American teacher education is stuck in an unproductive and dysfunctional pattern. American teacher education programs graduate thousands of newly certified teachers each year, but the evidence that even half of the new graduates are dynamic and capable teachers is weak. The reputations of the teacher education programs through which they pass are…

Background/Context: More than a century before modern controversies over scripted instruction, the Froebelian kindergarten--the original kindergarten method designed by Friedrich Froebel--and Maria Montessori's pedagogy were criticized for rigidly prescribing how teachers taught and children learned. Today, scripted methods such as Direct…

Describes a design for a teacher education program based on the concept of providing teacher trainees with the theoretical understanding of the major models of teaching and with the clinical competence to employ them in the classroom. (Authors/JA)

Contends that the American education system needs to abandon the current trend toward holding, sorting, and indoctrinating students to be workers and consumers, an inherently antidemocratic education model. Suggests that education's highest priority should be education for active citizenry in a democratic society. Presents and analyzes John…