Current trends in teacher education and training: A symposium report

The roles of teachers and of training programs for teachers are undergoing major change and will continue to do so as more complex challenges appear, a new report concludes.

Teacher education/educator training: Current trends and future directions documents the proceedings of a symposium held in May 2001 to explore research and policy issues concerning the preparation and training of teachers and educators.

This topic has captured the attention of policy makers in Canada and around the world in terms of the supply and demand of teachers and other educators, as well as related issues. These issues include retention of teachers and educators, professional development and teacher certification requirements.

According to the report, new teachers and educators will need more support and resources to succeed. Professional growth plans and other professional development strategies for teachers and educators should be investigated to effectively promote lifelong learning. The report suggests that partnerships between universities and schools could strengthen teacher training programs.

This report includes summaries of presentations and commissioned research papers. An analysis of the themes and policy issues raised at this symposium is available in a separate document titled Teacher education in a knowledge-based economy: Centering a critical conversation.

The symposium was held as an activity of the Pan-Canadian Education Research Agenda. The Canadian Education Statistics Council, a partnership between Statistics Canada and the Council of Ministers of Education, initiated the research agenda. The aim was to promote research on policy issues in education of concern to researchers, policy makers and practitioners.

Teacher education/educator training: Current trends and future directions (81-593-XIE, free) and Teacher education in a knowledge-based economy: Centering a critical conversation (81-592-XIE, free) are now available on Statistics Canada's Web site (http://www.statcan.gc.ca). From the Our products and services page, choose Free publications, then Education. They are also available on the Council of Ministers of Education's Web site (www.cmec.ca), which also contains further information on the pan-Canadian research agenda and the commissioned research papers.

For more information, contact Client Services (1-800-307-3382; 613- 951-7608; fax: 613-951-9040; educationstats@statcan.gc.ca), Culture, Tourism and the Centre for Education Statistics.