A Thematic Analysis of Alternative Scenarios

Abstract

Envisioning and enacting teacher education for sustainable futures require simultaneous attention to multiple influences and imperatives. One among several possible approaches to this task is to draw on alternative scenarios as recommended by futures researchers, thereby suggesting several different possible visions of teacher education and considering their likely impact on current policymaking and practice. This paper deploys scenarios of potential higher education futures in the United Kingdom (Blass, Jasman, & Shelley, 2010, in press) as a framework for addressing this research question: Which challenges and opportunities might shape the sustainability of Australian teacher education? In particular, the framework is employed to examine six recent doctoral dissertations supervised by the authors and dealing explicitly or implicitly with teacher education research issues, ranging from visual literacy and visual signifiers to students with learning difficulties and teaching for social justice. A thematic analysis elicits several opportunities and challenges attending the sustainability options for Australian teacher education generated by Blass et al.’s (2010, in press) scenarios. The paper presents the thematic analysis findings by clustering the opportunities and challenges around three key elements of contemporary theorising of sustainability: contexts, connections and capabilities (Holland, 2008; Lanzi, 2007). These elements are posited as robust conceptual resources for highlighting and interrogating sustainability options across multiple domains of educational experience and activity. They are also proposed as vital ingredients in the ongoing reevaluation of Australian teacher education designed to ensure its sustainable futures and to maximise its effectiveness and relevance. Introduction Teacher education can be seen as an accurate barometer of wider developments in higher education in Australia and internationally. Like higher education, teacher education has been subject to national inquiries (the most recent in Australia being respectively the Bradley Review (Commonwealth of Australia, 2008) and Top of the Class (House of Representatives Standing Committee on Education and Vocational Training, 2007). Also like higher education, teacher education is the object of concern about its future sustainability, given current pressures related to cost, quality and relevance (Cochran-Smith, Feiman-Nemser, McIntyre, & Demers, 2008). This paper uses alternative higher education futures in the United Kingdom (Blass et al., 2010, in press) to analyse six recent doctoral dissertations related to teacher education research issues. The analysis enables the authors to answer this research question: Which challenges and opportunities might shape the sustainability of Australian teacher education? The paper consists of three sections: • A selective literature review, conceptual framework and research design • A thematic analysis of the chosen dissertations • Concluding implications of the analysis for futuring sustainable Australian teacher education.