Michael Gove's plans to move initial teacher education to schools is misguided at best ("Our children will suffer if their teachers are trained on the job", Comment). Schools have an important role in teacher education which is why two-thirds of a secondary and half of a primary teacher training course take place in schools. Professionalism means not just knowing how to do something, but understanding why you do it that way; this is where the "theory" comes in. Mr Gove seems to forget that those he trusts to do the job of teacher training better than the current university/school came through that very system. Mr Gove highlights the Finnish system as an example and selectively picks one aspect – the training school. He should look carefully at how the system works: teacher education in Finland is embedded in universities and, as a minimum, takes two years As it is, our schools do a fantastic job with trainees on placement and the link between schools and universities is already strong . The notion of training schools is neither revolutionary, nor innovative – they already exist. Michael Gove seems intent on destroying what Ofsted rates as excellent provision for no good reason. James D Williams Lead science tutor University of Sussex In Mr Gove's new model, a few "outstanding" schools may well dominate the system, collecting public money and (perhaps) purchasing some services from universities on an ad hoc basis. What Francis Gilbert does not mention, however, is that Gove's plans are simultaneously dismantling the funding streams the previous government put into the continuing development of teachers through substantial postgraduate professional development funding that enabled thousands of teachers to study part-time for higher degrees. The danger of these moves is that teacher education may be rendered as work-based training. In one sense, Francis Gilbert makes a similar mistake to the current education secretary in assuming it is possible to "train" a teacher. The training model assumes teaching is a craft to be mastered given the acquisition of knowledge and skills developed through one or two school placements. In fact, pedagogy, learning and the work of the teacher are complex, situated and transient and thus elusive. Training is simply not enough. Dr Tony Rea Head of continuing professional development, Faculty of Education, Health and Social Care University of Winchester Higher education institutions will continue to make a significant and important contribution to teacher training. But we want schools to play a leading role in teacher training as well. As employers, they should have a greater responsibility for recruitment, the provision of quality placements and the development of content for training. Our top graduates on the Teach First programme spend most of their time in schools learning from those already teaching, while also benefiting from high-quality input from partner universities. The best education systems in the world put a premium on practical experience for trainee teachers and we will do the same. Nick Gibb Schools minister Department for Education London SW1 I was a teacher in the 1970s. I had no teacher-training at all. I got the job on the strength of my experience as a teacher at universities in Brazil. People warned me that I was unprepared for keeping discipline in a roomful of teenagers. How right they were. I thought that if I treated the pupils respectfully and knew my subject, I would be a successful teacher. I was disgusted and horrified when the pupils shouted and swore at me and threw chalk at me in the classroom and stones in the playground. I was a victim of professional neglect on the part of the authorities who should have been working to uphold decent standards of behaviour. Name and address supplied Powerful letters showed the harm that our government is about to do to the training of teachers ("Michael Gove's plan to put the onus on schools is misguided", Big Issue). While Andrew Lansley is noisily dismantling the National Health Service and attracting much deserved anger, Gove is quietly doing likewise to the English education system. His academies and free schools, being independent of local authorities, trammel the duty of these authorities to ensure that children in their areas receive an appropriate education and reduce the funding available for supporting children with special educational needs. His bungled assault on the previous government's Building Schools for the Future has meant that many children continue to be taught in grossly inadequate buildings. His equally bungled assault on education maintenance allowances means that several hundred thousand youngsters will receive no support . He has made an 80% cut in funding to schools' sports partnerships and now he wants to move teacher training out of universities and into chosen schools. It looks like another blunder by ministers who do not understand the symbiosis that exists between schools and teacher trainers/educational researchers in the universities. Michael Bassey (emeritus professor)
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