Teacher Education as a Bridge? - Education

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

EDUCATION
3
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