Advancing Teacher Education through Faculty Development

Abstract

In light of a growing body of knowledge on effective teacher education practices and programs, more attention needs to be given to faculty development as a means of reforming teacher education. After identifying key themes in the North American teacher education reform literature since the 1980’s, the author identifies some of the challenges to the professionalization of both clinical faculty and professors of education. The paper concludes with the identification of four possible components of a pan-Canadian program of professional development for teacher educators: initial teacher educator preparation; ongoing professional development; practitioner research by teacher educators; and disseminating teacher education research and reforms.