The Future for Teacher Training

By now most of the organizations, interest groups and individuals who have views on the future of teacher education have said their say to Lord James and the members of his Committee of Inquiry into Teacher Training. The Committee has not been short of reading matter. The House of Commons Select Committee on Education and Science collected a considerable volume of evidence on teacher education before the 1970 dissolution of parliament put a stop to its activities. Mr Edward Short's request to Area Training Organizations — the consortia of universities, colleges, local authority and teacher interests that are responsible for teacher education curricula and examinations in different parts of the country — to review activities and report within the year has produced a further pile of documents, ranging from a few duplicated sheets to the London Institute's five hundred pages. During the past six months, teacher and local authority organizations and other interested parties have been polishing up and amplifying their earlier statements and submitting these direct to the Committee of Inquiry, which is expected to report early in 1972.