A Critical Pedagogy for Teacher Education: Toward an Inquiry-Oriented Approach

There has been growing advocacy for an inquiry-oriented approach to teacher education in the wake of developments in educational practice and theory, particularly through the action-research movement and critical curriculum inquiry. The inquiry-oriented approach argues that teacher education cannot be neutral, but must instead acknowledge the inherently political and ethical dimensions of the teaching act. This paper addresses the problem of developing a program for an inquiry-oriented approach and suggests that teacher education must focus on knowledge that begins with, and supports, the teaching act and portrays teacher education as a process of critical reflection on the teaching act itself.