Priorities in Teacher Education : The 7 Key Elements of Pre-Service Preparation

Good teacher education not only enhances the understanding and skills of new teachers, but increases the likelihood of them staying in the profession. In Priorities in Teacher Education, Clare Kosnik and Clive Beck argue that teacher preparation should be given sharper focus, identifying seven priority areas:

• program planning
• pupil assessment
• classroom organization and community
• inclusive education
• subject content and pedagogy
• professional identity
• a vision for teaching

Long-time teacher education instructors and researchers themselves, the authors identified these priorities through literature-based research and the findings of a three-year study following twenty-two graduates through their first years of teaching. Packed with examples and quotes about these experiences, the book is broken down into seven chapters, each focusing on one of the seven priorities and containing a case study of one teacher whose experiences embody the priority being discussed.

As the chapters progress, the authors increasingly demonstrate the interplay between the seven priorities, showing that none of them can be pursued in isolation, and building a comprehensive base of essential knowledge for beginning teachers.

Teacher educators will find Priorities in Teacher Education a key guide to pre-service preparation, while new and student teachers will benefit enormously from reading the ‘front line’ accounts of their contemporaries.

Clare Kosnik is Associate Professor and Head of the Centre for Teacher Development in the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto.

Clive Beck is Professor in the Centre for Teacher Development and the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto.