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Plymouth Interdisciplinary Education Open Journal

Abstract

International qualified teacher status (iQTS), a new programme which enables candidates to qualify while teaching overseas, marks one of the latest major developments in England’s teacher training system. This study endeavours to survey its current state and make an assessment of the nature of its training. The literature review situates the programme in the historical trajectory of English initial teacher training (ITT) and, in turn, the higher education and socio-economic contexts. As an analytic framework, Furlong’s fourfold categorisation of teachers’ knowledge is used to represent competing approaches to teacher training. It is argued that the liberal approach, emphasising a broad, general education across disciplinary boundaries, holds the promise of best preparing teachers for the challenges of a globalised era. Mixed methods research, comprising content analysis of programme information and discourse analysis of stakeholder interviews, reveals not only iQTS’s continuity from conventional modes of ITT such as the Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), but also a significantly more liberal aspect which contrasts the latter’s vocational character. Candidates, typically teaching assistants at international schools, stand to benefit in terms of both intellectual cultivation and employment prospects.

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