A skillful start to a teaching career: a matter of developing impactful behaviors, reflective practices, or professional knowledge?

Despite considerable change in the content and structure of teacher education over the last 40 years, the pedagogical framework of most programs has remained remarkably consistent. Most programs involve three pedagogical phases: (1) studying about practice, (2) observing and trying out practice under simulated or actual classroom conditions, and (3) comparing and elaborating practice in classrooms. Within this framework, three orientations have evolved, the most enduring of which has emphasized the teaching of what may be termed “impactful” behaviors. In the last two decades the focus has shifted initially to a second orientation, the development of reflective practices, and most recently to a third orientation, the development of professional knowledge. After comparing the three orientations, the chapter examines the development of the professional knowledge orientation in terms of how best to reconstruct the pedagogical framework in order to help beginning teachers concurrently use practical and propositional knowledge in an integrated manner.