Vietnamese Education System and Teacher Training: Focusing on Science Education

This article introduces the reader to past, current, and future trends in science teacher preparation and professional development in Vietnam. The authors rely on document analysis for data collection and focused analysis to describe the general education system and the mechanisms for teacher training in Vietnam from the past to the present. Research questions focused on exploring changes in the organization of the education system over time, identifying advances that have been made, and describing what challenges teacher education faces today. In addition, this paper offers a special focus on how Vietnamese pedagogy institutions are working to prepare new teachers. Finally, the authors describe how Vietnam is preparing to implement a new national general education program that will strongly affect all aspects of education, including training and retraining of teachers. The authors conclude by raising some important questions for future research and development.

Sharing a Vision, Sharing Practices: How Communities of Educators Improve Teaching

In this article, we summarize more than a decade of work on high-leverage practices being used in the context of science teacher preparation. We describe the challenges and insights that ultimately resulted in more robust practices, a diversified suite of tools to support these practices, expanded knowledge of our own teacher education pedagogies, and stronger bonds between our preparation program and its local network of K-12 schools. The special education community has now formulated an ambitious practice-based vision for professional preparation, and advocates will find our narratives to be a mix of cautionary tales and cause for optimism.

The Science Behind Support

This chapter explores the graduate Secondary Science Teacher Preparation Program (TPP) at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC). The program addresses several critical needs in urban education and science teacher preparation using a combination of approaches that, when considered in light of one teacher candidate's experiences, serve to meet documented deficits among current TPP frameworks. The experiences of one teacher candidate are described and analyzed in light of the research literature, specific aspects of the UDC TPP that are assisting in filling existing deficits and supporting underrepresented minorities in science teacher education are discussed, and needs for future consideration, research, and program implementation are presented.