The Language of Standards and Teacher Education Reform

The key to successful professionalization of any practice is to convince clients and the public that a professional, as a result of education and practical experience, possesses unique knowledge and skills that can be employed to solve the particular problems of practice and thus serve client needs. Research and knowledge-based standards can convey the professional qualifications of teachers by creating a shared and public language of practice that not only describes how knowledge is used in practice but also becomes a vehicle for testing and elaborating the components of professional activity. Standards, when used in this manner by a developing profession, thus become a means to development and empowerment, not merely a means of external control.