Restructuring Teacher Education: One Group's Perspective.

Overview & Synopsis

This paper focuses on the issues of restructuring teacher education for general educators, special educators, and leadership personnel. The paper calls for preparing teachers in liberal arts, professional areas, and clinical experience. The pre-professional component should provide sound subject matter background. Professional education should then emphasize the study of teaching as an academic field, knowledge of pedagogy, classroom teaching skills, and values and ethical responsibilities. The clinical program should integrate the pre-professional components into rigorous experiences where formal knowledge is used as a guide to practical action. This segment should take place in a Professional Development Center. Competencies required of leadership personnel to function in preservice teacher education programs are outlined. (JDD)