In Search of the Distinctive Contributions of the Social Foundations of Education to the Preparation of Teachers.

Design flaws in the curricula of some teacher education programs prevent prospective teachers from encountering empowering opportunities necessary to acquire alternative perspectives about planning for classroom instruction. This paper looks at ways to cope with the failure to recognize the importance of alternative perspectives by: (1) analyzing a publication titled "The STANDARDS for Academic and Professional Instruction in Foundations of Education, Educational Studies, and Educational Policy Studies" from the Council of Learned Societies in Education (CLSE Standards); (2) analyzing the draft position paper of the American Educational Studies Association (AESA) Committee on Academic Standards and Accreditation titled "Toward a New Consensus among Social Foundations Educators" (TNC); and (3) suggesting five actions for AESA to consider as it searches for the distinctive contributions of social foundations of education (SFE) to the preparation of teachers. The five suggestions pertain to the CLSE Standards, the political and scholarly activity required of foundations scholars, the name used to label SFE, a potential AESA project (a reference book with common information on SFE), and the importance of the construction and distribution of a position paper about the means and ends of SFE instruction. (SM)