Interrupting the Institutional Narrative on Teacher Training: the Potential of School-based Teacher Education

Currently, teacher education is at the crossroads. Stimulated by a plethora of government reports and inquiries there are cries for reform, restructuring and change. As teacher educators we have grappled with the complexities, contradictions and tensions emanating from these reform efforts on two fronts. At the institutional level, we have suffered the alienating consequences of restructuring through budget cuts, staff sackings, 'efficiencies', and the casualisation of academic work. At the collegial level, we have struggled to make sense of the "teacher training business" and what it means to be a teacher and teacher educator in this increasingly hostile environment (Bullough & Gitlin, 1994; Knight, Bartlett & McWilliam, 1993).