THE NATURE AND GROWTH OF KNOWLEDGE IN STUDENT TEACHING

Recent research on teaching has emphasised the significance of teachers' knowledge, thoughts, and beliefs. Terms such as "craft knowledge", "professional knowledge", "knowledge-in-action", and "reflection" have come to be widely used in discussions of teacher education and classroom practice. This paper aims to summarise some of the key features of teachers' knowledge that emerge from recent research and to consider their possible implications for the training of teachers. The paper goes on to argue for a more prominent role for research in the evaluation and development of teachers' professional education and in its defense at times of powerful external policy constraints.