Teachers in the US have historically served affective roles of uplift and civic engagement (Fultz, 1995; Gere, 2005), but reforms in the last century privileged technical aspects of the profession (Buchanan, 2015). The COVID-19 crisis, which shifted learning online and isolated students, revealed the limitations of a technical focus in teacher…

This article discusses the author's experience as President of the California Council on Teacher Education (CCTE), beginning in the Spring of 2014. The author established a personal goal to improve the relationship with members by reaching out and hearing their concerns. A membership survey was created and administered to members, delegates, and…

James Cantor, a professor in the College of Education at California State University, describes his history with the California Council on Teacher Education (CCTE or Cal Council) before becoming the President of the CCTE in 2008. He served as an active member for 10 years prior to becoming the Cal Council President. The author shares the…

The purpose of this article is to inform educators (general educators, special educators, teacher educators, and administrators) about ways to teach, advocate for, and empower students with disabilities who are also engaged in the foster care system. The conclusion includes authors' suggestions for how teacher educators might incorporate the…

The author was deeply honored to be asked to write something about his time of active involvement in the world of teacher education in California. In 2002, he left the field of education for a career that paid less and had a more uncertain future than teaching. Therefore he is not current with public policy or teacher education research issues.…

As president of the California Council on Teacher Education from 1994-1996, teacher educator Grace Grant reflects on the first conference she attended of the then California Council on the Education of Teachers in 1976 at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park. The keynote speaker was Gary Fenstermacher, the then-director of teacher…

Effectively engaging students in mathematics discourse is challenging, especially in a language other than the one in which you learned mathematics. Teachers must manage the academic as well as social function of language. In Spanish-English bilingual classrooms in the U.S., changing the language of instruction to Spanish may not be enough to…

This article follows one year in the life of one of the authors of this article, Eto--the year she was a graduate student in the M.Ed. program and concurrently was teaching in a second grade elementary school. Addressing her subjective emergence along the intertwining experiences in two different contexts: it explores her conversations with her…

The purpose of this article is to identify some issues related to ethical and moral dispositions in teacher education programs. My intent is to provide a starting point for gaining a professional consensus on the ways that teacher educators approach the definition, assessment, and development of dispositions in their teacher education programs. To…

Gerald Brunetti served as President of the California Council on the Education of Teachers (Cal Council or CCET) from 1992 to 1994. This article describes the author's involvement with the CCET beginning in 1979, and covers the details of accomplishments throughout his presidency, such as the development of "CCNews," mail balloting, and…

Learning to teach is a complex intellectual and adaptive performance act. Student engagement is the cornerstone of effective instruction. Current education reform policies, such as Common Core State Standards (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010) and Teacher Effectiveness…

The survival and prosperity of the California Council on the Education of Teachers/California Council on Teacher Education (CCET/CCTE) over its 70 years of existence is remarkable, especially given the historic roller coaster of educational policy and practice in the United States--the ups and downs of school financing, in addition to the ins and…

It was a great honor and privilege for the author to have served as President of the California Council on Teacher Education (CCTE) between 2010 and 2012, as part of a six-year term of office. As an active member of CCTE for more than a decade before, during her early years as a tenure-line faculty member at Loyola Marymount University, she always…

From 1998-2000, Carol Bartell served as President of the California Council on the Education of Teachers. However, election to office in this organization is generally a six-year commitment, because an individual will serve for two years as President Elect, two years as President, and two more as Past President. In this article, she expresses that…

This article describes the author's experience as President of the California Council on Teacher Education (CCTE) from 2004-2006, which began under difficult conditions due to her daughter's terminal illness. The author shares her story of how the organization supported her during this difficult time, which she feels is representative of the…