The Education of Preprimary Teachers.

Overview & Synopsis

Current knowledge and practices in the field of preprimary teacher education are discussed with respect to unique characteristics of the field, general issues in teacher education and preprimary education, and recent developments in inservice education. Unique characteristics of the field of preprimary teacher education include role ambiguity, variations in program goals, and low wages. General issues in the areas of teacher education and preprimary education include (1) the elusiveness of criteria for good teaching, (2) the impact of training on teacher performance, (3) the "feed-forward" problem stemming from the provision of content and methods to students who have not yet had experience in settings where the training is relevant), and (4) problems of teacher training program content. Recent developments in inservice education are discussed in terms of two types of inservice education: the "advisory approach" and its variant, the Enabler Model; and the Child Development Associate project. (RH)