Changing attitudes to Europe: British teacher education and the European dimension

This thesis examines the attitudes to Europe of student teachers during their initial training course, in order to investigate their development in relation to the European dimension in both the teacher education and school curricula. After setting the current political context, the historical and...

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Main Author: Convery, Anne
Format: Thesis (University of Nottingham only)
Language:English
Published: 2002
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/12760/
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author Convery, Anne
author_facet Convery, Anne
author_sort Convery, Anne
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description This thesis examines the attitudes to Europe of student teachers during their initial training course, in order to investigate their development in relation to the European dimension in both the teacher education and school curricula. After setting the current political context, the historical and educational background to the study is outlined, together with a personal rationale for the research. A close scrutiny of the literature pertaining to Europe and the European dimension enabled a conceptual framework of key terms to be established. Consideration of a range of theoretical perspectives in the field of cognitive psychology led to the choice of Bronfenbrenner's Ecology of Human Development as an appropriate framework within which to examine the specific research questions. His belief in human development focuses on the complex interactions between an individual and the environments in which s/he is situated. The individual is interpreted in this study as the student teacher, who develops in a series of ever-widening environments (local, national and European). The research is based on a mixed-model paradigm, drawing on both quantitative and qualitative methods in order to best address the research questions. Data collection took place in two phases: a major four year UK-based study; and a European survey in six EU countries. The research tools used were pre- and post-course questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, which generated large amounts of rich quantitative and qualitative data. An in-depth and detailed analysis of the data resulted in the emergence of a number of key findings. These are discussed and interpreted in the light of the theoretical framework, leading to theoretical and conceptual refinement. Finally, recommendations are made concerning implications for future policy and practice, in terms of European education policy, research, teacher education and schools.
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spelling nottingham-127602025-02-28T11:21:11Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/12760/ Changing attitudes to Europe: British teacher education and the European dimension Convery, Anne This thesis examines the attitudes to Europe of student teachers during their initial training course, in order to investigate their development in relation to the European dimension in both the teacher education and school curricula. After setting the current political context, the historical and educational background to the study is outlined, together with a personal rationale for the research. A close scrutiny of the literature pertaining to Europe and the European dimension enabled a conceptual framework of key terms to be established. Consideration of a range of theoretical perspectives in the field of cognitive psychology led to the choice of Bronfenbrenner's Ecology of Human Development as an appropriate framework within which to examine the specific research questions. His belief in human development focuses on the complex interactions between an individual and the environments in which s/he is situated. The individual is interpreted in this study as the student teacher, who develops in a series of ever-widening environments (local, national and European). The research is based on a mixed-model paradigm, drawing on both quantitative and qualitative methods in order to best address the research questions. Data collection took place in two phases: a major four year UK-based study; and a European survey in six EU countries. The research tools used were pre- and post-course questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, which generated large amounts of rich quantitative and qualitative data. An in-depth and detailed analysis of the data resulted in the emergence of a number of key findings. These are discussed and interpreted in the light of the theoretical framework, leading to theoretical and conceptual refinement. Finally, recommendations are made concerning implications for future policy and practice, in terms of European education policy, research, teacher education and schools. 2002-07-04 Thesis (University of Nottingham only) NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en arr https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/12760/1/246351.pdf Convery, Anne (2002) Changing attitudes to Europe: British teacher education and the European dimension. PhD thesis, University of Nottingham. student teachers attitude great britain europe educational policy
spellingShingle student teachers
attitude
great britain
europe
educational policy
Convery, Anne
Changing attitudes to Europe: British teacher education and the European dimension
title Changing attitudes to Europe: British teacher education and the European dimension
title_full Changing attitudes to Europe: British teacher education and the European dimension
title_fullStr Changing attitudes to Europe: British teacher education and the European dimension
title_full_unstemmed Changing attitudes to Europe: British teacher education and the European dimension
title_short Changing attitudes to Europe: British teacher education and the European dimension
title_sort changing attitudes to europe: british teacher education and the european dimension
topic student teachers
attitude
great britain
europe
educational policy
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/12760/