Journal of Primary Education

Abstract

Recently, teacher education in Taiwan has undergone a significant reform after stages of heated debates and discussions. With the pendulum of reform swinging from closedness to openness, the recent teacher education reform has manifested the following features: from single type of provider of initial teacher training offered exclusively by teachers colleges and universities to multitypes of providers of initial teacher training provided by all types of colleges and universities; from government-supported teacher education to the dual system of government-supported and self-supported teacher education; from a design of combination of initial teacher training and subsequent obligatory teacher position appointment to teacher position appointment by careful screening and assessment of teacher qualifications and teaching competencies.

The above aspects of teacher education reform have aimed to pursue the dual ideals of liberalisation and excellence. Liberalisation means deregulation, provision of multitypes of providers of initial teacher training, and participation, while excellence means professionalization, autonomy, and empowerment. Liberalisation and excellence are the criteria by which the present new system of teacher education design is judged, including the system design itself, curriculum development, instructional design, and student teaching practice.

This paper is comprised of three parts. First, background of teacher education reform is analyzed. Second, reform of teacher education system and its inherent problems are investigated. Finally, new directions for teacher education for teacher education are delineated.

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