Constructing the academic category of teacher educator in Aotearoa New Zealand university recruitment processes.

Abstract

An examination of recruitment materials and interviews with personnel involved in the employment of teacher educators to positions in university-based New Zealand initial teacher education reveals three constructions of teacher educator as academic worker: the professional expert, the dually qualified, and the traditional academic. However, our analysis shows how these constructions allow universities to pursue a bifurcated approach to the employment of teacher educators; an approach that maintains binaries within teacher education and hinders development in the field. Furthermore, as the spectre of a major cultural shift in the provision of New Zealand ITE arises, the extent to which the professional expert and traditional academic constructions of teacher educator might serve the scope of work required of post-graduate ITE going forth is questioned.