Innovative Practices in Pre-Service Teacher Education

Book excerpt: Pre-service teacher education is a crucial component of the lifelong process of the professional development of teachers as it equips prospective teachers with the necessary and sufficient competencies to design meaningful and authentic learning environments that engage students in the learning process. If done well, it enhances the quality and improves upon the retention of teachers in the profession. This book is important because it attempts to deconstruct the nature and describe the practice of current pre-service courses and programs in the Asia-Pacific region, examine new paradigms of pre-service teacher education and their implications for practice, and explore emerging innovative practices. Moreover, this book's particular focus on engaging new partners and on harnessing required resources and capacities in the process; together with the particular role that new technologies may play in the new partnerships is especially valuable. Drawing upon leading scholars of teacher education from the Asia-Pacific region, the 12 chapters in this book are divided into three main sections to revitalize and inform the scholarship and debate on teacher education: - Examining Pre-Service Teacher Education - Engaging Partners in Pre-Service Teacher Education - Emerging Practices in Pre-Service Teacher Education