ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the teacher education reforms in Namibia within the broader framework of the transformation of the education system. It provides a brief history of preindependence teacher-training programs, the rationale for the transformation of the education system after independence, the reform of teacher education, which includes the development of reflective practice and the role of the National Institute for Educational Development in spearheading the reform. Prior to independence racial segregation ensured that schooling was nearly exclusive province of the white elites. The teacher training programs, controlled and regulated by the various ethnic authorities, were designed to prepare teachers for the ethnic administrations that controlled them. After independence, there was a paradigm shift in the meaning and purpose of knowledge. Notions of reflection have become popular in discussions of teacher education. The Namibian government has committed itself to providing basic education to all Namibians.
