Ground Level Reform in Teacher Education

Alexander D. Gregor is director of the Centre for Higher Education
Research and Development at the University of Manitoba and the co-editor
of Postsecondary Education in Canada: The Cultural Agenda.

In the past two decades, concerns about the quality and character of
teacher education have been translated into draconian governmental
actions that have in some cases exacerbated the problems they were meant
to solve. Written by educators who have themselves been engaged in
various attempts at rethinking and restructuring teacher education in
Canada and the United States, the eight chapters that make up Ground
Level provide an inside look at the problems faced in planning and
implementing major change in a setting populated by an array of
competing forces, including the university, the teacher educators, the
profession, the government, the schools, and the community. The authors
argue that to be effective, change must be undertaken in a comprehensive
fashion, with the involvement of all the participants and a respect for
the “ecology” of the setting.

The book focuses on five major themes: preparing teachers to handle the
complexities of the urban school; developing an appropriate working
relationship between the school and the university; improving the image
of teaching and the teacher; examining the role of those who prepare
teachers; and coming to an understanding of the change process in
teacher education. While recognizing the difficulties and complexities
inherent in the change process, the authors conclude their book with a
note of cautious optimism that the task can be accomplished.