What Can Research Tell us about Teacher Education?

If it is true that educational research should not merely offer us better understandings of educational processes, but also offer us suggestions for good practice by ascertaining 'what works' most effectively in diverse contexts, then there are potentially four ways in which such research could be of use to those engaged in teacher education. This paper explores three of them-those which it argues are of most use to teacher educators. From research into the processes of teaching and learning we have learned a great deal about the complex nature of teachers' expertise and the extent to which it is determined by highly specific contexts. In seeking to understand more about the processes involved in learning to teach we have come to recognise the strength of the personal agendas that beginning teachers bring with them and the active role they play in negotiating their own learning. On this basis research offers teacher educators a number of suggestions for good practice: about the ways in which we should expect beginning teachers to make use of research-based generalisations; about how we can help them gain access to the wealth of expertise embedded in the practice of experienced teachers; and about how we can encourage them to subject their own preconceptions to serious critical evaluation.