Policy and Practice in the Improvement of Initial Teacher Education in Chile.

This paper examines improvement in teacher education in Chile, which had an excellent system of teacher education until the 1970s. Educational change targeting elementary and secondary schools did not affect teacher education institutions, and there was no power to initiate such change. The national government pushed improvements by offering to fund projects presented by teacher education programs on a competitive basis. A small coordinating team was established in 1997 to conduct the selection process. The team also monitored and assessed the projects and institutions. Institutions could opt for a general overhaul of their teacher education programs or select just one area for improvement. Most opted for widespread changes. The paper examines how improvements have been occurring, focusing on four categories: theoretical focus, content and teacher preparation processes, learning to teach through continued practical experiences, and teacher educator and student teacher quality and instructional resource allocation. The paper highlights three ways in which this program illustrates the change process: policy-driven change, common constraints in institutional change, and mediations in change. (Contains 10 references.) (SM)