IP 87-4 Preparing teachers for uncertainty.
Abstract
Uncertainty pervades teachers' work. Most discussions of teaching uncertainty restrict attention to teachers' influence on pupils, but teachers face a broader array of uncertainties, including uncertainty about what their students know, about the subjects they teach, about their own authority in the classroom, and about how to improve their teaching. This paper presents an expanded analysis of the sources of teaching uncertainty, then discusses what teacher education might try to accomplish so that teachers better understand, reduce, and tolerate uncertainty. Preparation for uncertainty may not be the most important goal of teacher education; knowledge of academic subjects, pedagogical skill, and an understanding of children are all stronger candidates. But inasmuch as preparation for uncertainty pervades all of these, it deserves serious attention.