Habits and the Education of Teachers in Challenging Times

: In this chapter, Heilbronn argues that Dewey’s discussion of habit in Human Nature and Conduct is pertinent to the formation of preservice teachers. The chapter shows how Dewey’s discussion, taken alongside his works in which he is specifically talking about teaching, can guide us toward necessary principles that should underlie the education of teachers. Such principles are particularly important to counteract the way in which teachers’ critical reflection and deliberation are devalued in teacher education in many parts of the world today. These contexts serve to deprofessionalize teachers. Heilbronn discusses one such context, namely England’s current teacher preparation program, to illustrate this point in the final section of the chapter. Heilbronn contrasts the case of England with the Deweyan vision of teacher education. The chapter points out how Dewey’s vision is relevant today; it can serve as a foundation for a reconstructed teacher education grounded in the idea of teaching as an art within contingent situations that require responsiveness to learners.