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This article reviews the current state and issues of teacher education in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Particularly, it focuses on the role that teacher education and more specifically sociology of education have played in addressing disparity in educational outcomes based on 'race'/ethnicity, language, and socio-economic status. I identify, as one of the central issues with Australian teacher education's effort to rectify social inequity through education, the relative lack of effort to bridge the disciplinary boundaries between those who teach and research curricular methods and those who teach and research social justice issues in education. I use the discussion of this Australian case as a point of reflection for rethinking Japanese teacher education and curricular research in general. In conclusion, I call for more effort on the part of curricular researchers and sociology of education researchers to bridge the existing disciplinary boundaries that have undermined the effectiveness of educational research community and teacher education programs in addressing disparity in educational outcomes. |
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