Introduction to Teaching: Becoming a Professional, 8th edition

Published by Pearson (June 17, 2026) © 2027
  • Don Kauchak
  • Paul Eggen

Title overview

For introductory teaching courses.

An interactive, case-based approach

Introduction to Teaching: Becoming a Professional helps beginning education students make informed decisions about becoming a teacher; it provides a realistic and current picture of the evolving face of education. Issues in reform, professionalism, and urban education are emphasized throughout.

The 8th Edition increases focus on the human dimension of teaching and on professionalism. It explores how teachers can increase their knowledge, contribute to students’ mental health and well-being, improve teaching effectiveness, utilize technology, and thrive in their first year of teaching. Case studies and vignettes are revised and updated throughout, and a wealth of new topics have been added.

Hallmark features of this title

  • A case-based approach immerses readers in real teaching. Each chapter begins with a case study that provides a framework for the discussions that follow.
  • Reform, professionalism, urban education, and technology themes are integrated throughout the book.
  • Applied features promote personal decisions about the teaching profession.
    • What I Believe features in every chapter ask students to assess their own beliefs about critical issues.
    • Teaching and You features are interspersed throughout, posing teaching theories and asking readers how they would apply them in their future teaching careers.
    • Issues You'll Face in Teaching features present the pros and cons of different educational reforms and ask readers to respond.

New and updated features of this title

  • Greater emphasis on the human dimension of teaching explores teaching as a social process between learners and caring teachers who are invested in their students’ overall well-being. The theme is integrated throughout, and with more detail in the chapters on Social-Emotional Learning, Culturally Responsive Classroom Management, and Teacher Beliefs and Interactions with Students.
  • New and updated cases and vignettes (with 115 total) illustrate how the text applies content to schools, classrooms and students.
  • New topics throughout include expanded discussion of COVID-19's impact on teaching and learning; student absenteeism; the war on poverty; changes in school governance; class size; and many others.
  • Substantially revised Chapter 9 (now titled School Curriculum: Defining Yourself as a Professional) is reorganized and delves into topics such as No Child Left Behind, the ESSA Act, Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), curriculum controversies in the classroom, and much more.
  • A new Chapter 12: Technology in Today’s Schools: The Past, Present, and Future provides a comprehensive overview of technology and its ever-growing presence and influence on teaching today.
  • A new Chapter 13: Entering the Profession of Teaching: Planning for a Successful First Year helps prepare students for the potential “culture shock” when they transition from students themselves to teachers, and to prepare for a successful professional career.

Key features

Features of Pearson+ eTextbook for the 8th Edition

  • New Video Examples (65 total) illustrate principles and concepts. These embedded videos depict educational principle sor concepts in action, most often showing students and teachers working in classrooms.
  • New Interactive Glossary: All key terms in the eTextbook are boldfaced and provide instant access to full glossary definitions, allowing students to quickly build a professional vocabulary as they read.
  • New LMS-Compatible Assessment Bank: All quizzes, application exercises, and chapter tests are included in LMS-compatible banks for Blackboard, Canvas, D2L, and Moodle. These packaged files give instructors maximum flexibility for importing, assigning, and grading. Assessment types include:
    • Chapter Quizzes aligned to the text’s Learning Objectives: Higher-order, multiple-choice questions in each quiz also provide correct answers and distractors, and explain why each response is correct or incorrect.
    • Application Exercises that enable students to apply what they have learned in the classroom. The 8th Edition features 40 short-answer Application Exercises, most video based; a model response written by the authors helps guide learning.
    • Chapter Tests are completely revised for the 8th Edition and provide full chapter content coverage. All multiple-choice and essay items are grouped under the chapters’ main headings and are balanced between knowledge/recall items and those that require application and analysis. Feedback is provided for all essay items, providing clear explanations for correct answers.

Table of contents

  1. Do I Want to Be a Teacher?
  2. Changes in American Society: Their Influence on Our Students
  3. Student Diversity: Culture, Language, Gender, and Exceptionalities
  4. Education in the United States: Its Historical Roots
  5. Educational Philosophy and Your Teaching
  6. Governance and Finance: Regulating and Funding Schools
  7. School Law: Ethical and Legal Influences on Teaching
  8. Choosing the Right School
  9. School Curriculum: Defining Yourself as a Professional
  10. Classroom Management: Creating Productive Learning Environments
  11. Becoming an Effective Teacher: Reaching All Students
  12. Technology in Today’s Schools: The Past, Present, and Future
  13. Entering the Profession of Teaching: Planning for a Successful First Year

Author bios

About our authors

Don Kauchak has taught and worked in schools in 9 different states and in higher education for 40 years. He has published in several scholarly journals, including the Journal of Educational Research, Journal of Teacher Education, Teaching and Teacher Education, Phi Delta Kappan, and Educational Leadership. In addition to this text, he has coauthored or coedited 6 other books on education. He has also been a principal investigator on federal and state grants examining teacher development and evaluation practices and presents regularly at the American Educational Research Association. Don strongly believes in the contribution that public schools make to our democracy, and his 2 children benefited greatly from their experiences in state-supported K to 12 schools and public institutions of higher education.

Paul Eggen has worked in higher education for 35 years. In addition to his duties there, he spends a great deal of time working as a consultant to public schools in his university's service area, and he has provided support to teachers in 12 different states. Paul has also worked with teachers in international schools in 23 countries around the world, including schools in Africa, South Asia, the Middle East, Central America, South America, Europe and Japan. He has several articles published in national journals, is the coauthor or coeditor of 6 books in addition to this one and is a frequent presenter at national and international conferences. Paul is strongly committed to public education. His wife is a middle school teacher in a public school, and his 2 children are graduates of public schools and state-supported universities.

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