The "clinical" approach to teacher education means having prospective teachers systematically observe, simulate, and actually perform the activities of teachers in a controlled environment, under close supervision, and with feedback on their performance and opportunity to relearn, in conjunction with their studies of theory and research in pedagogy and foun- dational disciplines. The concept is broad and not new (Flowers and others, 1948). It subsumes early field experiences, student teaching or internship, and a variety of other activities commonly found in teacher education programs. The emphasis in clinical education, however, is on designing and implementing a systematic, carefully aticulated relationship between the body of professional knowledge and the prospective practitioner's ability to function effectively.
Instruction for future teachers that is solely or predominantly based in the traditional college classroom is divorced from the reality of school rooms and is necessarily predominantly theoretical, admonitory, or anecdotal. There is nothing wrong with theory per se; in fact, all teaching ought to be based on some theory of what one is doing and why. Admonition-telling future teachers what their obligations will be and what they
E. C. Gdambos (Ed.). Improving 'lhxfw Educnllo~~