Initial teacher education in the university ‘My little ship, how ill-laden you are’

Abstract

Initial Teacher Education in the University 'My little ship, how ill-laden you are' AbstractInitial teacher education programmes in universities must meet the needs of varying constituencies. Politicians, school leaders and academics, for example, understandably seek to influence how these programmes should look. Given the importance of well-qualified teachers for the building of effective schools, it is right that a range of stakeholders should have their say. The Donaldson Report on teacher education in Scotland (2011) has much to say regarding the academic content of teacher education programmes. It offers food for thought for those wedded to the 'craft' model of teacher education. Academic rigour and breadth of experience cannot be seen as inimical to the need to ensure that newly qualified teachers are, indeed, ready to teach. The rediscovery of liberal approaches to education studies and the value of the liberal arts can be key components of a reimagined teacher education process

Catholic Teacher Preparation

“…For example, should teacher preparation be explicitly linked to national school curricula À and hence be deemed professionally 'relevant' À or should it take the form of a more liberal programme of studies which aims principally at wider intellectual formation of the students? 9 To move this debate forward, a nuanced appreciation of the relationship between 'training' and 'education' in teacher preparation programmes is crucial. Sometimes this relationship is set out in a binary way: are we offering students an opportunity to learn a set of skills and techniques which will be helpful in the classroom situation or should we be offering our students an opportunity to engage with a broad range of educational ideas.…”