Teacher education, as a field of inquiry and practice, has undergone transformation over the past few decades, shaped by diverse socio-cultural landscapes, ideologies and rapid technological changes. Alka Behari explores this canvas of teacher education through the lens of historical, philosophical, sociological, and policy perspectives. The book attempts to re-position teacher education not just as training but as a discipline, a perspective, and a field of inquiry which is a complex and layered landscape that requires continuous deconstruction and re-examination in light of emerging socio-cultural and technological changes. In such changing landscapes, intellectual debates to reposition the premises are very important and significant. This book promises to be an effort in this direction.
The edited volume is a mosaic of sixteen chapters authored by researchers, practitioners, and teacher educators, each addressing a distinct dimension of teacher education pertinent to the changing landscape, thereby presenting a rich tapestry of ideas that collectively call for a reimagining of teacher education as an interdisciplinary, reflective, and socially situated field. The book is distinct in scope and flavour as the chapters in the book delve into many contemporary issues which have received significant thrust in recent policies and present a scholarly discourse on areas like inclusion, teacher identity, assessment literacy, digitalization, socio-scientific issues and early childhood education. These essays deconstruct some of the narrow understandings of teacher education by repositioning it as an intellectual landscape rather than mere training.
Apart from detailing theoretical perspectives, the book also brings forward the ground realities and issues by incorporating some exemplary case studies, narratives, theory-practice dichotomy, field experiences of teacher educators which are necessary to build a critical perspective of teacher education and help in understanding it from multiple dimensions. The book problematizes teacher preparation discourse through a critical analysis and documented debates. For instance, what constitutes knowledge and what teachers need to know is well debated upon through a socio-historical lens. Behari positions teacher education as a site of conflicting ideas, contradictory perspectives and emerging paradigms that together weave the landscape for teachers, teacher educators, and policymakers. The editor’s introductory chapter titled ‘The Beginning’, sets the context and tone by reiterating the need to reposition teacher education as both a perspective and intellectual field informed by disciplinary contours of history, philosophy, sociology, psychology, political economy, and research. These disciplines not only anchor the purposes of education but also offer deeper epistemological insights about how teachers construe knowledge, identity, agency, and learning.
The introductory remarks establish the epistemic orientation of the book wherein Behari argues that teacher education cannot be conceptualized within narrow frameworks grounded only in pedagogy, but must be acknowledged as a multidisciplinary field. The use of the metaphor of an ‘underlying canvas’ by the editor probably points to the layered, textured, and evolving nature of the field influenced by socio-historical and ideological shifts, policies, aims of education, and deliberates on the expected role of teachers.
Behari’s narrative of the history of education and teacher preparation underscores how teaching as a social practice has always been undergirded by broader socio-cultural frames. She draws examples from Mesopotamia, ancient India, Israel, and early Islamic societies to reiterate that education has always been reduced to social hierarchies, norms and structures. Her revisiting and reconstruction of the apprentice teacher model, and the emergence of normal schools map not only the genesis of the programmes but also the shift in epistemological assumptions such as what counts as knowledge, who is authorized to teach, what capacities a teacher must embody, and how teaching should be evaluated. This historical sensibility which weaves through the book constitutes one of its most important contributions. The contemporary discourse in the Indian context views teacher education as a deficit model plagued by teachers’ failure to meet benchmarks. Behari challenges this narrative by arguing that tensions between theory and practice, between disciplinary knowledge and pedagogical skill, and between state regulation and professional autonomy are structural dilemmas and need not always be solution-centric. The book thereby reorients the discourse of teacher education through understanding, interpreting, and engaging with its epistemic structure.
The central theme emerging from Behari’s opening chapters is that teacher education must be understood both as a discipline and as a perspective. As a discipline, it draws upon conceptual frameworks and scholarship from philosophical debates, sociological analyses, and psychological theories to further decode the processes and purposes of teaching and learning. As a perspective, it empowers practitioners with interpretive lenses for understanding classroom realities, institutional structures, and social contexts. This articulation is important as it refutes the binaries in contemporary educational reform. Her arguments on the importance of conceptual foundations are supported by her review of research on various models of teacher education showing that student teachers often undervalue courses in philosophy, history, and sociology during their training but later find them indispensable in navigating the complexities of school life.
The subsequent chapters in the volume develop this conceptual stance through diverse thematic engagements. For instance, the historical chapters by Manisha Subba and M Rajendran delve into the long-held perspective of how teacher education in India has been shaped by the interplay of colonial legacies, and postcolonial nation-building. Their analyses present how teacher preparation has been simultaneously a struggle for professional identity and democratic responsibility. Subba’s analysis of recurring themes in teacher education history shows how debates around teacher professionalism, institutional autonomy, and the purpose of schooling have surfaced repeatedly in multiple forms at different points in time. Rajendran’s focus on policy discourses foregrounds the impact of privatization, commercialization, and regulatory mechanisms on the quality of teacher education. Together, these chapters situate contemporary policy developments within larger structural changes echoing Behari’s starting proposition that teacher education must be analysed in relation to political and economic realities.
