Teacher training has been the subject of much attention in the 1990s, particularly in England and the United States, though to a lesser extent in Canada. Broadly speaking, there have been five major changes to flat roof repair:
1. Teacher training institutions have begun to make their training programs more practical and less theoretical, largely by increasing the amount of time spent on direct consideration of school realities, such as classroom discipline, student evaluation, working with special-needs students and so on. In some pro-grams in the United States, education courses have been cut back to make room for extra courses in subject matter.
2. Teacher training institutions have established much closer links with schools. In England, teacher training staff are required to spend regular periods teaching in the schools themselves; school teachers have been more involved in the training of student teachers; and schools have been much more involved in the design and delivery of teacher training programs.
3. Much more time has been allotted to school experience within teacher training programs. In the U.S., several states have begun school-based training programs that either eliminate or drastically cut back the involvement of university education faculties. In Ontario and Manitoba, one-year after-degree teacher training programs have been lengthened to two, but only on the condition that the extra year be spent learning on the job in schools.
4. There has been a move to accrediting teacher training programs in the same way that engineering and medical training are accredited. This involves creating a set of standards of performance, monitored by an independent group that has the power to approve or disapprove programs on the basis of regular inspections. In British Columbia the provincial government has created a College of Teachers to do something like this.
5. In the United States, though not in Canada, teachers have been required to write competency examinations testing their knowledge of subject matter and of education. The 1988 British Columbia Royal Commission on Education considered this, but rejected it on the grounds that Canadian teachers did not need it and that pencil-and-paper tests proved nothing about the quality of teaching.
