The first edition of this text sought to provide a basis for improving the education of teachers at every level. Committed to the idea that the betterment of teacher education is essential to the improvement of schools, it provided understanding of the research so that professionals could compare, evaluate and create effective programmes.
Thought-provoking, enlightening, discouraging, and encouraging; all of these things can said to be true of this second edition of the
Handbook of Research on Teacher Education. It complements but does not completely replace the first edition. The first edition was a synthesis of the knowledge base of teacher education; the second indicates fields that require more extensive exploration and areas in which changes in technology and societal structure indicate the need for additional attention.
The handbook contains 48 chapters in seven sections covering teacher education as a field of study, recruitment and preparation of teachers, influences on teacher education, teacher education curriculum, continuing professional growth and assessment, diversity and equity issues, and emerging new directions in teacher education. Authors have extensive credentials in the areas of teacher education and research. A systematic check of contributors in ERIC indicates that all are widely published in the areas about which they have written.
Issues addressed include the lack of priority placed on teacher education, the bleak prospects for educational reform, the growing trend toward school reform with no connection to the institutions of higher education that train the teachers, the attempts to standardize and individualize teacher education at the same time, and the social ills that undercut efforts to improve education. Overall, the book emphasizes the need for educators to become more proactive in demanding change in educational systems and teacher education. Essays include extensive bibliographies of both current and historical literature. Indexes are extensive and even include the authors listed in the bibliographies.
The strength of this volume is that it highlights the need for further research and discussion about teacher education. Hopefully, this book and a couple of others published this year (The Teacher Educators Handbook: Building a Knowledge Base for the Preparation of Teachers, edited by Frank Murray [Jossey-Bass]; Teacher Learning: New Policies, New Practices, edited by Milbrey McLaughlin and Ida Oberman [Teachers College]; and Rallying the Whole Village: The Comer Process for Reforming Education by James Comer [Teachers College]) will encourage this. Highly recommended as required reading for teachers, administrators, teacher educators, and students of education at all levels as well as others with concern for the quality of education in the U.S.
