The Tutorial and Clinical Program for Teacher Education.

Overview & Synopsis

Recognizing that weaknesses in teacher education programs stem partly from the isolation of the school of education from both the liberal arts and the public schools, Northwestern University designed a program to make teacher preparation an all-university responsibility, to strengthen academic preparation, and to increase the relevance of professional education. The program reduces emphasis on credit hours in professional education and replaces them with the 4-year tutorial and clinical program which will, hopefully, acquaint students with the art of teaching and the problems of society and education. Tutorial professors work with small groups in relating academic courses to the student's classroom teaching. Clinical professors, faculty members of both the public school systems and the university, supervise the student's 2-year practice teaching experience. To prevent it from becoming simply another static formula, this program is being evaluated to determine its effect on the quality of teaching. Approval of the program has come from the education departments of the states of Illinois and New York. (See also ED 012 694 for the report on which this article is based.) (JS)