacher education programme at USN. The aim of the study is to explore how teacher students can develop their emotional competence by reflecting on their emotional experiences in unforeseen teaching situations.
Additionally, the study examines how practice mentors can support and guide the students in this work during their practical training placements.
Work package 4: To develop embodied cognitive approaches to practical knowledge, the project closely collaborates with our international research group. The aim is to develop knowledge about which embodied cognitive concepts, didactic methods, mentoring principles, and research methodology can be applied. This will contribute to illuminating, improving, and strengthening teachers’ and teacher students’ educational preparedness for unforeseen teaching situations in schools and teacher education.
Work package 5: Implementation in schools and teacher education. Here, the project leaders in work package 4 will work closely with the implementation group in work package 5 to develop modules, courses, practical exercises, reflection tasks, and an implementation plan for schools and teacher education. This will be part of the teacher students’ practical studies and the continuing professional development programmes for teachers and mentors.
