Surviving the Legitimacy Challenge

Abstract

Now is the time, the authors argue, for schools of education, in conjunction with school and community partners, to get serious about creating good examples of professional practice and preparation. Failure to do so will put the whole enterprise of teacher education in jeopardy. TEACHER educators live in a new world. This is a world of accountability, competition, alternatives, and serious questioning of the need for university-based teacher education. Even five years ago, it was unthinkable that university teacher education programs would be facing serious challenges to their legitimacy and importance. Many teacher education faculty members still deny that such a threat exists, but they are wrong. Those of us who have been working seriously on teacher education reform for the past 15 or so years have until recently viewed this work as an internal university agenda -- how to improve our campus-based programs. The game has changed radically. In Texas, where we work, school districts, regional educational service centers, community colleges, and for-profit companies now provide almost one-third of the teacher education programs. In the last legislative session, a bill was narrowly defeated that would have allowed Texas school districts to hire anyone they thought could do the job, regardless of credentials, and then decide what teacher education these teachers needed. We have lost our exclusive franchise, and most states are in similar situations or not far behind. Teaching as a Profession Politicians, the media, and scholars are currently polarized over the issue of teacher education reform. Either they advocate the professionalization of teaching or they push for the deregulation of teacher preparation and an end to the monopoly that institutions of higher education have held in this area.1 This debate grows out of public concern and agreement that 1) there is a teacher shortage and 2) a teacher shortage would be detrimental to the education of the youths of the United States. Institutions of higher education have been primarily responsible for the training and supply of effective, qualified teachers but are having increasing difficulty meeting the demand in many states. The drive to professionalize teaching and teacher education has been spearheaded by the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future and forwarded through the joint efforts of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, and the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium.2 These projects reflect a broad-based effort to develop a consistent nationwide approach to teacher education based on high standards for the initial preparation, licensing, and certification of teachers. Proponents of teacher education advocate standards-based teacher preparation and professional development as well as teacher assessments based on performance across the professional life span. On the other side of the argument, those who advocate the deregulation of teacher preparation maintain that the requirements of state licensing agencies and schools of education are unnecessary hurdles that prevent qualified, bright people from entering the field of teaching. They promote alternative programs as viable routes into teaching and want to establish local control for determining the qualifications of teachers. Under this approach, districts would have the freedom to determine the hiring criteria for their teachers, and anyone with content knowledge and a bachelor's degree could be quickly placed in the classroom without having any formal pedagogical training. The issue at hand is whether or not the profession of teaching is indeed a profession and whether or not becoming a teacher requires learning a specialized body of pedagogical knowledge and a specialized set of skills. Teacher educators maintain that teaching is a profession as legitimate as the medical profession or the legal profession. …