Continuum of Learning

Feiman-Nemser, S. (2001). 'From preparation to practice: Designing a continuum to strengthen

and sustain teaching.' Teachers College Record, 103(6), 1013-1055.
In this comprehensive and thoughtful paper, Feiman-Nemser's main premise is that 'if we want
schools to produce more powerful learning on the part of students, we have to offer more
powerful learning opportunities to teachers' (p. 1014). She poses three questions that go to the
heart of considering teacher development as a process of ongoing education.
What are the central tasks of teacher preparation, new teacher induction and early
professional development?
How well do conventional arrangements address these central tasks?
What are some promising programs and practices at each stage in the learning-to-teach
continuum that promote standards-based teaching and enable teachers to become active
participants in school reform?
Feiman-Nemser argues that:
typical pre-service teacher education programs are weak interventions when compared
with teachers' own schooling and on-the-job experiences
'sink or swim' induction encourages novices to stick to survival practices, whether or not
such practices represent 'best' practice in that situation
professional development opportunities are often sporadic and disconnected, divorced
from teachers' classrooms and lacking follow-up.
She argues for serious and sustained attention to three stages of teacher training: preparation,
induction and development. In stage one, pre-service teachers need to analyse their beliefs and
form new visions; develop subject matter knowledge; develop understandings of learners and
learning; develop a beginning repertoire; and develop the tools to study teaching. In order for
these goals to be met, teacher education programs need to have conceptual coherence;
purposeful, integrated field experiences; and a focus on teachers as learners.
In stage two, induction, new teachers have two jobs. They have to teach and they have to learn to
teach.
The conditions under which a person carries out the first years of teaching have a strong
influence on the level of effectiveness which that teacher is able to achieve and sustain over the
years; on the attitudes which govern teachers' behaviour over even a forty-year career; and,
indeed, on the decision whether or not to continue in the teaching profession. (Bush, 1983, cited
in Feiman-Nemser, 2001, p. 1014)
Key tasks in the early years include gaining local knowledge of students, curriculum and school
context; designing responsive curriculum and instruction; enacting a beginning repertoire in
purposeful ways; creating a classroom learning community; developing a professional identity;
and learning in and from practice. Support for achieving success in the early years comes from
appropriate assignments; developmental stance, time frame and curriculum; integrating
assistance and assessment; a strong mentoring component; and partnerships and collaboration.
Feiman-Nemser proposes that stage three, professional development, calls for ongoing study and
problem solving among teachers in the service of a dual agenda - promoting more powerful
student learning and transforming schools. Central tasks for professional development include
developing and extending subject matter knowledge; extending and refining one's repertoire,
strengthening dispositions and skills to study and improve teaching; and extending
responsibilities for leadership development.
Feiman-Nemser argues that three themes stand out for establishing early professional
development:
serious two-way conversation as a medium of professional development
professional communities of practice
grounding in the particulars of teaching and learning.
Feiman-Nemser summarises her extensive discussion into the following accessible table.
Central tasks of learning to teach
Pre-service Induction Continuing professional
development
1. Examine beliefs critically in
relation to vision of good
teaching
1. Learn the context -
students, curriculum, school
community
1. Extend and deepen subject
matter knowledge for teaching
2. Develop subject matter
knowledge for teaching
2. Design responsive
instructional programs
2. Extend and refine repertoire
in curriculum, instruction and
assessment
3. Develop an understanding of
learners, learning and issues of
diversity
3. Create a classroom
learning community
3. Strengthen skills and
dispositions to study and
improve teaching
4. Develop the tools and
dispositions to study teaching
4. Develop a professional
identity