Issues and Problems in Teacher Education: An International Handbook

(Hardback)

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This reference is a survey of the major issues in teacher education today in a representative group of 21 countries around the world. It gives an overview of current problems, approaches, trends and future outlooks for those involved in formulating teacher training policy. The handbook assesses recruitment conditions, pre-service teacher education policy, governance and quality control issues, research needs, professionalism and the activities of teacher educators, inservice education services, and the development of native and indigenous teacher training in developing countries. This reference opens up new lines of research in worldwide trends, problems, and new directions needed in the future. The appendix provides a comparative table of statistics relating to factors in teacher education, and a bibliographic essay presents key research materials for further study.

Reviews

"An important contribution to the ongoing debate about the nature and quality of teachers, their education, and their centrality on school reform and restructuring efforts. . . . [This] volume contributes to better insights and understandings of our own teacher education and what needs to be done to improve it, enhancing the quality of the debate rather than raising the level of rhetoric."-A. Harry Passow Jacob H. Schiff Professor of Education Teachers College, Columbia University
"I am delighted to recommend the book Issues and Problems in Teacher Education. . . . Howard Leavitt has provided a valuable reference manual to teacher education specialists. He has struck a good balance between a culturally bound orientation and one that is abstract enough to be of comparative value. The book also provides a sufficient bridge between the developing and the developed world so the reader is able to gain a global perspective of teacher education. It is a quality piece of work, one that ought to be on the shelf of every student and scholar who deals with teacher education."- Val D. Rust School of Education University of California, Los Angeles
This edited volume examines the major issues and problems associated with teacher education in 21 countries. Eight major areas are covered: teacher recruitment, the content of preservice teacher education, governance and quality control, research, professionalism, the teacher educators themselves, inservice education, and the development of native, indigenous teacher education. The handbook provides a comprehensive overview of each of the teacher education systems presented. Rather than simply comparing teacher training in a particular country with the US, the authors discuss the issues within a local historical, political, and cultural context. For example, after providing a general background of Brazilian education within a socioeconomic context, Jose Maria Coutinho describes Brazil's educational system in more detail, and relates a brief history of teacher education. A discussion of six issues and problems currently under debate in Brazil follows his description. Olusola Avoseh's chapter discusses the impact of various missionary groups and British education on Nigeria's educational system and further details Nigeria's efforts to increase the professional status of teaching and to attract abler students. Of particular interest is the impact of Western educational practices on 13 of the countries and how these countries are reformulating their own educational institutions as they eliminate some unwanted foreign policies and practices. Highly recommended for graduate students, upper-division undergraduates, and faculty.-Choice
"This edited volume examines the major issues and problems associated with teacher education in 21 countries. Eight major areas are covered: teacher recruitment, the content of preservice teacher education, governance and quality control, research, professionalism, the teacher educators themselves, inservice education, and the development of native, indigenous teacher education. The handbook provides a comprehensive overview of each of the teacher education systems presented. Rather than simply comparing teacher training in a particular country with the US, the authors discuss the issues within a local historical, political, and cultural context. For example, after providing a general background of Brazilian education within a socioeconomic context, Jose Maria Coutinho describes Brazil's educational system in more detail, and relates a brief history of teacher education. A discussion of six issues and problems currently under debate in Brazil follows his description. Olusola Avoseh's chapter discusses the impact of various missionary groups and British education on Nigeria's educational system and further details Nigeria's efforts to increase the professional status of teaching and to attract abler students. Of particular interest is the impact of Western educational practices on 13 of the countries and how these countries are reformulating their own educational institutions as they eliminate some unwanted foreign policies and practices. Highly recommended for graduate students, upper-division undergraduates, and faculty."-Choice

Author Bio

HOWARD B. LEAVITT is Adjunct Professor of Social Foundations of Education, School of Education, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and is also Director of the Council on Global Perspectives for the Professions. He has served as editor of the annual international yearbook on teacher education under the auspices of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education and has worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development and the World Bank in overseas educational development.