“It's a Difficult Matter”1: Historical perspectives on the enduring problem of the practicum in teacher preparation

Current reviews of teacher education pay considerable attention to problems associated with the practicum, and often claim to propose major changes in order to improve the quality of new graduates. Many of the problems they address concerning the practicum and its relation to the ‘theoretical’ component of programs are longstanding, and have been the focus of sustained critique and consequent ongoing modification. Between 1900 and 1950 teacher educators and administrators in England and Australia sought to develop programs that balanced and integrated theory and practice, supported by a range of teaching and administrative procedures. They identified a range of problems in staffing, curriculum and pedagogy, school placements and supervision, and explored a wide range of possible solutions to those problems from minor adjustments to substantial reconceptualisations of whole programs. However, many such solutions generated further problems of their own. The analysis of the history of the practicum in teacher preparation indicates how firmly contemporary proposals are embedded within the framework of assumptions and approaches that have shaped teacher education for over a century.