Evan Illich Philosopher

Write a critical evaluation of Britzman’s analysis of teacher education in Practice makes Practice.
Britzman tells us that student teacher’s begin their teaching journey by constructing their own identity. Student teachers begin by making sense of their position. They try to find their niche in the teacher’s world whilst fitting in all the necessary ideals associated with the teacher. The first phase in learning to teach is difficult and places the student’s in a vulnerable position whereby they must begin to construct their identity as a teacher and examine what it means to them on a personal level and how they are uniquely a teacher. Below, I will provide a critique of teacher education as outlined by Britzman.
In relation to teacher education Britzman talks about what are known as cultural myths. In the case of student teachers, these myths ‘structure a particular discourse about power, authority and knowledge that heightens individual effort as it trivializes school structure and the agency of students’. Britzman explains that these cultural myths interfere with how student teachers form their identity and eventually ignore their own desires for change. Student teachers are influenced by cultural myths as it forms the basis for ‘describing who they might become and what they should desire’. According to Britzman there are three cultural myths. These are everything depends on the teacher, the teacher is the expert and thirdly teachers are self made.
I will begin with the first myth which is everything depends on the teacher. Britzman states that both teachers and students understand that there are two rules outlining the cultural tensions of life in compulsory education. These rules state that ‘unless the teacher establishes control, there will be no learning; and if the teacher does not control the students, the students will control the teacher’. This statement by Britzman is indeed true and is something that student teachers starting out fight to gain. When students first walk into a classroom their first intention is to gain control of and respect from their class. Without this control, a power struggle will ensure which alienates the teacher from their class and decreases the chance of learning taking place. In her analysis Britzman explains that two student teachers called Jack and Jamie believe that they must accomplish the ability to be make premonitions regarding negative behaviour in the class and be able to respond to whatever is brought up in the class. These abilities are related to the teacher’s ability to anticipate and contain the unknown. From my own experiences thus far, I believe this to be an important element of teaching as teaching can bring us to many different topics and we need to be prepared for all eventualities. The problem associated with this however is that the teacher must devalue their own power in order to engage with children in unknown territories, something that student teachers may initially struggle with. The belief that everything depends on the teacher may cause students to devalue their ability as they may blame themselves if something goes wrong in the class instead of reflecting upon the situation itself.
The second cultural myth is that the teacher is the expert. This myth in my opinion is particularly related to the outsider’s view of teachers especially the children themselves. We only need to cast our minds back to our own opinions of teachers at school to realise the high regard with which we associate teachers and their vast knowledge. Children will always believe that their teacher will always have the answer to every question, but as teachers will know this is not always the case. This is a fear that students teachers will encounter as they begin their career. Britzman believes that there are two fears surrounding this that are merged into one. These being ‘knowing how to teach and knowing everything there is to know about the material’. This fear can lead student teachers to look to teaching methods as the source rather than the effect of pedagogy. Student teachers take the notion that teaching methods can be applied easily and successfully and do so without thinking of the pedagogy. The second fear refers to the teachers worry that they will not have the necessary knowledge they need to teach a subject and will be unable to answer a child’s question. This identity as a teacher as having a limitless supply of knowledge is problematic as it places undue worry and stress on student teachers who are yet to create their own identity as a teacher. The idea of the teacher as an expert and being knowledgeable on all matters can become an indicator of competency in their field, and for student teachers a perceived lack of knowledge thus leading to a perceived lack of competency can foster self doubt and lack of self belief.
The third and last cultural myth is that teachers are self made. This idea supports the notion that teachers are ‘born’ into this profession. It engages the idea of the natural teacher. Someone Britzman says possesses ‘talent, intuition, and commons sense’. This myth devalues completely the attempt to provide teacher education. If some teachers are simply born to work in this profession, then why is there the need to provide teacher education? This myth ignores the teaching methods and pedagogies that student teachers need to learn, they are not something that a person can be born knowing. In the words of a student teacher, ‘teaching is something that I’m going to learn how to do myself’. This quote supports the idea that we need to learn how to teach, we must reflect on our experiences, learn from our mistakes and apply the knowledge we have gained at teacher education into our teaching. Learning to teach and becoming a competent teacher is something that we need to strive and work for, it will not happen overnight and is certainly not something we are simply born to do. I believe that people have certain characteristics and traits that adhere to teaching but these will then be honed and perfected upon during teacher training.
Teaching certainly is a job done with your heart and personality, but nobody is a "born teacher". Let me explain why: if we believe in fixed abilities/talents/qualities we are stuck in a stagnant mode, because it implies the "born teacher" be perfect in her/his profession, and no additional learning needed. On the contrary, there is probably no other profession where growth mindset is as important as in teaching, which basically is work done by interactions between the teacher and students, and truly helping students learn. These learning facilitation skills can be learned, but I do agree that some teachers learn them more easily than others. Reflective practice and adjusting your teaching upon your daily observations (and self-observations) in the class makes a teacher become more effective than a "born teacher" could ever be. Understanding the dynamic nature of knowledge is essential for a 21st century teacher

In conclusion, we can see that there are certain myths that student teachers will bring with them to teacher education. However, during this process these myths will be examined and re-evaluated leading the student to create their own teacher identity and ignore many of the preconceptions they had about the teaching profession.