Field-Based/Competency-Based Teacher Education (FB/CBTE)

Prior to 1973, general and vocational professional education courses were offered during the evening in a traditional classroom format at Temple University. In 1973, a field-based, competency-based teacher education (FB/CBTE) program was initiated as an alternative to the traditional program. The FB/CBTE program took vocational teacher education off campus and into local schools. Ten years earlier, in 1963, the Carl Perkins Vocational Education Act and the subsequent vocational education amendments of 1968 provided substantial federal funding for the construction of area vocational-technical schools (AVTS). This action resulted in a boom in secondary vocational enrollments and an influx of skilled craftsmen who were hired to teach students but who had little or no training in pedagogical skills.

To meet the general education and pedagogical needs of the newly recruited vocational teachers, Pennsylvania instituted professional development centers. Since the fall semester of 1973, Temple University has operated the field-based, competency-based teacher education program in eastern Pennsylvania. Initially designed to serve beginning teachers, the program was later expanded to help continuing vocational teachers acquire the Level II vocational instructional certificate. The majority of certified vocational instructional teachers in the eastern region of Pennsylvania have been prepared via this outreach program.

The FB/CBTE program comprises the following three components: