Modern and Post-Modern Teacher Education: Revealing Contrasts in Basic Educational Beliefs and Practice

The researchers examine the beliefs of faculty members regarding education policy, teaching and learning, and curricula through the constructs of postmodern and modern ideologies. A 26-items survey based on a theoretical framework using Sahlberg’s “Finnish Way” was administered at two colleges of education; findings provided insights into these faculty members’ stances toward P–12 schooling as well as preparing teachers. The institutions were selected, in part, for their contrasting models. One is a private, non-profit university located on the west coast of the United States; the other is public, state-supported university in the Midwest. Both have a mission to meet the needs of underserved populations of college students, especially first-generation college attendees; however, over 60% of the private university’s coursework is taken online versus less than 10% at the public institution. Ninety faculty members from the public institution were surveyed, all of whom were full-time tenured or tenure-track, whereas nearly 700 faculty were surveyed at the private university, and all but 85 were adjunct faculty (70% of all classes at the private college of education are taught by adjunct faculty while less than 10% of classes at the public college are taught by part-time adjunct faculty.) Findings indicated a general agreement within all five item categories: Standards/Standardization, Curriculum, Student Assessment, Management, and Resources. However, decided differences were found in faculty members’ responses to individual items such as merit pay and collective bargaining’s “grip” on teacher contracts. In this instance, the private institution held to a neoliberal approach whereas in most other cases these faculty members embraced more constructivist/progressive practices and beliefs. One of the conclusions made by the researchers is that those holding neoliberal philosophies may be attracted to the private institution’s “business-like” operation model (although they do not seem to constitute the majority), while a more progressive faculty member is attracted to the state institution with a traditional tenure system and mode of instructional delivery.