Teacher education is often viewed as too theoretical and not sufficiently concerned with the realities of classroom practice. From this perspective theory and practice are cast as distinct realms whose only connection comes when theory influences practice. We argue that the theory-practice dichotomy lacks the richness of Vygotsky's notion of concepts, in which abstract principles are interwoven with worldly experience. More specifically, Vygotsky distinguishes two types of concepts, spontaneous concepts and scientific concepts. Spontaneous concepts are learned through cultural practice and, because they are tied to learning in specific contexts, allow for limited generalization to new situations; scientific concepts are learned through formal instruction and, because they are grounded in general principles, can more readily be applied to new situations. Vygotsky argues that while spontaneous concepts may be developed without formal instruction, scientific concepts require interplay with spontaneous concepts; hence the problematic nature of the theory-practice dichotomy. He further identifies two types of generalization that approximate concepts yet do not achieve their theoretical unity: complexes, in which some members of the set may be unified with others but all are not unified according to the same principle; and pseudoconcepts, in which members of the set appear unified but include internal inconsistencies. We argue that teacher educators should strive to teach concepts, though the overall structure of teacher education programs makes it more likely that their students will learn complexes or pseudoconcepts. We illustrate these problems with examples from case studies of teachers making the transition from their teacher education programs to their first jobs. Many educators believe that teacher education programs are too theoretical, emphasizing ideals and abstractions at the expense of the mundane tools needed for effective practice (Baldassarre, 1997; Gallagher, 1996; Kallos, 1999; Voutira, 1996). This schism is revealed in the lament of a teacher who, when asked about the value of contemporary literary theory to her instruction, responded that theories are ''far removed from those of us who work the front lines!'' (Applebee, 1993, p. 122). Wilhelm

This article analyzes how Sharon, a student teacher, negotiated the different conceptions of teaching that provided the expectations for good instruction in her university and the site of her student teaching and how her effort to reconcile the different belief systems affected her identity as a teacher. The key settings of Sharon’s experience were the university program, her third-grade class at Harding Elementary, and her first teaching job. During student teaching, Sharon experienced frustrating tensions because her cooperating teacher provided little room for experimentation, mentoring instead with a mimetic approach. When in her first job, Sharon had the opportunity to resolve instructional problems with greater authority. We see tensions that require a socially contextualized intellectual resolution rather than simply one of relational accommodation as potentially productive in creating environments conductive to the formation of a satisfying teaching identity.

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This article reports a case study of an elementary school teacher moving from her university teacher education program into her first full-time job teaching a K/first-grade class. Using activity theory, we analyzed her conceptualization of teaching as she moved through the key settings of her university program, student teaching, and first job. This conceptualization began with the university's emphasis on constructivism, a notion that diffused as she moved from the formal environment of the university to the practical environment of the schools. Data for the study included preteaching interviews, classroom observations, pre-and postobservation interviews, group concept map activities, interviews with supervisors and administrators, and artifacts from schools and teaching. Data analysis sought to identify tools for teaching and the ways in which those tools were supported by the environments of teaching. Results center on 2 aspects of constructivist teaching: the teacher's use of integrations and the decentering of the classroom. The analysis showed that the teacher, rather than developing and sustaining a concept of constructivist teaching, instead developed what Vygotsky calls a complex, that is, a less unified understanding and application of the abstraction. Implications of the study concern ways of thinking about the common pedagogical problem teacher educators face when students of their programs abandon the theoretical principles stressed in university programs.During her elementary teacher education coursework, Tracy, described by her university supervisor as being "first or second in her class" in terms of accomplishment, spent an entire semester in a language arts methods class learning ways to help students construct their own knowledge. The professor in the course encouraged Tracy to design lesson plans that gave students choices in their reading and conduct. Tracy

S This study analyzes the composition by a high school senior of a house design for a class in architectural design. He produced this text in relation to the readings of that text by his teacher and other potential readers. The authors take a Vygotskian perspective to understand the settings, goals, and tools through which he composed his architectural plans, drawing on a cultural theory of reading to analyze how this text was understood by his most immediate reader, his teacher. The data include field notes based on daily observations of the semester‐length course, an observation‐based interview with the teacher, artifacts such as the student's drafts and final design, a recorded feedback session in which the teacher discussed the drawing with the student, a concurrent think‐aloud protocol provided by the student while designing his house, and a retrospective protocol in which the student reflected on his composing process using the completed architectural design as a stimulus. The analysis identified a set of processes and social relationships involved in the composition and reading of the house design, including the role of cultural knowledge and practice in the student's apprenticeship into an approach to architectural design, tensions between goals of the student and his evaluative readership, tensions between definitions of economics that informed different conceptions of house design, and tensions between the student's inscription of meaning in the architectural text and his teacher's encoding of meaning in his reading of this text. The student's negotiation of these processes and tensions contributed to what was understood to be the larger project in which he was engaged, that being his ongoing development of an identity and life trajectory. Este estudio analiza la composición del diseño de una casa realizada por un estudiante secundario avanzado para una clase de diseño arquitectónico. El estudiante produjo este texto en relación con las lecturas del mismo hechas por su docente y otros lectores potenciales. Los autores adoptan una perspectiva vygotskiana para comprender las bases, objetivos y herramientas a través de las cuales el estudiante compuso los planos arquitectónicos. Asimismo, desde una teoría cultural de la lectura, analizan la comprensión del texto por parte de su lector más inmediato, el docente. Los datos incluyen notas de campo a partir de observaciones diarias del curso semestral, una entrevista con el docente basada en la observación, elementos tales como los ensayos y el diseño final del estudiante, una sesión de apoyo grabada en la que el docente discutió el dibujo con el estudiante, un protocolo de pensar en voz alta proporcionado por el estudiante durante el trabajo de diseño de la casa y un protocolo retrospectivo en el cual el estudiante reflexionó sobre el proceso de composición usando como estímulo el diseño terminado. El análisis identificó una serie de procesos y relaciones sociales implicados en la composición y la lectura del diseño de una casa tales como el papel del...