Discontent over educational foundations in teacher education programs is felt because: (1) a vocational approach to teacher education is viewed as neutral process; (2) this approach does not recognize political and ideological commitments that guide public schools and teacher education programs; and (3) foundations are seen as contentious because…

Two curriculum development strategies for preservice teachers' field-based experiences are analyzed. It is argued that a "personalized" approach to field-based experiences is misguided, and an "inquiry-oriented" approach is presented as more justifiable. (CJ)

Describes and analyzes an action-research seminar for prospective elementary and secondary teachers in terms of how it facilitated prospective teachers' learning to teach for conceptual change. Contains 37 references. (Author/WRM)

This paper explores the question of the relative quality of the academic and professional components of teacher education programs from three different angles: (1) a critical assessment of several widely publicized and representative critiques of education courses with a focus on describing the variety of the criticisms and on assessing the…

Describes four traditions of reform in twentieth-century U.S. teacher education: academic, social efficiency, developmentalist, and social reconstructionist. Each tradition is illustrated with examples from contemporary and earlier programs. It is argued that this framework of reform traditions can help clarify differences among ideas and…

The paper argues that it is not wise to encourage reflective teaching in general without first establishing clear priorities for the reflection that emerges out of a reasoned educational and social philosophy. It does not accept the implication that exists throughout much of the literature that teachers' actions are necessarily better merely…

Four traditions of reform in 20th century U.S. teacher education are described: academic, social efficiency, developmentalist, and social reconstructionist. Each tradition is illustrated with examples from both early and contemporary teacher education programs. Following the presentation of the reform traditions, the heuristic value of the…

This report addresses various dimensions of a major policy issue in teacher education--the need to help all teachers acquire the attitudes, knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to work effectively with a diverse student population. The differences are related to social class, ethnicity, culture, and language. The problem of educating…