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The Elementary School Teacher as Learner

American teachers have always had the opportunity to participate in learning activities designed to enhance their professional competence. Recently, several forces within the schools and society seem to be responsible for moving the vast enterprise of teacher in service education out of the shadows and into the spotlight. A primary factor is the general population’s loss of confidence in public education. There has been concern for years about the alleged lack of discipline of students, the much-publicized non-academic orientation of schools and teachers, the bureaucratic rather than instructional character of schools, and finally, most alarming of all, the purported decline in student achievement as evidenced by declining standardized test scores. The public and the media have found convenient scapegoats. Teachers, particularly elementary school teachers, have been logical targets. If teachers are the cause of the problem, the logic goes, then teachers can effect a remedy. The result has been increased pressure for staff development programs so that teachers may learn how to do their jobs better.