Personalized and inquiry‐oriented teacher education: an analysis of two approaches to the development of curriculum for field‐based experiences

Abstract

This paper analyzes two strategies for the development of curriculum for field‐based experiences in pre‐service teacher education: ‘personalized’ and ‘inquiry‐oriented’. It is argued that, given the self and survival concerns of many student teachers and the role that schools now seem to play in the perpetuation of social and economic inequalities in the USA, a personalized approach to field‐based experiences is misguided. An inquiry‐oriented approach to student teaching is presented and defended on the grounds that it is ethically more justifiable than a personalized approach. Finally, an inquiry‐oriented approach to student teaching is illustrated by examples from the elementary teacher‐education program at the University of Wisconsin.