Teaching the World's Teachers

by Lauren Lefty (Editor), James W. Fraser (Editor)

Overview

Examining teacher education in an international context, this book captures the diversity of the world's educators.

Many countries confront surprisingly similar challenges in preparing K–12 educators for success, while national contexts also make for surprising differences. In Teaching the World's Teachers, education historians Lauren Lefty and James W. Fraser and their contributors make a convincing case for approaching these shared challenges from a more global and historically minded perspective.

Written by education scholars from eleven different countries—Argentina, Brazil, Catalonia-Spain, China, England, Finland, Ghana, Israel, Singapore, South Africa, and the United States—this book provides histories of teacher education reforms between roughly 1980 and 2020. The authors show how international trends that emerged during this period collided with national and regional contexts to produce unique teacher education systems in different nations. While in some countries the embrace of markets and competition led to a deregulation of the teacher preparation field, in others teaching became a highly regulated and centralized affair. At the same time, ideas and structural models cross borders and education leaders borrow from each other while reshaping plans in each place.

Opening with a broad historical overview of global teacher education models beginning in the late eighteenth century, Teaching the World's Teachers argues that the field has long been characterized by cross-border connections—but shaped by geopolitical hierarchies of power. In an era when teacher quality is widely recognized as one of the most important factors in a child's education, this volume encourages dialogue among teacher educators and policymakers around the world. By understanding the context and contingency of where we have been, the authors hope that readers will walk away with a more empowered sense of where we are headed in the all-important task of teaching the world's teachers.

Contributors: Kwame Akyeampong, Richard Andrews, Azeem Badroodien, Maria Inês G. F. Marcondes de Souza, Gustavo E. Fischman, James W. Fraser, Guangwei Hu, Arie Kizel, Jari Lavonen, Lauren Lefty, Wei Liao, Jason Loh, Silvana Mesquita, Hannele Niemi, Lily Orland-Barak, Paula Razquin, Carol Anne Spreen, Eduard Vallory, Yisu Zhou

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781421438290
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	07/07/2020
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.04(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Lauren Lefty earned her PhD in the history of education from New York University. She is the coauthor of Teaching Teachers: Changing Paths and Enduring Debates.

James W. Fraser is a professor of history and education at New York University. He is the author or editor of fourteen books, including Between Church and State: Religion and Public Education in a Multicultural America and Teach: A Question of Teaching.

Table of Contents

Preface. Why Look at Teacher Preparation Globally?
Acknowledgments
Introduction. Teaching the World's Teachers: A Long and Global History
Lauren Lefty
Chapter 1. Argentina
Continuities and Transformations of Argentina's Teacher Education: Policies and Reforms since the Mid-Eighties
Gustavo E. Fischman and Paula Razquin
Chapter 2. Brazil
Teacher Formation in Brazil: "Old" and "New" Approaches to Teacher Training Given Today's Challenges for the Teaching Profession
Silvana Mesquita and Maria Inês Marcondes
Chapter 3. Catalonia-Spain
Preparing Teachers for the Schools We Have or for the Schools We Want? Challenges and Changes in Catalonia (Spain)
Eduard Vallory
Chapter 4. China
Teacher Education Reform and National Development in China (1978-2017): Four Metaphors
Wei Liao and Yisu Zhou
Chapter 5. England
Crisis and Opportunity in Teacher Preparation in England
Richard Andrews
Chapter 6. Finland
Teacher Education in Finland: Persistent Efforts for High-Quality Teachers
Hannele Niemi and Jari Lavonen
Chapter 7. Ghana
Transforming Teacher Preparation and Development in Ghana: Progress and Prospects
Kwame Akyeampong
Chapter 8. Israel
From Traditional to Dialogical-Reflective Teacher Training: The Case of Teacher Education in Israel
Arie Kizel and Lily Orland-Barak
Chapter 9. Singapore
Teacher Education for a Knowledge-Based Economy: The Singaporean Case
Jason Loh and Guangwei Hu
Chapter 10. South Africa
Reforming South Africa's Teaching: The Difficult Dilemmas of Teacher Education Policy Reform Post-1994
Azeem Badroodien and Carol Anne Spreen
Chapter 11. United States
Changing Paths and Enduring Debates in US American Teacher Education
Lauren Lefty and James W. Fraser
A Concluding Word
Lauren Lefty and James W. Fraser
Contributors
Index

What People are Saying About This

Norma Tarrow

"Combines valuable historical insight with expert analyses of diverse teacher preparation programs around the world. An excellent source of background information for those concerned with improving teacher education, it draws critical attention to current and future challenges in the field."

Philip G. Altbach

"Well written, well researched, and well edited."

Hua-Yu Sebastian Cherng

"Teaching the World's Teachers offers deep insight into the nature of teacher education. Through careful attention to specific case studies, the editors illustrate historical and contextual complexities that challenge notions of 'good' versus 'bad' teacher preparation. An important read for those who seek to improve teacher training in any context."—"

From the Publisher

Well written, well researched, and well edited.
—Philip G. Altbach, author of Global Perspectives on Higher Education

Brings together masterful historical analysis and detailed case studies to create a genuinely global volume, one that discusses all the key questions around teacher education with lucidity and insight. Essential reading for everyone concerned with the education of teachers.
—Bob Moon, editor of Do Universities Have a Role in the Education and Training of Teachers?: An International Analysis of Policy and Practice

Combines valuable historical insight with expert analyses of diverse teacher preparation programs around the world. An excellent source of background information for those concerned with improving teacher education, it draws critical attention to current and future challenges in the field.
—Norma Tarrow, coeditor of Dimensions of the Community College: International, Intercultural, and Multicultural Perspectives

Teaching the World's Teachers offers deep insight into the nature of teacher education. Through careful attention to specific case studies, the editors illustrate historical and contextual complexities that challenge notions of 'good' versus 'bad' teacher preparation. An important read for those who seek to improve teacher training in any context."—
—Hua-Yu Sebastian Cherng, New York University

This timely collection is far more than the sum of its parts. Lefty and Fraser bring together compelling accounts of developments in teacher preparation over the past four decades in eleven countries on five continents. They illuminate broader tensions between national contexts and global discourses on neoliberalism and education policy.
—Christine A. Ogren, author of The American State Normal School: "An Instrument of Great Good"

This beautifully written book succeeds in delivering on its ambitious promise to provide insights to help us make sense of the past and present in teacher education across the globe.
—Maria Teresa Tatto, coauthor of Learning to Teach in England and the United States: The Evolution of Policy and Practice

Christine A. Ogren

"This timely collection is far more than the sum of its parts. Lefty and Fraser bring together compelling accounts of developments in teacher preparation over the past four decades in eleven countries on five continents. They illuminate broader tensions between national contexts and global discourses on neoliberalism and education policy."

Maria Teresa Tatto

"This beautifully written book succeeds in delivering on its ambitious promise to provide insights to help us make sense of the past and present in teacher education across the globe."

Bob Moon

"Brings together masterful historical analysis and detailed case studies to create a genuinely global volume, one that discusses all the key questions around teacher education with lucidity and insight. Essential reading for everyone concerned with the education of teachers."