CHANGING DIRECTIONS IN THE PRACTICUM - LOOKING AHEAD TO THE 1990S

Recently reported innovations in the practicum in the United Kingdom, USA, Canada and Australia are discussed in relation to how well they address several obstacles to teacher learning that have been shown to be associated with the practicum. These innovations include the development of thematic teacher education programs, the articulation of an explicit practicum curriculum, the development of closer links between the practicum and specific college courses, extending the practicum to the community domain, locating the practicum in state schools (Professional Development Schools) which have a special role in teacher education, and viewing the practicum as a ‘cognitive apprenticeship’. These curricular reforms are discussed in terms of how they relate to two different conceptions of teaching as reflective practice. Following this analysis of recently reported curriculum reforms, it is argued that the improvement of the practicum in teacher education must involve more attention to the structural and political context of the practicum and more politicised roles for teacher-educators. © 1990, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.