Teacher of Mathematics Issues for Today and Tomorrow : Proceedings of a Conference (1987) / Chapter Skim
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NEW PERSPECTIVES ON THE EDUCATION OF TEACHERS
NEW PERSPECTIVES ON THE EDUCATION OF TEACHERS
Pages 5-16
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From page 5... ...
We cannot achieve change by intervening at only one or two or several points in the system, not by just changing textbooks, tests, even school law and governance, not by changing the practice of legislative mandates or the teaching profession itself -- not alone. Alterations in all of these are probably necessary for the overall changes needed, but no one is sufficient by itself.
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From page 6... ...
Teacher education should be a continuum, a seamless whole, a continuing process; as in life itself, we continue to learn and to change. We have all read a great deal about the recommendations made in the report entitled A Nation Prepared: Teachers for the 21st Century, issued by the Task Force on Teaching as a Profession of
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From page 7... ...
To start our discussion, let me suggest that we begin completely at the beginning by asking ourselves the question, "What is a teacher? " And, for our opening discussion, I propose three parts for the answer: • First, a teacher is an educated person, in the current jargon, perhaps, a culturally literate person, but I would go well beyond that; a teacher is a liberally educated person whose education is a foundation for thought, choice, and the application of values in all realms of life, including the teaching profession.
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From page 8... ...
The second is the Carnegie report I mentioned earlier, entitled A Nation Prepared. Tomorrow's Teachers states: We have become convinced that university officials and professors must join with schools, and with the teacher organizations and state and local school governments that shape the schools, to change the teaching profession.
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From page 9... ...
Much needs to be done at the university and college levels to improve pedagogy and to "revise the undergraduate curriculum so that future teachers can study the subjects they will teach with instructors who model fine teaching and who understand the pedagogy of their material." Another part of the Holmes report that is central to the present topic states: Finally, along with all of these changes, our schools and universities must open up new connections with schools. One connection would be to bring expert teachers into universities as more important and more responsible participants in professional education....Bringing expert teachers into universities will require forging new arrangements with schools to redefine those teachers' jobs.
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From page 10... ...
The subject matter preparation for secondary mathematics teachers may include more mathematics than is required for engineering, for example. And, yet, the public appears to be quite content with the idea that engineers, retired engineers, retired military personnel, and retired whatever else can step in as fully prepared mathematics teachers.
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From page 11... ...
Would taking proposals for subject matter majors for elementary teachers too literally result in the loss of even these modestly small steps in progress? It could.
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From page 12... ...
The second major point, and one on which the Carnegie Task Force has taken a major initiative already, is that teaching should be established in all respects as a profession. To accomplish this, the Carnegie report proposed the creation of a National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
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From page 13... ...
But a national board with clear objectives related to the representation of minority teachers can do much to help. The certification process envisioned by the task force that wrote the Carnegie report would be completely voluntary.
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From page 14... ...
The ideas you share will play a critical role in the work of the Mathematical Sciences Education Board. The issues we will address here are of extreme importance to the board.
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