Constructing 21st-Century Teacher Education

TLDR

Teaching success depends on invisible knowledge, yet traditional teacher education programs are viewed as unstructured and undervalued. The article argues that we have learned how to build stronger teacher education programs and warns schools to resist diluting preparation. Effective programs rely on coherent course integration, supervised clinical work that links theory and practice, and proactive relationships with diverse schools. The article finds that diluting teacher preparation harms teacher readiness, school reputation, and the profession.

Abstract

Much of what teachers need to know to be successful is invisible to lay observers, leading to the view that teaching requires little formal study and to frequent disdain for teacher education programs. The weakness of traditional program models that are collections of largely unrelated courses reinforce this low regard. This article argues that we have learned a great deal about how to create stronger, more effective teacher education programs. Three critical components of such programs include tight coherence and integration among courses and between course work and clinical work in schools, extensive and intensely supervised clinical work integrated with course work using pedagogies that link theory and practice, and closer, proactive relationships with schools that serve diverse learners effectively and develop and model good teaching. The article also urges that schools of education should resist pressures to water down preparation, which ultimately undermine the preparation of entering teachers, the reputation of schools of education, and the strength of the profession.