Teaching Teachers to Teach: A Framework for Preservice Program Planning

Abstract

Professional training in any area is composed of three essential elements: (1) the content or objectives, representing what the individuals being trained are expected to know, do and feel at the completion of the program; (2) the sequence of training activities designed to teach this content; and (3) the evaluation of outcomes in relation to whether the activities used in the program result in the trainees' meeting the training objectives. Equally important, and often ignored, is the match between these three elements: activities serve to ensure that trainees acquire the content only If specifically planned with content-related objectives in mind. The purpose of this article is to outline a framework for designing a teacher training program that accomplishes this match both within and across courses and practica and to illustrate its use in structuring sequences of training activities in early childhood special education.