Thoughts on Teacher Education

In their inaugral issue of the Journal of Teacher Education, Hilda Borko, Daniel Liston and Jennifer Whitcomb (all from University of Colorado at Boulder) reviewed some of the major hurdles in teacher education. The voices within and outside the field are at odds, each pushing for a different vision in teacher education. Researchers have formed different stances on the nature of knowing in teacher education. Many of these scholars have been placed in camps against each other, such as Linda Darling-Hammond and the standards movement versus the Abell and Fordham Foundation and the deregulation movement (see Zeichner 2003). These editors see that the Journal should be a space of negotiating these diverse viewpoints. They wrote, "What we need as a profession, now more than ever, is a shared place for this dialogue and critical examination--a place that is inclusive of the broad range of views, vision, and enactments" (203). Although I favor the democratic move on the part of the new editors, I wonder just how likely members of the deregulation agenda, such as Michael Podgursky or Kate Walsh, will view this as an invitation to publish their views on the dismantling of teacher education. Would publishing such viewpoints contradict the purpose of the journal, to promote dialogue within the field of teacher education instead of against it?

Note on sources: Borko, H., Liston, D., & Whitcomb, J. (2006) JTE, 57 (3)...; Zeichner, K. (2003) Adequacies and inadequacies of 3 current strategies to recruitment, prepare and retain the best teachers for all students. Teacher College Record...