Teacher Education and Cultural Change

First published in 1973, Teacher Education and Cultural Change analyses significant issues in the reform of teacher education on the evidence of up-to-date official and academic source materials and direct investigation. It contributes to the comparative sociology of education by highlighting the question as to whether teacher education policies are geared primarily to educational and social conservation or change. Features of teacher education are classified according to a scheme comprising four linked themes—cultural perceptions of teaching; the process of becoming a teacher; curricula; the organization of teacher education. Attention is given to cultural and social factors acting to democratize educational philosophies and structures. Reform-oriented policies are evaluated for their coherence and sociological realism. Differences in the three systems are found to reflect their histories and their socio-economic and political contexts, but a common movement is discerned towards democratic systems, responding to person rather than to institution-centred values.

The book should help to fill a serious gap in comparative studies of teacher education, and should be of interest to students, academics, and administrators concerned with the study and development of educational systems.