Teacher Education: An All-University Responsibility.

Overview & Synopsis

As the public expresses concern over teachers' qualifications to teach academic subjects and as arts and sciences faculty show renewed attention to the public schools, the responsibility for teacher education is being interpreted as one belonging to the entire university. One approach to this interpretation--based on the assumption that what one teaches and how one teaches are fundamentally related--stresses the integration of arts and sciences with professional teacher education. A joint university committee could provide common intellectual experiences as well as concentration in particular subjects together with professional teacher education. Other suggestions for improvement are: (1) integration of professional teacher education with undergraduate preparation; (2) collaboration between professional teacher education faculty and arts and sciences faculty for the evaluation of students for admission to teacher education programs; (3) incentives, social and fiscal, to attract and reward those faculty members who exert efforts to integrate these programs; and (4) a broader concept of the role of the school of education's dean or director. (DG)