Source: European Journal of Teacher Education, Volume 36, Issue 3, 2013, pages 307-319
The present article examines common themes identified in the roles required and/or perceived for teacher educators by both teachers and teacher educators.
Data were collected from reflective diaries, semi-structured interviews and surveys.
Collaboration, discussion and critique enabled personal reflection as teacher educators worked as partners to schools in a state-sponsored teaching and learning skills project.
The authors have termed the collaboration in such an interactive project as one of ‘dancing in the ditches’, often requiring both groups to get out of their comfortable spaces and engage with each other in constantly moving situations.
The teacher educators were required to be change agents at the interface of theory and practice and their experiences reflected individual journeys, but their reflections have ongoing implications for clarifying and professionalising the role of teacher educators.