Taking Teaching Seriously: How Liberal Arts Colleges Prepare Teachers to Meet Today's Educational Challenges in Schools [Paperback]

Chistopher Bjork (Author), D. Kay Johnston (Author), Heidi Ross (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 31, 2008 | ISBN-10: 1594513643 | ISBN-13: 978-1594513640

Taking Teaching Seriously expands and enriches discussions about teacher preparation in the United States. Its authors describe the unique contexts for teacher preparation offered by liberal arts institutions and analyze the effects of these programs on their graduates and on K 12 schools. They emphasize that the goals and conditions for teacher preparation differ from larger public institutions in several key respects including supervisor-student teacher relationships, philosophical foundations, and approaches to clinical fieldwork. Taken together, the essays provide compelling evidence that educational studies programs in liberal arts colleges and universities constitute a vital component of the teacher education system in the United States. Contributors: Irving Epstein, Alice Lesnick, Alison Cook-Sather, Lisa Smulyan, Vicki Kubler LaBoskey, Linda R. Kroll, Christopher Roellke, Jennifer Rice, Susan Riemer Sacks, Charlotte Mendoza

Editorial Reviews

Review

This book asks a serious question: What does it take to prepare teachers who can stimulate students to think critically, courageously, and creatively? This volume argues that liberal arts institutions are uniquely positioned to cultivate the intellectual habits and reflective practices essential to inspired teaching. Through compelling portraits of practice-in-action and sophisticated analyses, the authors offer an imaginative road map of what teacher education should strive to be. --Sam M. Intrator, Smith College

The liberal arts curriculum is commonly associated with preparing students to participate actively in a democracy. As such, liberal arts colleges have a critical role to play in the preparation of teachers. This wonderful collection shows how liberal arts colleges fulfill their missions through thoughtful preparation of our next generation of teachers. While they may educate a small portion of tomorrow's teachers, these schools play a large role in setting the standards and establishing the values and priorities for teacher education in this country. This highly readable book contains important lessons for us all. --Katherine Schultz, Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania

Liberal arts colleges have a unique role to play in preparing teacher-leaders for public education who can help kids learn to use their minds with power and imagination. This is a pathway into teaching that merits serious attention by teacher educators, policy makers, and critics alike. Readers of this book will find a picture of teacher education worthy of a democratic society. --Sharon Feiman-Nemser, Brandeis University

About the Author

Christopher Bjork, Assistant Professor of Education at Vassar College, is author of Indonesian Education: Teachers, Schools, and Central Bureaucracy (Routledge 2004). D. Kay Johnston, Professor of Education Studies and Women s Studies at Colgate University, is author most recently of Educating for a Caring Society: Classroom Relationships and Moral Action (Teachers College Press 2006). Heidi Ross, Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies and Director of the East Asian Studies Center at Indiana University, is the author most recently of China Learns English (Yale University Press 1993).

Product Details

• Paperback: 250 pages
• Publisher: Paradigm Publishers (January 31, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594513643
• ISBN-13: 978-1594513640
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,705,781 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)