Teaching and Teacher Education

The notion of ‘teaching’ encompasses a wide spectrum of types of activity all of which promote learning through the mediation of a teacher. Social and ethical issues influence teaching, which does not happen in a vacuum. Therefore, different disciplines in the arts, humanities and social sciences (like psychology, sociology and history) can both impact on understandings of teaching, and how teachers develop. They can also help teachers learn how to navigate the complexity of their work, as novices and through their continuing development. Philosophy, our concern, characteristically does so by provoking questions on normative assumptions made about education in general, including what can and should be taught, and why; and teaching in particular, including reflection on its nature, purpose as well as the relative value of different accounts. Philosophy also helps us think about the qualities we would like to nurture in an ideal or good teacher, promoting reflection on how best teachers can be formed. Since philosophy helps us understand elemental questions about teaching, it also helps to determine suitable teacher education. We can use philosophy as a lens through which we can view fundamental questions about education and teacher education and we can use philosophical methods as tools for interrogating complex ideas about education. We show why philosophical elements should be included on pre- and in-service teacher education programmes.