The School Teacher in England and the United States: The Findings of Empirical Research investigates what makes school teachers distinct from other people in England and the United States. This book brings together for the first time the findings of a very large number of surveys on both sides of the Atlantic designed to throw light on a number of critical questions, such as the teachers' family backgrounds, their motives for becoming teachers, or the types of role-conflict affecting teachers in general, and women teachers (including married women) in particular. This monograph is comprised of 10 chapters and begins by comparing the British and American educational settings. The next chapter discusses the role that society is believed to expect teachers to fulfill, such as emancipation from the child's primary emotional attachment to his family, or the technical component of the skills which have to be transmitted to the pupils to enable them to fulfill their future adult roles. The empirical evidence on society's view of what role the teachers should play is then analyzed. A typology of incompatibilities inherent in teacher role is also presented. The remaining chapters focus on the teachers' expressed motivation in career choice; the stages at which people choose teaching; teacher effectiveness and career satisfaction; and the teachers' professional status. The final chapter considers some policy alternatives for addressing the training and supply of teachers. This text will be a useful resource for teachers, school administrators, and educational policymakers.

Learning to Teach in England and the United States studies the evolution of initial teacher education by considering some of the current approaches in England and the United States. Presenting empirical evidence from these two distinct political and historical contexts, the chapters of this thought-provoking volume illustrate the tensions involved in preparing teachers who are working in ever-changing environments. Grounded in the lived experiences of those directly affected by these shifting policy environments, the book questions if reforms that have introduced accountability regimes and new kinds of partnership with the promise of improving teaching and learning, have contributed to more powerful learning experiences in schools for those entering the profession. The authors consider the relationships between global, national and local policy, and question their potential impact on the future of teacher education and teaching more generally. The research adopts an innovative methodology and sociocultural theoretical framework designed to show greater insights into the ways in which beginning teachers’ learning experiences are shaped by relationships at all of these levels. A key emerging issue is that of the alignment – or not – between the values and dispositions of the individuals and the institutions that are involved. This book will appeal to academics, researchers and postgraduate students in the fields of teacher education, comparative education, higher education, and education policy and politics.

The fourth annual compilation of selected articles from the online Journal of the American Revolution.

‘Here is a book for our times: a study in three countries of the relationship between teacher education and the universities. An Englishman looks at France; a Frenchman at the USA and two Americans at England, with the whole introduced and rounded off by Harry Judge, who was also the interlocutor of France ... It is a notable addition to the Oxford Studies in Comparative Education.’ John Tomlinson, Director of the Institute of Education, University of Warwick, The Times Educational Supplement ‘... this is an outstanding book on several levels. ... it is a worthwhile read for audiences well beyond those directly involved in teacher education. It will be of particular interest to researchers and students of comparative education. At a time when politicians seem bent on importing educational practices from other countries, it reminds us that there are no easy “lessons” to be learnt through international comparisons and that we cannot suppose that what is identified as good practice in one country can easily be imported elsewhere without taking into account the cultural context within which it is successful.’ Marilyn Osborn, University of Bristol, Comparative Education ‘The book is beautifully and engagingly written, enlivened by the authors’ efforts to make sense of that which is foreign to their personal educational experiences. The narratives are rich in detail and insights about the forms of teacher education and the cultural logic of their suitability. The chapters provoke “thought experiments” of a kind that are suggestive of outcomes for university-based teacher education if reforms currently proposed in one nation prove to be similar to long-standing practices in the others.’ Frank B. Murray, University of Delaware, Comparative Education Review The work recorded in this book was undertaken over four years, with support from the Spencer Foundation of Chicago and under the direction of Harry Judge of the University of Oxford. Michel Lemosse teaches at the University of Nice, and Lynn Paine & Michael Sedlak at Michigan State University.