Reimagining Teacher Education Programs Across Learning Contexts

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session 12
  In Roundtable Session: Anti-Bullying, Makerspace, and the Spectrum of Teaching: Fresh Takes and Needed Interventions

Abstract

Because teaching and learning in the 21st century increasingly happen in a distributed social ecosystem beyond formal school-like institutions, including workplaces, affinity groups, and people’s interaction with all kinds of media, we must recognize that more “kinds” of people teach beyond formally trained and certified classroom teachers. This perspective risks deprofessionalizing the identity of “teacher” by suggesting anyone can teach. Instead, we can conceive of a spectrum of teaching, with different kinds of teachers in different contexts. Teacher preparation programs face two critical opportunities: to develop professional teachers who are expert designers, curators, and practitioners and who are prepared to leverage informal learning opportunities; and to develop methods for supporting good teaching regardless of where it happens, in- or out-of-school.

Authors

• Jeffrey B. Holmes, Arizona State University

• Mari Koerner, Arizona State University