Talet om lärarutbildning

Sammanfattning: The aim of this dissertation can be described as threefold, (i) to problematice the ways in which we talk about, or, the discourses of, teacher education, (ii) to analyse contemporary discussions about teacher education as it has taken shape in relation to the present teacher education reform in Sweden, and (iii) to develop points of references for alternative ways to talk about teacher education, on the basis of (i) and (ii), and in relation to Stephen Toulmin’s analysis of the modern project. The dissertation consists of twelve chapters divided into four parts. Part I is an introduction to the field of research and to the dissertation. Part II is an analysis of contemporary Swedish discussions about teacher education and teachers. Part III is an attempt to deepen the analysis by adding international and historical perspectives. Part IV, finally, takes the discussion another step further by using Toulmin’s analysis of the modern project as a lens through which to read the discourses about teacher education and teachers. Through a series of analyses the dissertation ends up in a discussion about how we could talk about teacher education within the spirit of the third modernity. The discussion is centred around five metaphors, “Teacher education as a public dialogue”, “Teacher education as the education of teachers”, “The education of teachers as an offer about Bildung in a citizenship perspective”, “The education of teachers as teachers education” and “Teachers education as communication”. In relation to these metaphors two lines of talk are suggested. We could start to talk about teachers work as if it was a profession with communicative and deliberative characteristics seen in the perspective of citizenship in terms of belonging and participation and we could start to talk about teachers education as if it was meant to create good conditions for becoming teachers to develop their capacity to make sound judgements in relation to their work by participating in critical, constructive and challenging dialogues.