What do teachers learn 'on the job'? And how, if at all, do they learn from 'experience'? Leading researchers from the UK, Europe, the USA and Canada offer international, research-based perspectives on a central problem in policy-making and professional practice - the role that experience plays in learning to teach in schools. Experience is often weakly conceptualized in both policy and research, sometimes simply used as a proxy for 'time', in weeks and years, spent in a school classroom. The conceptualization of experience in a range of educational research traditions lies at the heart of this book, exemplified in a variety of empirical and theoretical studies. Distinctive perspectives to inform these studies include sociocultural psychology, the philosophy of education, school effectiveness, the sociology of education, critical pedagogy, activism and action research. However, no one theoretical perspective can claim privileged insight into what and how teachers learn from experience; rather, this is a matter for a truly educational investigation, one that is both close to practice and seeks to develop theory. At a time when policy-makers in many countries seek to make teacher education an entirely school-based activity, Learning Teaching from Experience offers an essential examination of the evidence-base, the traditions of inquiry - and the limits of those inquiries.

What do teachers learn 'on the job'? And how, if at all, do they learn from 'experience'? Leading researchers from the UK and Europe, the USA and Canada offer international, research-based perspectives on a central problem in policy-making and professional practice - the role that experience plays in learning to teach in schools.

This book should be required reading for courses of teacher education, particularly in the current context in which 'learning on the job' and the craft idea of a teacher is increasingly the norm. In this context, the rhetoric of 'learning from experience' is frequently invoked. But what does it mean to learn from experience? Is understanding theory not experiential? The contributions in the book approach these questions with a wealth of research and applied knowledge, which at times challenge orthodoxy on learning theories and policy. The diversity of approaches, as well as the detail and exemplification they give provide a highly informative account of aspects of learning from experience from multiple perspectives, and give us pause for thought that there can be 'a science of education', a formulaic application of research data and policy borrowing. The book's chapters invite us to think carefully about the best way to develop teachers. It provides a rich account of why 'formation' is required, not some kind of technical 'training'.