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Currently, the field of teacher education is undergoing a major shift--a turn away from a predominant focus on specifying the necessary knowledge for teaching toward specifying teaching practices that entail knowledge and doing. In this article, the authors suggest that current work on K-12 core teaching practices has the potential to shift teacher education toward the practice of teaching. However, the authors argue that to realize this vision we must reimagine not only the curriculum for learning to teach but also the pedagogy of teacher education. We present one example of what we mean by reimagined teacher education pedagogy by offering a framework through which to conceptualize the preparation of teachers organized around core practices. From our perspectives, this framework could be the backbone of a larger research and development agenda aimed at engaging teachers and teacher educators in systematic knowledge generation regarding ambitious teaching and teacher education pedagogy. We conclude with an invitation to the field to join with us in imagining approaches to generating and aggregating knowledge about teaching and the pedagogy of teacher education that will move not only our individual practice but also our collective practice forward. Keywords elementary teacher education, preservice education, secondary teacher education, Currently, the field of teacher education is undergoing a major shift--a turn away from a predominant focus on specifying the necessary knowledge for teaching toward specifying teaching practices that entail [...]

In this article, the authors focus on the concept of coherence, a relatively underexplored concept in teacher education. They investigate the relationship between students' perceptions of coherence and a number of structural features of teacher education programs to help develop a stronger definition of one important dimension of coherence--the relationship between fieldwork and coursework. The authors examine the relationship between specific program features and students' perceptions of the degree to which program vision, principles, and practices are aligned with those in the field and also explore the degree to which students have opportunities to practice what they are learning in the program and to enact program goals and visions of good teaching and learning in the classroom. In a field that is calling for larger-scale studies, this research attempts to identify promising features that are also amenable to large-scale studies of the impact of teacher education. Keywords: teacher education; student teaching; field experience; program coherence, A Historical Perspective: Contradictions Between Field Experience and University Coursework From Dewey on, scholars in teacher education have suggested the importance of linking fieldwork experiences to preparation at the university--of [...]

This article examines the integration of social justice in teacher education and defines dimensions of teachers' opportunities to learn. Findings come from a comparative case study of two elementary teacher education programs: the Teachers for Tomorrow's Schools Program at Mills College and the Teacher Education Intern Program at San Jose State University. Combining concepts from sociocultural theory and a theory of justice for the conceptual framework, this study illustrates how these programs addressed social justice in university courses and how teachers' opportunities to learn varied across specific dimensions. Specifically, this article highlights teachers' opportunities to develop conceptual and practical tools related to social justice as emphasizing the needs of students identified by their membership in educational categories and the needs of students identified by their status in oppressed groups. In addition, it addresses how variation in teachers' opportunities informed their conceptions of students and their preparation. Keywords: teacher education; social justice; multicultural education; sociocultural theory; teacher preparation, Vanessa, a student teacher in Oakland, California, begins a writing lesson by reading The Owl Moon. She instructs her first and second graders to snap when they recognize a descriptive [...]