ABSTRACT
This chapter examines recent DES circulars on teacher training, and concludes that the fruits of sociological research and insights have made few inroads into official educational policy. Two DES documents, The New Teacher in School and Teaching Quality, can serve to illustrate the point. The first objective of the study The New Teacher in School was 'to assess how well newly trained teachers in general are equipped for the work they are assigned in their first posts'. The chapter argues that evidence from our study of four 'school-based' PGCE courses demonstrates that these fears may in fact prove groundless. Many sociologists believe that there is some sociological knowledge that students must have and that it must therefore somehow be taught. The dilemma is that a didactic approach at this stage does seem to inhibit students developing the skills to analyse educational practice for themselves.
