Teacher education policy‐making in British Columbia: 1872‐1994

This paper presents the results of an investigation of policy‐making (from 1872 to 1994) about teacher education in British Columbia, Canada. Its primary focus is threefold. First, it outlines the administrative structures established for the administration of teacher education. Second, it identifies the major issues and concerns considered by the major commissions and reviews of teacher education and the changes which have resulted over time. Finally, it distills the lessons which might be learned from the past. Major conclusions include: that a clearly articulated philosophy of teacher education has taken second place to the mechanics of teacher education; that political control sublimated the need for the development of clearly stated policy, and change over time appears to have been mandated by legislation rather than developed from local and institutional initiatives.