Teacher Education as a Bridge? - Education

The chapter provides a theoretical framework for illuminating the controversy that emerges about the teacher education curriculum in the United States. It focuses on the preservice teacher education in the states and the variation in the teacher education curriculum. The chapter also discusses three controversies that are related to the teacher education curriculum in the states.

Running head: EDUCATION 1
Education
Student
Institution

EDUCATION
2
Teacher Education as a Bridge?
Summary
The manner in which teachers are recruited, prepared, and retained for the schools has
attracted the attention of many stakeholders across the globe (Cochran-Smith & Demers, 2008).
Local, regional, national, as well as international authorities have all zeroed in on the
performance and education of teachers. In spite of all this, criticism has risen from those inside
and outside the profession. Both the detractors and proponents have called for significant
changes. Most critics regard the teacher-training method as the most major bridge to the K-12
schooling in the United States. This is because; it determines the quality of the teacher, which in
turn serves as an essential component to the success of the school-going children. Not all
teachers have the same kind of teacher Education Bridge in their mind. In this chapter, Marilyn
and Kelly try to provide a theoretical framework for illuminating what seems to be an endless
controversy that emerges about the teacher education curriculum in the United States where, in
spite of everything, curriculum variation is the rule. The framework revolves around reading the
curriculum as a political text, an extended metaphor as well as viewing teacher education
curriculum as a bridge.
The chapter brings out four parts, which focus on the preservice teacher education in the
states. To begin with, reading the syllabus, Marilyn and Kelly take a comprehensive view of the
curriculum in teacher education that moves beyond what teacher candidates are taught. They
also in cooperated premises regardless of whether explicit or implicit, which underlie and shape

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what is shown in the curriculum. This included several assumptions among them being who
should become a teacher. This assumption covers the skills, entrance grade, experience and how,
where and what teachers should be taught among other conjectures. For the curriculum to be
understood, it has to be treated and analyzed as a text. This means involving a close look of the
field of discourse with the inclusion of not only books and articles in the scholarly literature but
also informal and unofficial texts such as website statement, newspaper editorials and public
debates (Cochran-Smith & Demers, 2008).
Teacher education curriculum is complex and dynamic as a text much more than any
other course (Cochran-Smith & Demers, 2008). It is always part of a particular tradition,
someone's selection, or a group's vision of legal knowledge. Professionals tap it out of economic,
cultural, and political conflicts, compromises, and tensions that assemble and disassemble
people.
In this part, Marilyn and Kelly concentrate only on the U.S curriculum issues. As they
argue, there is an enormous variation rather than uniformity in the teacher education curriculum.
This case has been in existence for several decades. For the last several years, researches on
teacher education have been marginalized. There have not been firm conclusions of the effects of
any particular Teacher Education Program Pathways, structures, or curricular (Cochran-Smith &
Demers, 2008).
In the states, matters of education are constitutionally a responsibility of the country.
Even though there are several federal resources, set aside for elementary and secondary school

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each with various stipulations attached, there is no testing program or the national curriculum.
There are different procedures and standards for teacher education approach approvals across the
states. Regional and national accreditors take part in approving the programs. This results in
differences in the approval criteria. Given all these differences, it is true that teacher-education
curriculum variation is the rule in the U.S.
During the 1980's and 1990's, several scholars developed theoretical frameworks to solve
the variation in the teacher education curriculum as well as to organize the field for critical
analysis and discussion. In this section, Marilyn and Kelly briefly described three frameworks
that were developed with the intention of sorting out variations in teacher education curriculum.
These frameworks include the Feiman- Nemser’s (1990) conceptual and structural alternatives,
Zeichner’s (1993) paradigms of teacher education and the Tom's (1985) dimension of inquiry-
oriented teacher education (Cochran-Smith & Demers, 2008).
Since the time these frameworks were written, they have continuously helped in a variety
of ways. Both the Zeichner 1993 and the Feiman – Namser 1990 offered a detailed analysis of
different conceptual methods to teacher education curriculum during the late 20th century.
“Behaviorist teacher education" emphasized mostly on the growth of predetermined and
observable teaching skills in candidates. In this framework, the teacher is seen as a conduit of
knowledge produced through research.
The last twenty years of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st century saw the
occurrence of alterations that affected education practice and policy in the U.S as well other

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nations. Some of this changes included cultural wars, shifting population patterns as well as the
growth of a complex global economy. Besides, elevation of science strongly influenced teacher
education (Cochran-Smith & Demers, 2008).
Marilyn and Kelly discussed three controversies that are related to the teacher education
curriculum in the states. To begin with, teacher education curriculum and professional
knowledge base as the first controversy, a debate has been going on in the countries over the
teaching strategies, personal qualities, as well as knowledge teachers should have for them to
teach. This controversy was laid by James Earl Russel who was the Dean of teachers college
during 1910's and 1920's (Cochran-Smith & Demers, 2008). Teacher education curriculum and
the science of reading was the second controversy. This resulted from a study that was conducted
to determine whether the curriculum adequately exposed teachers to the science of interpretation.
Teachers’ education curriculum and social justice is the last controversy. It talks about social
justice and teacher education curriculum.
In conclusion, teacher education is the dodge city of the education world. Although this
chapter identified several Model Tutor Preparation Programs at the universities and colleges, the
writers concluded that most of such programs were inadequate and outmoded. In addition, many
teachers were also being prepared in nonresearch institutions that were of low standards and
admissions. This report connected this factor to low pupil performance. The writers called for the
location of teacher preparation in professional development schools and closing down of failing
programs.

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Reference
Cochran-Smith, M., & Demers, K. E. (2008). Teacher Education as a Bridge. Teaching
Curriculum, 261-281.