Who will teach the children?

In this book, Harriet Tyson fixes a shrewd, unblinking, nonconformist eye on what is wrong and right with teacher education in America.

The popular wisdom is that teachers don't know their subject matter because they take too many foolish education courses instead of studying real subject matter. Tyson debunks that common notion, showing that the kind of "knowing" that future teachers need in order to transmit their knowledge to students is all too often not transmitted to teachers in their own undergraduate education.

Tyson shows that in the most successful colleges, teachers-in-training learn how to convey knowledge to students while they themselves are acquiring that knowledge. The best teacher training is an energetic synthesis of content and pedagogy, and of theory and practice, throughout college and beyond certification.

. The heart of Tyson's book is her report on five schools of education and one state system noted for serious attempts at reform. Tyson's report details the barricades to reform thrown up by institutions, teacher unions, government bodies, politicians, and society - all of which must be overcome if good teacher education and its benefits for students are to become universal.