Survival Kit or Lessons for Life? Future Directions for Preservice Teacher Education from the Perceptions of Newer Teachers

Recent literature, supported by a survey of secondary school teachers in southwestern Ontario, Canada, indicates that preservice teacher education does not adequately prepare graduating teacher candidates to thrive in a profession that is ironically, driven by change. Attempts at reform have focused on the basic aspects of the typical preservice program: foundations, curriculum methods and field experience. The results have been decidedly discouraging. Positive improvement will hinge both on a recognition by teacher-education institutions, of the inevitable compromise between short-term necessity and long-term vision, and on their willingness to implement, carefully and constructively, promising innovations such as action research and centers of pedagogy.