Teachers for Our Nation’s Schools by John I. Goodlad Translated and edited by Zhixin (Justine) Su

Group Submission Type: Book Launch

Description of Session

In this presentation, I will share information on the launch of the Chinese version of John Goodlad’s landmark research book, Teachers for Our Nation’s Schools, to be published in September 2022 by East China Normal University Press in agreement with John Wiley & Sons/Jossey-Bass Publishers. This book is a comprehensive report on the American National Study of the Education of Educators (SEE) led by Goodlad at University of Washington, which was a massive five-year survey study in 29 representative colleges and universities across the US. The SEE researchers identified critical issues in the existing teacher training programs, made important recommendations for teacher education reform, and created a vision for what it should in the education of educators. The book tells why past attempts to restructure education in America have failed and presents an agenda for improving schools by changing the way teachers are taught. The far-ranging ideas put forth in this book are exciting and encouraging, bearing strong implications for teacher education improvement both in the US and other countries.

As Goodlad’s doctoral student during the time of this remarkable national study, I was fortunate to participate in all phases of the study as a researcher. Since the publication of this report in the US, I have adapted the framework and methods of the SEE in developing comparative studies of the education of teachers and school principals in the US and China in collaboration with selected education scholars in China, with multiple presentations at international conferences and publications in American, Chinese and international education journals. However, there is still a lack of substantial research evidence for teacher education reform policies and practices in China, as there is a shortage of relevant references and adaptable models for large-scale research and reform due to the lack of English proficiency in most education scholars in China. The translation of Teachers for Our Nation’s Schools from English into Chinese and the publication of this book in China will fill this void and meet the needs.

In many ways, Teachers for Our Nation’s Schools is a companion piece to A Place Called School, another landmark research report book by Goodlad, which focused on issues and reform prospects in American K-12 education. A Place Called School was translated into Chinese by me and published in China in 2006. The book has had tremendous influence on Chinese school research and reform. Leading scholars at Beijing Normal University already designed and implemented a Chinese Study of Schooling based on the research model in A Placed Called School and won national awards in 2020. It is hoped that the publication of the newly translated book, Teachers for Our Nation’s Schools, will provide another excellent model of research and reform that can be adapted for large-scale investigations on the existing conditions and circumstances of teacher education in China, generate solid data for policy making, and create an ecology of simultaneous improvement of schools and teacher education institutions. It will also encourage more exchange and collaboration between Chinese and American educators.

Sub Unit

• Pre-Conference Workshops, Book launches, and Visual Art Exhibits / Book Launch

Chair

• Jun Li, Western University

Book Launch Presenter

• Zhixin Su, California State University, Northridge