Seminar will discuss new pathways in teacher education
Professor Pam Grossman of Stanford University’s School of Education believes that teacher education should be organised
around the core practices of teaching.
Professor Grossman will present a seminar on the changing ways teachers are taught to teach. Her presentation: Towards
Exemplary Teacher Education Programmes: A Practice Based Approach, will be held at the University of Auckland’s Epsom
Campus as the annual Seelye Fellowship Seminar.
The seminar will discuss elements of practice-based teacher education and how new teachers might be taught to develop
their practice at a high level.
“It’s about how we prepare teachers for the actual practice of teaching and how they learn to do the various things we
need to do in classrooms to support students’ learning.”
Professor Grossman will draw on her experiences as former English teacher as well as her extensive background in
academia. She is the Nomellini-Olivier Professor of Education at the Stanford University School of Education and a
member of the National Academy of Education. She also serves as the Faculty Director of the Centre to Support Excellence
in Teaching.
Professor Grossman says teacher education programs must couple recruitment of talented individuals into teaching with
strong preparation for the classroom. She draws on her studies of different pathways into teaching, as well as
cross-professional work on how people are prepared for professions that depend upon the quality of relationships,
including teaching, clinical psychology, and the clergy.
“We can learn quite a bit from how other professions prepare novices to practice.”
Professor Grossman’s seminar is on Wednesday 16 October at 4.30pm in the J1 Lecture Theatre at the University’s Epsom
Campus.
ENDS