What Do We Know About Teacher Education, and How Do We Use That Knowledge?

Abstract

It is useful to approach an understanding of teacher education, particularly in the United States, by looking at the roots and aims of teacher preparation. In this chapter, three main tensions are explored. First, there is tension in the positioning of teacher education as it resides in institutions of higher education. Second, an ongoing tension is the question of teacher preparation as training or as education. Third, there is always tension between the balance of teacher education coursework and field experiences. As these tensions play out in various teacher education programs, we can see the influence of each in the structure and processes involved in the program. Decisions regarding these tensions become highly visible in the move toward online teaching and online teacher education. While these tensions cannot necessarily be tidied or completely reconciled, there is evidence that teacher educators are committed to bringing forth best practices, connecting theory and practice and reflection, in their practice and in their scholarship. This chapter ends with an overview of teacher educator knowledge, its roots in teacher knowledge, including theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical considerations, and how teacher educator knowledge informs online education and influences the ways in which we prepare teachers postpandemic.

Citation

Lay, C.D. (2024), "What Do We Know About Teacher Education, and How Do We Use That Knowledge?", Exploring Teacher Educator Knowledge (Advances in Research on Teaching, Vol. 48), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 13-34. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-368720240000048002