Chapter 1: Purposeful Preparation For Roles In Boundaryspanning Clinical Teacher Preparation

The release of the 2010 National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education Blue Ribbon Panel Report (NCATE, 2010) served as the impetus for a monumental, albeit much-needed, shift in teacher preparation in the United States—one that moved teacher preparation from isolated university settings to clinical PK‒12 school partnerships. Similar movements are occurring across the globe, including Europe’s “turn to the practical” (Furlong, 2013). This global reorientation allows for purposeful, scaffolded experiences with expert mentors—both school-based and university-based teacher educators—who facilitate the application of academic content in real world settings. It is to this third space—the intersection between university- and school-based teacher education that integrates theory and prac-tice—that teacher education is increasingly moving (Zeichner, 2010).