21st-Century Teacher Education

For almost as long as there have been institutions dedicated to the preparation of new teachers, the endeavor has come in for criticism. Teacher education has long struggled both to professionalize and to fully integrate itself into mainstream academia. At the core of this struggle was a perception that there was no body of specialized knowledge for teaching that justified specialized training. Over the last few decades, criticism of teacher preparation has shifted away from a largely academic debate to the troubling performance of American students. Shocked by teacher education’s refusal to train teachers to use scientifically based reading methods, Reid Lyon, who headed a 30-year study at the National Institutes of Health of how people best learn to read, once stated, “If there was any piece of legislation that I could pass it would be to blow up colleges of education.” An occasional insider has joined the fray. The Perspective of Teacher Educators Far beyond Semantics • Early reading.

Association of American Educators Agency for Instructional Technology (AIT) Educational Leadership:Teaching for the 21st Century:21st Century Skills: The Challenges Ahead Andrew J. Rotherham and Daniel Willingham A growing number of business leaders, politicians, and educators are united around the idea that students need "21st century skills" to be successful today. Critical thinking and problem solving, for example, have been components of human progress throughout history, from the development of early tools, to agricultural advancements, to the invention of vaccines, to land and sea exploration. What's actually new is the extent to which changes in our economy and the world mean that collective and individual success depends on having such skills. This distinction between "skills that are novel" and "skills that must be taught more intentionally and effectively" ought to lead policymakers to different education reforms than those they are now considering. What Will It Take? The history of U.S. education reform should greatly concern everyone who wants schools to do a better job of teaching students to think. Better Curriculum Better Teaching References