Australian Journal of Teacher Education
Abstract
Fielding's article is a brave attempt to make more systematic the present inchoate organisational structures by which we train and in-service educate teachers. In England and Wales, government cuts in education have led to, amongst other depredations, many thousands of newlyqualified teachers being unable to find jobs. One of the consequences of this is that most of the teachers in British schools in the year 2000 are already in post, already initially trained. The concern of many teacher educators therefore, has partly moved away from initial teacher training (IT) towards the provision of a more efficient and comprehensive pattern of in-service training (INSET). In neither area, however, would many claim to have got the pattern right. At the IT level, many young teachers find themselves in culturally diverse classrooms, often in economically declining urban areas, with little information and understanding of the pupils in front of them, without certain crucial pedagogic skills and having attitudes about children, learning and society frequently at variance with their pupils and the communities from which they come. Their more experienced colleagues are often in a not dissimilar position, and are often sceptical, with some justification, of the efficacy of the range of INSET offerings open to them.
Recommended Citation
Jones, C. (1983). Carpenters or Cabinet-Makers : The Developing Role of Teachers in Urban Society. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 8(2). https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.1983v8n2.4