Reframing teacher education in England: the case for a Bildung orientated approach

ABSTRACT

Bildung has a long tradition in continental European education but in England it is less well known and is underused to theorise about education. In this paper the German concept of Bildung is applied to pre-service teacher education in England where teacher education has become increasingly dominated by instrumental and technicist approaches that encroach on the development of professional values and educational wisdom. Nevertheless, criticisms to current trends in teacher education do exist in England with programmes that include values-based elements challenging the prevailing norms of this performativity driven approach. This paper adds to those criticisms by proposing Bildung as an underpinning philosophy of teacher education and as an unusual lens with which to reframe teacher education.

KEYWORDS:

• Bildung
• pre-service teachers
• values-based teacher education
• reflective practice
• transformative learning

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Phronesis is wisdom or intelligence applied to practical things, it is the ability to make wise decisions or how to act virtuously in a practical situation such as teaching.

2. Techne is knowing how to do something and is associated with skill or craft knowledge, it is the ability to apply the principles or methods of teaching.