Second Language Teacher Educatio

THE ORGANIZATION OF THE VOLUME

3. Collaborations in second language teacher education.

"Contexts" also represents a broad theme, which touches on the con

texts in which second language teacher education takes place and sec

ond language contexts themselves (ESL, EFL, foreign language,

second language teacher education.

perspectives on, for example, knowledge and experiences, beliefs and

The third theme, "collaborations," speaks to the importance of coop

ers need to know and understand to be effective teachers and how that

schools and colleges of teacher education as well as the collaborative re

identity, reflective teaching, and values and ethical dispositions. Quite

immersion, bilingual education) as well as different geographic, social,

This volume is comprised of 18 chapters. It is divided into four sections

cultural, political, and institutional contexts. Context is, in a word, key in

The "knowledge base" refers to what it is that second language teach

recently, a number of professional organizations have attempted to de

attitudes, teacher socialization and learning, teacher cognition, teacher

2. The contexts of second language teacher education.

eration and collaborative relationships in the work of second language

1. The knowledge base of second language teacher education.

knowledge is incorporated into second language teacher education.

language teacher education.

that are thematically conceptualized as follows:

fine the knowledge base through the creation of standards for second

The knowledge base is a broad theme and encompasses research and

teacher education. It includes institutional collaboration between

4. Second language teacher education in practice.

lationships that are formed among second language teachers or teacher educators themselves, including examples of action research that re

Each of these themes is very broad. Several books could be written

sults from collaborative relationships.

same time, each theme can be considered in turn. The chapters in the

(PDS), which involves a collaborative relation between a teacher educa

Finally, "second language teacher education in practice" focuses on

This theme showcases program models and underlying philosophies

teacher education.

a thorough examination of each theme but rather to offer a sample of

about each theme itselfindeed, many such books have already con

in second language teacher education in various countries around the

perspectives on and examples of how each of the themes manifests itself

text of the work presented, the second language and institutional con

can be seen throughout the chapters that comprise the book. At the

first section, for example, all emphasize aspects related to the knowl

practices. Table P.I presents an overview of the chapters organized by

examples of that theme. For example, Nancy Dubetz's chapter (chap.

school that has been designated as a Professional Development School

how the work of second language teacher education is accomplished.

theme and identifies the contexts that are representedthat is, the con

and provides examples of how the other three themes—knowledge

each of the four themes. Dubetz's chapter focuses on the collaboration

edge base even though they also reflect issues related to contexts or

text, and whether the chapter focuses on preservice and/or inservice

placed in a particular section because they present especially strong

that occurs in a study group in the context of an urban elementary

base, contexts, and collaborations—are embedded in actual programs.

world. These four themes are also interrelated, and this interrelation

13, this volume) appears in the section on Collaborations, yet it reflects

Some of the chapters in the volume reflect all four themes yet are

tributed to the profession. The intention of this volume is not to provide

tion program in a nearby college and the school.