These historical and policy deliberations are complemented by philosophical and psychological perspectives that reiterate the importance of foundational disciplines. Vikas Beniwal’s chapter on the teaching of philosophy of education in teacher education programmes underscores the critical issue of gradual erosion of philosophical inquiry in favour of technical methodologic courses. His analysis of curricular mapping shows that many Indian universities are superficially engaging with philosophical traditions, thereby neglecting the intellectual heritage of thinkers like Plato, Rousseau, Tagore and J Krishnamurti which can help prospective teachers to reflect on the aims of education and the ethical dimensions of teaching. By mapping the presence of philosophical schools of thought and key thinkers across university curricula, the chapter provides a grounding for debates that often remain unanswered. Toolika Wadhwa’s chapter on socio-emotional learning, meanwhile, roots for the psychological dimension by foregrounding the growing mental health crisis in schools. Her nomenclature of SEL as ‘the elephant in the classroom’ reiterates the need of rethinking teacher preparation not merely as cognitive training but as the cultivation of emotional literacy and competence drawing from the frameworks of positive psychology.
The book examines the socio-cultural dimensions of teaching especially related to the issues of diversity, marginalization, gender, and inclusion. Behari’s introductory remarks discuss the growing complexity of Indian classrooms, where socio-cultural identities intersect and influence learning outcomes. These themes recur further in other chapters like that of Ashu Kapoor and Sangeeta Singh. Kapoor’s chapter on preparing teachers for diversity and inclusion presents a strong case for repositioning teacher preparation through the lens of equity and social justice. She argues that diversity cannot be reduced to disability alone but must include children from marginalized social and culturally excluded communities. Singh’s chapter on gender takes forward this viewpoint by foregrounding the lived experiences of girls and gender-diverse individuals. She uses case stories to humanize and illustrate how cultural and institutional barriers shape the educational experiences of learners. These chapters highlight the need for teacher education programmes to enable prospective teachers to reflect on structural inequities and classroom biases and work towards inclusive institutions.
Another important theme of the book deliberates upon the emerging role of assessment in teacher education and school practice. Astha Saxena’s and Garima Bansal’s chapters on this issue call for rethinking assessment in teacher education. Saxena presents her case for a ‘pedagogy of assessment’, emphasizing that assessment must be woven into teaching-learning processes rather than used for mere evaluation. Bansal further reiterates the concept of ‘assessment literacy’—the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that teachers need to design, interpret, and use assessments effectively. These chapters underscore the need to position assessment as a reflective practice aligning with inquiry-based pedagogy.
Another set of chapters focuses on emergent issues of technology in teacher education. Diksha Kukreja’s sociological analysis of educational technology is critical at this juncture, especially when digitalization is often thought of as a solution to educational inequities. Her analysis explores the interests and ideological assumptions that underpin EdTech infrastructures, highlighting concerns around issues of access, surveillance and teacher-student relationships. Instead of rejecting technology altogether, she recommends a critically grounded engagement. Pinkal Chaudhary and Anwesha Mahankudo’s exploration of socio-scientific issues, further, brings contemporary understanding of science education into the ambit of teacher education discourse. Their chapter highlights the importance of SSI-based pedagogy in teacher preparation for cultivating critical reasoning, ethical reflection, and public engagement especially in the present times of over information, scientific controversies, and environmental crises.
Identity and beliefs which are two very important constructs in teacher development are examined by Chandan Shrivastava and Mani Bhasin Kalra. Shrivastava explores teacher identity as a psychosocial construct which is shaped by lived experiences, narratives and influenced by community relationships, and institutional cultures. His analysis of rural teachers’ identities underscores the importance of personal and social attributes in professional spaces. Kalra’s writing on teacher beliefs adds another layer to this by unpacking how teachers’ implicit and explicit beliefs influence their pedagogical decisions and institutional relationships. These chapters make a strong case for addressing the lived realities of teachers in teacher education for preparing reflective practitioners empowered to navigate diverse classrooms.
The final chapters focus on early childhood education and also extend the scope of the book beyond the Indian context and school-age learners. Angela Makin’s study of teacher educators in Belize presents an international comparison that highlights the universal nature of certain teacher education dilemmas such as aligning curricular goals with pedagogical practices. Suhasini Kanwar’s chapter on early childhood education is of particular significance in the context of India’s National Education Policy 2020, which places thrust on early childhood care and education. Her discussion of developmental trajectories, neuro research, and the complexities of preparing teachers for the foundational stages of learning underscores the importance of expanding teacher education beyond the primary and secondary levels.
All these chapters collectively promote the editor’s aim of deconstructing teacher education and its assumptions, tensions, limitations, and possibilities. The coherence of ideas emerges from a collective intellectual disposition and a shared vision that teacher education must be understood as a complex, layered, and socially situated enterprise. The diversity of topics mirrors the multifaceted nature of teacher education itself. The book compels the reader to think of teacher education as an evolving discourse and in doing so, it repositions it as a site of intellectual inquiry.
This deconstruction and repositioning have significant implications. Recognizing teacher education as a discipline demands intellectual rigour, theoretical depth, and sustained engagement in research. In positioning it as a perspective, reflexivity, ethical commitment, and sensitivity to context are much needed. The chapters in the book demonstrate that teacher preparation is not merely a matter of skilling but of cultivating ways of seeing, interpreting, and acting within complex educational worlds. Such a view challenges the notion that teacher education can be compressed into short-term training courses or can be done through decontextualized online platforms.
Finally, this edited volume contributes to an ongoing process of reimagining teacher education in India across various academic circles. It encourages the field to embrace its interdisciplinary heritage, to question its own assumptions, to address diversity and to recognize teacher educators as knowledge generators. The future of teacher education lies in teachers who are intellectually grounded, ethically attuned, socially responsive, and pedagogically imaginative. In this sense, Deconstructing Teacher Education in Contemporary Times not only describes the contemporary landscape of teacher education but also paves the way for a promising field of inquiry.
Kalyani Akalamkam is Professor, Education, Lady Shri Ram College for Women, University of Delhi, Delhi.