Teacher education in a financial crisis – what are the consequences and how can probity be maintained? Education, like most other parts of everyday life, is experiencing the challenges brought about by global financial constrictions. This book presents the experiences and views of practising teacher educators from multiple countries and continents on how the melt-down in world economics has affected and will continue to affect teacher education and concomitant experiences in schooling. The ramifications are seen to extend into every aspect of teacher preparation, continuing staff development and teacher support, and there are significant implications for the quality of teaching and learning, and the ethos and standing of the process of education as a whole. Drawing on educational theory and social, political, and economic discourses, the book addresses issues such as policy, philosophy, organisation, funding, resources, modes of teaching and learning, curricular change, recruitment and retention, amongst others, and provides a snap-shot across diverse contexts. It aims to provide an evaluative, analytical but reflective picture of teacher education in the light of the world economic crisis, whilst exploring good practice and suggesting future strategies to develop the quality of teacher education and professional support, teaching and learning. The volume provides an insight into the need for a new paradigm for teacher education: one that involves teacher educators in devising a discourse of positive and radical change. It will be a valuable resource for teacher educators, educational leaders, policy makers, educational commentators and teachers seeking to engage with the scholarship of teaching as a means to engage in continuous professional development.

Why is teacher education policy significant - politically, sociologically and educationally? While the importance of practice in teacher education has long been recognised, the significance of policy has only been fully appreciated more recently. Teacher education in times of change offers a critical examination of teacher education policy in the UK and Ireland over the past three decades, since the first intervention of government in the curriculum. Written by a research group from five countries, it makes international comparisons, and covers broader developments in professional learning, to place these key issues and lessons in a wider context.

This book documents and critiques the historical origins and historiography of schooling and teacher preparation in New Zealand. The country has a unique educational history, as the overview of the history and development of schools for the nation's children, both Pakeha (European) and Maori, will highlight.

Exploring the development of educational provision and contemporary issues, this book covers the countries that made up the European Union from its foundation to the signing of the Treaty of Nice: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and The Netherlands. The chapters, written by regional experts, offer a review of contemporary national and regional educational structures and policies, research innovation and trends, as well as covering selected issues and problems including the effects of educational reform and systemic changes within the school and university systems, minority languages, and intercultural changes for indigenous and new immigrant populations.

Representing a diverse range of academic perspectives from various disciplines to provoke original thinking, engage critical analysis, and fuel the desire to improve education, this book is for those readers with a genuine interest in quality education and supporting technology. One often hears the words “Enhanced”, “Learning Environments”, “Technology”, and “Innovation” liberally applied in conversations with an assumption that their inclusion automatically improves the quality of education. This book looks beyond mere buzzwords for the ground truth in how education, technology, and innovation can enhance theory and practice in pedagogy and andragogy. It begins with a philosophical criticism about education and technology to remind us of our responsibility to teach purposefully, before discussing entrepreneurial thinking regarding education. The book then makes a strong case for how technology can impact life-saving educational training, and discusses immersive virtual reality learning environments for exploring the essential design components from the perspective of instructional designers and subject experts. It also examines how state-of-the-art Hollywood technology is now accessible to all and discusses the impact this may have on education. The book concludes with an analysis of the implications of the metaverse concept for a pioneering new frontier in future-focused enhanced learning environments.

The tools used in data collection have the ability to influence the ways information is perceived and generated. Analyzing research processes is a concept that can be overlooked, though is as important as the information itself. Methods and Paradigms in Education Research addresses the innovative formulaic approaches taken in research to challenge their effectiveness. Featuring coverage on selection, forms, and analytical procedures of data, this publication is essential for researchers, students, and academicians seeking current information on understanding research methodology.

The International Handbook of Research in Professional and Practice-based Learning discusses what constitutes professionalism, examines the concepts and practices of professional and practice-based learning, including associated research traditions and educational provisions. It also explores professional learning in institutions of higher and vocational education as well the practice settings where professionals work and learn, focusing on both initial and ongoing development and how that learning is assessed. The Handbook features research from expert contributors in education, studies of the professions, and accounts of research methodologies from a range of informing disciplines. It is organized in two parts. The first part sets out conceptions of professionalism at work, how professions, work and learning can be understood, and examines the kinds of institutional practices organized for developing occupational capacities. The second part focuses on procedural issues associated with learning for and through professional practice, and how assessment of professional capacities might progress. The key premise of this Handbook is that during both initial and ongoing professional development, individual learning processes are influenced and shaped through their professional environment and practices. Moreover, in turn, the practice and processes of learning through practice are shaped by their development, all of which are required to be understood through a range of research orientations, methods and findings. This Handbook will appeal to academics working in fields of professional practice, including those who are concerned about developing these capacities in their students. In addition, students and research students will also find this Handbook a key reference resource to the field.