Making Sense of Global Reform in Initial Teacher Education: A Discussion Paper.

This is an analysis of the findings from three comparable national studies of current change in the provision of initial teacher education. These three studies are: the Mode of Teacher Education (MOTE) survey, covering England and Wales; the Research about Teacher Education (RATE) Project, covering the United States; and the Study of Initial Teacher Education (SITE), covering Australia. Each of the studies examines comparable issues and identifies a range of common policy strategies being pursued by the respective governments. There appears to be a global move toward educational reform. Many countries are dismantling centralized educational structures and replacing them with systems having local institutional autonomy and control. These are often linked to an increased emphasis on parental choice and competition between institutions for students. These changes are leading to a market model of educational services. There is more encouragement of the growth of different types of schools, responsive to local needs and particular communities and interest groups. This trend is also linked to growing notions of cultural pluralism as schools shift from a modern to postmodern model. (Contains 39 references.) (JLS)