Critical theory, teacher quality and the alternative practicum

Teacher education has been subject to growing critique in recent times, especially with the rapidly shifting higher education policies that require quality teachers for complex classrooms. This chapter focuses on the alternative practicum projects offered by the School of Education, University of Western Sydney, Australia, which speak to community and political concerns about teacher quality. The small-scale practicum not only attends to the university-based measures of quality but also supports innovative dialogue with government-based reports like the Australian House of Representatives "Top of the Class" inquiry for better quality teacher education. Given the current goals of educational equity and higher order thinking, the alternative practicum firstly allows for the understanding of the teaching act as one that creates an empowering and enlightened classroom for our children and secondly allows for the extension of the practicum experience to the school and broader community to understand the full scope of a teacher's role. The chapter discusses quality in the alternative practicum within the framework of critical theory, since the latter can accommodate action on the part of the educator to promote critical thoughtfulness about teaching, to resist ineffective schooling practices and to nurture the intellectual and professional growth of teacher candidates.