The making of a teacher: teacher knowledge and teacher education

TLDR

Teacher training has become a central focus of educational research, raising questions about the qualifications required for entering the profession. This book investigates teacher qualifications by comparing classroom approaches and effectiveness of two groups of secondary English teachers. The study examines six teachers—three with professional education and three without—through an in‑depth comparison of their classroom practices, aiming to inform teaching methods and curriculum courses across subjects. Teachers with professional training were more flexible, innovative, and attuned to students’ perspectives, whereas those without relied on prior coursework, and the book provides insights for staff development and school improvement.

Abstract

training of teachers has increasingly been the focus of critical inquiry in the field of education: What qualifications should be demanded of those entering the teaching profession? This book examines this crucial issue with an in-depth comparison of the classroom approaches and effectiveness of two groups of secondary school English teachers. Three of the six teachers studied in this book are graduates of a professional education programme, the other three, while equally well versed in subject matter knowledge, entered teaching without professional training. book reveals that those with a teacher education background were flexible, open to innovative methods, and better able to comprehend the student's perspective. Those without such experience tended to rely on teaching techniques borrowed from undergraduate and graduate courses, or on memories of their own schooling. The Making of a Teacher is aimed at those curious about the theory and practice of classroom teaching and the role of pedagogical content knowledge. It should serve as a supplemental text in teaching methods and curriculum courses - not only in secondary English, but in other subject areas as well. book also offers useful insights in the areas of staff development and school improvement.