Realistic clinical practice: proposing an enquiry-based pedagogy for teacher education

This chapter argues that teacher education in England, and more widely, should adopt an explicit pedagogy for initial teacher education programmes. A modified version of the clinical practice model is proposed and entitled 'realistic clinical practice'. This is an enquiry-based approach that builds the programme around the core practices of teachers. The approach insists that students teachers seek explanations of their impact on learning and on learners through enquiry informed by critical engagement with public published theory and research. By adopting a more explicit pedagogy it is argued that teacher education will be less vulnerable to the influence of erratic policy makers and government ministers who since 2010 have caused so much damage to teacher education in England.