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Article Title:
Raging Controversies in Teacher Education in Africa: The Question of Who Should Be the Prospective Teacher, Who Should Prepare Them and How Should They Be Prepared
by Patrick Acleus Kafu

Abstract:
Teacher education as a programme of education is critical in the development and management of education and the general development in the society. It is the creator and custodian of the culture of the society. The origin and existence of this programme can be traced from the ancient times, and in the case of Africa, the formal Teacher education programme can be traced from the colonial era. The need for this programme in the development of a society cannot be over-emphasized and, perhaps, this explains why, for a long time it was revered, highly respected, recognized, cherished and reserved for the selected few in the society. But with time, this special image has drastically changed. The emerging and rapid developments both in education and the society have tended to raise hereon unimaginable issues concerning this programme of education. In effect, these emerging issues seem to compromise the image of this special program. This paper, focusing on the issue on who should be a prospective teacher to-day, who should prepare such a teacher and how should such teacher be prepared; examines the origin/genesis of this controversy, the impact of this development on the image of the programme and its importance on the development and management of this programme in Africa. At this stage, there are two intriguing questions. Who are questioning the management of the Teacher education programme and are they professionals in Teacher education? These two professional questions are the thrust of the discussion in this paper. This discussion will not only unlock the unnecessary controversies in the Teacher education programme but also create new frontiers in this discipline.

Keywords: teacher education, controversy, professionals, African.

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