Why Models Matter: An Alternate View on Professional Growth in Teaching

Abstract

These contrasting perspectives on teaching provide a convenient point of departure for my response to Kagan's review. How researchers frame teaching inevitably colors both the questions they choose to study and the models they create for teacher preparation. Kagan proposes a model of learning to teach that reflects the importance she places on mastery of procedural routines. Another body of research, either specifically excluded or otherwise omitted from her review, depicts teaching as centrally concerned with helping all students learn worthwhile content, within the context of a multicultural and pluralistic society. These studies do not necessarily support Kagan's developmental model; their findings complicate the narrative constructed by Kagan and cast doubt on the adequacy of her recommendations for teacher education. The existing literature on learning to teach does not lead inexorably towards Kagan's conclusions, nor is the evidence across competing discourse communities of researchers on teacher education as clear and convincing as she suggests. Kagan's review reflects one sector of the teacher education community. But there are other sectors. Some researchers on teacher education see the process of learning to teach through the lens of subject matter; others view teaching and learning to teach from an explicitly moral and ethical stance. The evidence, when considered in its entirety, is mixed. Ultimately, discussions of teacher education are informed as much by normative concerns as by empirical findings. The vision for teacher education held by many researchers differs from Kagan's. Many see teacher education as preparing prospective teachers not to adapt to existing conditions but to challenge current practices and to work for change. To claim, however, that research supports a developmental model, while excluding studies that challenge this model, misrepresents the full body of research on professional growth among preservice teachers.