The Quest for Quality in Teacher Education

Abstract

This essay by William W. Brickman was first presented at the College English Association Institute for Liberal Education and Industry on April 5, 1955, and published a year later in Educational Theory (vol. 6, no. 4). The essay outlines Brickman's conception of what it takes to become a "quality teacher," a good teacher. He argues that the teacher of quality must master several foundational fields in education, including the psychological, the sociological, the historical, the philosophical, and the comparative. While the first two have found their way in most teacher education programs in the United States, Brickman proposes to give a more serious consideration to the important role of the historical, philosophical, and comparative dimensions of teacher education programs.