Abstract:

Transfer of training refers to the application in the work setting of knowledge, skills and attitudes learnt via a training/professional learning programme. It is a complex, debated concept that has its origins at the beginning of the Twentieth Century when the nature of transfer of learning was debated. In the past 40 years, there has been a rekindling of interest in the topic and numerous theories and evidence-based practices have been promoted to provide a framework to facilitate transfer in work settings. Nevertheless, in this literature there has been numerous discussions and debates about its definition, nature, occurrence, conceptual clarity and value, theoretical foundations, usefulness, conditions that promote occurrence, measurement criteria and identification of enablers and barriers. Initially, interest centred on organisational and human resource contexts, but increasingly there has been attention given to transfer of professional learning. In this paper, attention, will be directed to transfer of training as it relates to the role of the teacher educator in a university setting. Although there is a growing literature on transfer of training and professional development, minimal research has been directed to the teacher educator’s knowledge/use of transfer and how to promote practice implementation by trainee teachers. Reference will be made to two recent studies (in New Zealand and Samoa) undertaken by the author and a colleague, the aim being to identifying teacher educator transfer knowledge and skills when working in teacher preparation programmes. A purposeful sampling approach was used to identify experienced teachers from the early childhood, primary and secondary sectors. All participants were voluntary. This qualitative investigation used face-to-face semi-structured interviews with 10 New Zealanders and 6 Samoan teachers and although it was not a formal comparative study, this approach was undertaken to provide data from two very different educational settings. The interviews centred on the knowledge and practices of the teacher educators in relation to preparing teacher trainees for classroom practice. The results indicated that although there was some understanding of transfer and its importance with most being able to define transfer and indicate its importance, overall there was little knowledge and use made of the evidence based practices and strategies that could assist with transfer of ideas to the trainee teacher’s classroom. This was an important study because it highlighted the need for teacher educators to consider incorporating effective transfer strategies within their approach to impact upon teacher trainees’ performance in the classroom. Furthermore, the findings add to the international literature on transfer of training within professional preparation programmes and provide additional evidence about the need for key players to be aware and utilise explicit transfer knowledge and skills in implementing training programmes. Reasons for this incomplete understanding and limited use of transfer strategic approaches are considered and it was concluded that there is a pressing need for the incorporation of evidenced based transfer of training ideas in professional development programmes including university teacher preparation courses. The need for additional research is outlined.

Keywords:

Transfer of training, teacher educators, university.