Learning to Teach

Learning to Teach: Curricular and Pedagogical Considerations for Teacher Preparation is a “must read” for faculty and staff in teacher education programs across the nation. The chapters in this book explore fundamental connections between teacher preparation and P-12 classrooms. Research-supported topics on pre-service teacher perceptions, preparation to practice, preparing to teach in diverse settings, and preparation of depth in content knowledge are the focus of this book. Are we making the connections for our teachers to meet the needs of an ever-changing society? That is the question we should be asking ourselves as we reflect on these chapters.

-- Sandra Stewart, associate dean for educator preparation, Sam Houston State University

Learning to Teach: Curricular and Pedagogical Considerations for Teacher Preparation is a great book for educators interested in making teacher preparation more meaningful. Each chapter provides a unique look into one aspect of teacher preparation, with an emphasis on the interactions between clinical practice and coursework. This book is helpful for educators and programs interested in making stronger connections between theory and practice for teacher candidates.

-- Christina Yuknis, Professor and EdS and PhD Program Director Professor, Department of Education, Gallaudet University

Teacher preparation is more significant now than ever as teachers are adapting to extraordinary complexities in the context of schooling. In Learning to Teach: Curricular and Pedagogical Considerations for Teacher Preparation, Patrick Jenlink weaves together expertise from current scholars who are examining the ways that teacher preparation programs can cultivate the knowledge, skills, and dispositions of the next generation of teachers so that they are ready to guide students and families through current and future challenges. There is no profession more critical and no time more crucial for this examination.

-- Julie Henry, professor and chair, Elementary Education, Literacy and Educational Leadership, Buffalo State College

How to effectively support preservice teachers to connect what they learn in program courses to what they do in classrooms meaningfully has been one of the persistent and predominant challenges facing scholars, teacher educators, and policymakers in teacher preparation. Learning to Teach: Curricular and Pedagogical Considerations for Teacher Preparation, contributes to an extensive and deep understanding of the challenge and offers useful approaches to addressing it using studies featuring research-based conceptualization, systematic literature review, qualitative and quantitative examination, and theory-based intervention in different content areas and fields. A resourceful and inspiring read for researchers, policymakers, teacher educators, and teachers interested in the issues of teacher preparation and learning to teach.

-- Jian Wang, professor and Helen DeVitt Jones Chair in Teacher Education, Texas Tech University

Learning to Teach: Curricular and Pedagogical Considerations for Teacher Preparation masterfully argues that effective teacher preparation programs include classroom-based instruction complemented by relevant clinical experiences. In teacher preparation classes, pre-service teachers “learn to teach” by discussing educational theories and cases studies and by observing and analyzing models of effective teaching. Integrated, systematic, and progressive clinical experiences then provide opportunities for pre-service teachers to “teach to learn” through practical application and reflection of their theoretical knowledge bases. The authors also effectively identify variables that influence pre-service teachers during their professional development journeys. These variables include backgrounds, experiences, and beliefs of pre-service teachers and their university professors, clinical educators, and mentor teachers. Supporting pre-service teachers as they “learn to teach” and “teach to learn” is truly a shared responsibility. Given this, Learning to Teach: Curricular and Pedagogical Considerations for Teacher Preparation is a must-have resource for teacher educators, P-12 teachers, curriculum specialists, and school/district administrators, all of whom will appreciate reaffirmation of their roles in, and influences upon, the lives of pre-service teachers.

-- Annette D. Digby, dean, Thayer School of Education, Wingate University, Wingate