These papers, presented at the 1981 World Assembly of the International Council of Education for Teaching, describe the methods and status of teacher education programs in the United States, Australia, Ireland, and Malaysia. The first paper, "The Preparation of Educational Personnel for Basic Education," by Robert L. Egbert, introduces the theories of John Dewey and reviews the status of teacher education in the United States as a basis for a suggested teacher education curriculum emphasizing basic skills teaching. M.E. Dunkley describes, in "The Role of Inservice Education in Promoting Educational Change in Australia," the strengths and weaknesses of recent Australian inservice teacher education programs. In "Preparing Teachers for Basic Education in Ireland," Desmond Swan discusses problems of providing effective training in a developing nation, with references to the basic education program in Egypt. The teacher education system in Malaysia is outlined in "Innovations in Teacher Education in Malaysia," by Datn Hafsah Haji Nasir, focusing on the education and training of nongraduate teachers for primary and lower secondary schools. (FG)