Three professional ideals: where should teacher preparation go next?

Developing effective models for teacher preparation is an ongoing challenge for teacher educators. Such models require meticulous attention to both content and pedagogy and to the way these components manifest a professional vision, with an understanding that a programme‘s content and pedagogy not only shape an image of the ideal teacher but are also shaped by it. In this paper, we reflect on the current landscape of teacher preparation and introduce three professional ideal types–teachers as intellectuals, master craftspeople, and artists, and consider how a few exemplary programmes embody them in light of the sweeping move towards ‘clinical’ preparation. We emphasise particularly the peripheral status of one type, teacher as an artist, and argue that its position and scope should be further broadened. Finally, we lay out the possibility and consider the complexity of integrating these ideals in a preparation programme. We conclude by proposing avenues for future research.