ABSTRACT
It is interesting to look back on the history of teacher education in order to see how, during the last part of the second millennium, basic ideas evolved about the way teachers should be prepared for their profession. It may help us to become aware that some assumptions have become so common that they are seldom discussed. First, three assumptions concerning the pedagogy of teacher education and the nature of teacher knowledge are discussed. Many research findings show that these assumptions create a gap between theory and practice. The chapter then focuses on this gap and the difficulty teacher educators face when trying to change teacher education practices. A new approach to teacher education is introduced, based on recent insights into the relation between teacher cognition and teacher behavior. The basic ideas underpinning this realistic approach are sketched. Section 1.9 presents an overview of the rest of the book.
