Response to Assertion #1 What Happens in Teacher Education?

"For teachers to help students meet the requirements of the Standards successfully, four things

must happen in and for teachers:

(1) They should themselves be competent exemplars of the context and skills they are teaching. At a minimum, teachers ought to be able to meet the K-12 National Standards.

(2) They should be able to teach from the base of their own knowledge and skills, not merely

model or present prefabricated lessons.

(3) They should be able to lead, in the sense of being able to provide content-based guidance to the uninitiated, the beginner, and the advanced student.

(4) They should be able to learn and develop on their own in the primary disciplinary fields

associated with their work."
 
I agree that teachers should be competent in the areas they are teaching. I believe that they should be able to meet the national standards but do indeed need to have grade level specific standards laid out with different strands to teach from. This will make it easier for them to produce a curriculum map for the K-12 students making sure that they receive all the skills and have enough time to practice and show mastery. I agree that teachers should be able to teach authentically although the curriculum that is commonly used today makes it seem as if teachers are supposed to teach directly from the teacher’s manual especially when the lessons are scripted out. Teachers need to be able to provide instruction that meets the needs of all students, not just some of them. I also agree that they should be lifelong learners and able to find new techniques and be willing to try them as they relate to their content area(s).