Teacher Educators as Experimenters: Is the "New" Really New?

Overview & Synopsis

Education of the "scholar-teacher" shaped the vision of the Teacher Education Program (TEP) at Macquarie University in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, as teacher education was made the shared responsibility of the School of Education and all of the University's other schools in 1967. Change over the past 25 years is evident in 3 major teacher education partnerships which have characterized the program: (1) partnership between academics in education and other disciplines and the curriculum lecturers in the TEP; (2) partnership between the university and the educational community, notably the NSW Department of Education (the employing authority); and (3) partnership among student, master teacher, and curriculum lecturer, which provided student teachers continuous contact with experienced teachers and which involved the curriculum lecturer as a link between the TEP and the schools. Changes in funding, decline in demand for teachers, political tensions within the university, and other factors caused the first two partnerships to become "derailed," while the third partnership has remained intact for 25 years. Historical research underscores the reality of the role of teacher educators as experimenters and recognizes that rarely is the "new" new in teacher education. Through ownership of the past and attention to its lessons, educators will become empowered to shape their future role. (Contains 22 references.) (JDD)