Chapter 8: The Complexity of Contributing To The Teacher Education Profession

Standard 8 for the Association of Teacher Educators (ATE) Standards for Teacher Educators is Teacher Education Profession. This standard, with ten indicators, is about how teacher educators “accept responsibility for improving their profession” (ATE, 2008, p. 6). This includes service in local,state, and national professional organizations. By contributing to professional organizations, teacher educators have the potential to be a part of a collective voice that can advocate for the profession.

This standard underscores the imperative of recruiting the next generation of teachers by advocating for and fostering a positive perception of the teaching profession. Effective pre-service teacher recruitment efforts may involve teacher educators actively participating in high-school teacher academies. Consequently, this standard calls for a reconceptualization of teacher education, urging an earlier start than preservice preparation to establish a robust pipeline of future educators entering universities. Teacher educators can further contribute to recruitment by mentoring and supporting new teachers through their involvement in student organizations.