RICHARDS, J. C. Beyond training: perspectives on language teacher education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998

Abstract

As the title suggests, Beyond Training is a book that aims at offering a new perspective on Teacher Education. The core of Second Language Teacher Education is examined here, but also some models are criticized while different solutions and practices are presented, making this book a real guide for Education professionals. The book has an opening chapter which consists of a summary about the next sections. Part I, Theories o f second language teaching contains chapters 2 and 3; part II, Perspectives on teacher thinking is composed of chapters 4 to 6; part III, Examining teacher education practices includes chapters 7,8 and 9 and part IV, Entering the field o f language teaching contains chapter 10, the last one of the book. In chapter 1 The scope o f second language teacher education, the author discusses the six domains of second language teacher education (SLTE). These dimensions of teaching are: theories of teaching, teaching and communication skills, subject matter knowledge, pedagogical reasoning, decision making and contextual knowledge. This chapter is also a summary of the whole book, It contains the main aspects of teaching that the author sees as the core of SLTE. In chapter 2, Theories of teaching in language teacher education, the main theories of teaching are analyzed, some of them are: science-research conceptions, theoiy-philosophy conceptions and art-craft models of teaching. According to the author, these theories are important in SLTE if they can be used as tools that might lead to reflection, helping the future teachers to identify the theories that best fit their own teaching and that are implicit in their beliefs and practices. Chapter 3, Teachers ' maxims, emphasizes the importance of listening to what teachers have to say about their classroom practices. Teaching maxims influence not only the way teachers perceive their activity but also the way they behave and make decisions during their classes. Through these implicit theories of teaching, teachers understand and interpret their work and, through their "maxims", this process can be better understood.