ED SE 501: The Practice of Teacher Education

Secondary Education
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ED SE 501

The Practice of Teacher Education

Terry Carson

434 Education South

492-3674

Course Description

This is the first course of an M.Ed. program in teacher education. It is intended to provide an orientation towards the study of teacher education.

The first step in the study of teacher education is to understand that there is something to be learned. Because everyone has spent many hours in classrooms watching teachers, what it is that teachers do seems to be quite transparent. And if what teachers do is clear, it should not be too difficult to define what needs to be learned in a teacher education program. But closer examination things are not quite so straight forward. There is not one common definition of a good teacher, and how one learns to teach can take many different paths.

This introductory course will open the inquiry into teacher education. The course will be guided by the following questions:

• What do we understand teaching to be?

• What does it mean to be a "good" teacher?

• How does one learn to become a teacher?

• How do we teach teachers?

• What might we change in the teaching teachers?

Topics

1. January 22 — Becoming a Teacher

Assignment #1 -- A Personal Teaching Chronology. (a pre-course assignment to be handed in at the first class)*

2. February 19 — Sources of the Teaching Self: Where Do Our Ideas About Teaching Come From?

March 4 — Structure of Teacher Education Programs

Assignment #2 -- Images of Teaching in Popular Culture: A Film Review

March 18 -- Reflective Practice: What Do We Learn From Teaching Experience?

Assignment #3 -- Student Teacher Interview

April 8 — Negotiating Teaching Identities

Final Assignment: Negotiating a Teaching Identity: A Case Study (due date: April 17, 2000)

Texts

Britzman, D. (1991) Practice Makes Practice: A Critical Study of Learning to Teach, Albany: State University of New York Press. ISBN: 0-7914-0568-0.

Fullan, M. et al. (1998) The Rise and Stall of Teacher Education Reform. ISBN: 0-89333-159-7.

(Both books are available by telephoning the U of A Bookstore (780) 492-4215.)

There will be a $10.00 fee assessed for photocopying.

Grading

Grading at the University of Alberta is based upon a stanine, or 9 point grading scale. The final grade will be based on the following weighting given to each assignment:

Assignment #1 -- Teaching Chronology (10%)

Assignment #2 -- Film review (20%)

Assignment #3 -- Student Teacher Interview (20%)