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Like other fields of study, teacher education defines itself both by what it includes and by what it excludes. Teacher educators and researchers have spent a great deal of time seeking and attempting to eradicate the flaws in existing structures and practices, but significantly less time learning to perceive the absences.
This anthology of critical readings (for students about to enter the teaching profession and for those interested in carefully examining schools and schooling) features provocative, engaging authors whose views are politicized, but whose writing and opinions matte - not because they are gadflies, but because their ideas work and their achievements as teachers, principals, and policy shapers are so notable. Educational Foundations: An Anthology of Critical Readings is organized around the following questions: Why teach? Who are today′s students? What makes a good teacher? How should we assess student learning? What does a good school look like? How does one develop a critical voice (in the face of state mandates, administrative edicts, and the continuous cycle of reform and retrenchment)? Alan S Canestrari and Bruce A Marlowe′s answers are bold and refreshing. They eschew the unquestioning compliance so characteristic of new teachers. Also, by taking a hard look at traditional educational practice, they serve as models for the kind of reflective practitioners we hope pre-service students will become when they enter the field. The key feature of this anthology are the readings by authors who have discovered their own critical voices so that new teachers can begin to develop their own. These readings offer a platform for discussion and debate that may be used by instructors to increase student knowledge of pedagogy and to provide authentic opportunities for potential teachers to think critically about teaching and learning.
Why teach? Who are today’s students? What makes a good teacher? Educational Foundations: An Anthology of Critical Readings aims to answer such questions by helping new and future teachers develop habits of critical reflection about schools and schooling before entering the classroom. Editors Alan S. Canestrari and Bruce A. Marlowe feature an array of provocative, engaging authors who, as teachers, principals, and policy shapers, provide the latest perspectives in the field. The thoroughly revised Fourth Edition features an array of bold new essays discussing today’s most relevant issues, including diversity, school safety, data in schools, and teacher strikes.
In Teaching Critical Thinking, renowned cultural critic and progressive educator bell hooks addresses some of the most compelling issues facing teachers in and out of the classroom today. In a series of short, accessible, and enlightening essays, hooks explores the confounding and sometimes controversial topics that teachers and students have urged her to address since the publication of the previous best-selling volumes in her Teaching series, Teaching to Transgress and Teaching Community. The issues are varied and broad, from whether meaningful teaching can take place in a large classroom setting to confronting issues of self-esteem. One professor, for example, asked how black female professors can maintain positive authority in a classroom without being seen through the lens of negative racist, sexist stereotypes. One teacher asked how to handle tears in the classroom, while another wanted to know how to use humor as a tool for learning. Addressing questions of race, gender, and class in this work, hooks discusses the complex balance that allows us to teach, value, and learn from works written by racist and sexist authors. Highlighting the importance of reading, she insists on the primacy of free speech, a democratic education of literacy. Throughout these essays, she celebrates the transformative power of critical thinking. This is provocative, powerful, and joyful intellectual work. It is a must read for anyone who is at all interested in education today.
Choosing to Teach, Choosing to See: Critical Readings for Those Entering the Noble Profession of Education provides future and in-service educators with a collection of articles that explore various facets of the teaching profession. The readings challenge traditional perspectives on education, amplify diverse voices and ideologies, and provide a solid foundation for teachers to connect with students and support their educational excellence. Over the course of eight thought-provoking articles, readers learn about developing camaraderie with students, teaching without fear, building a caring classroom that supports achievement, and the challenges of white privilege in educational contexts. Dedicated readings explore community-based pedagogical spaces, literacy development of urban poor youth, and more. Designed to help individuals grow into compassionate, effective, and empowered educators, Choosing to Teach, Choosing to See is a valuable resource for courses and programs in K-12 education and educational leadership. It is also an excellent textbook for teachers interested in pursuing personal and professional development. Ty-Ron M. O. Douglas is an associate professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at the University of Missouri and an affiliate faculty member of the Black Studies Department. He earned a Ph.D. in educational studies/curriculum and teaching with a concentration in cultural studies and a post-master's certificate in school administration. Dr. Douglas' research explores the intersections between identity, community space, and the social and cultural foundations of leadership, education, and sport. Ransford Pinto earned a Ph.D. in educational leadership and policy analysis and a master's degree in public affairs from the University of Missouri. Dr. Pinto's research focuses on the intersection of race and gender in educational leadership, educational leadership preparation in a global context, and educational equity and social justice in the P-20 system.
World wide the production of teachers has become a sharp political issue during the early years of the twenty first century. Current systems for ensuring a supply of capable and knowledgeable teachers have come sustained under attack from politicians, economists, parents’ organisations and social critics alike.
The Struggle for the Soul of Teacher Education is a much-needed exploration of the unprecedented current controversies and debates over teacher education and professionalism. Set within the context of neo-liberal education reforms across the globe, the book explores how the current struggles over teaching and teacher education in the US came about, as well as reflections on where we should head in the future. Zeichner provides specific examples of work that moves teacher education toward greater congruency between ideals and practices, while outlining the basis for a new form of community-based teacher education, where universities and other program providers, local communities, school districts, and teacher unions share responsibility for the preparation of teachers. Ultimately, Zeichner problematizes an uncritical shift to more practice and clinical experience, and discusses the enduring problems of clinical teacher education that need to be addressed for this shift to be educative. Readers are sure to gain insight on transforming teacher education so it more adequately addresses the need to prepare teachers capable of providing a high-quality education with access to a rich and broad curriculum, and culturally and community responsive teaching for everyone’s children.
Uniquely bringing together discourse analysis, critical literacy, and teacher research, this book invites teacher educators, literacy researchers, and discourse analysts to consider how discourse analysis can be used to foster critical literacy education. It is both a guide for conducting critical discourse analysis and a look at how the authors, alongside their teacher education students, used the tools of discourse analysis to inquire into, critique, and design critical literacy practices. Through an intimate look at the workings of a university teacher education course and the discourse analysis tools that teacher-researchers use to understand their classrooms, the book provides examples of both pre-service teachers and teacher educators becoming critically literate. The context-rich examples highlight the ways in which discourse analysis aids teachers’ decision making in the moment and reflections on their practice over time. Readers learn to conduct discourse analysis as they read about critical literacy practices at the university level. Designed to be interactive, each chapter features step-by-step procedures for conducting each kind of discourse analysis (narrative, critically oriented, multimodal), sample analyses, and additional readings and resources. By attending to the micro-interactions as well as processes that unfold across time, the book illustrates the power and potential of discourse analysis as a pedagogical and research tool.
Educational Psychology in Context: Readings for Future Teachers takes an exciting new approach to educational psychology by addressing the questions that real teachers in real schools ask about real students. This book's purpose is to provide a stimulating alternative to traditional texts by helping teachers develop a strong theoretical and research-based understanding of how their students learn and develop. Unlike other texts, this book of major readings is an anthology of primary-source readings selected for students entering the teaching profession and for teachers interested in examining learning and development.
The personal and professional are woven together in this collection of scholarly narratives by teacher educators who share their early critical experiences and model teaching practices to support continued resistance and possibilities in teacher education. Representing myriad contexts where teacher education takes place, the range of scholars included represent diverse racial, gendered, linguistic, economic, and ethnic intersectional perspectives. Each chapter suggests practical tools and encourages readers to reflect on their own journeys of becoming transformational teacher educators. This book adds an important dimension to the field with a new and generative approach to the introduction of critical literacies and pedagogies, and offers a potentially powerful way to explore theory, methodology, and social issues. Readers will enjoy the compelling storytelling of these powerful and vulnerable memoirs.
