This book provides commentary on the influence of multi-layered political contexts that surround the work of teacher educators worldwide. It addresses the drawbacks of the massification, standards-based movements and marketisation of universal business that threaten authenticity, innovation and entrepreneurship within teacher education on a global scale. The chapters celebrate the richly described local stories that explore the often tacit political activity that underpins teacher educators’ work. The book highlights the commitment of both teachers and teacher educators to social justice, and human rights and critical consciousness as central to the process of teacher development. Teacher formation, teacher education policies and curriculum development in an era of globalisation, super-diversity and the positioning of Indigenous populations, and national regulation and localisation are topics that are explored in this book.

This book discusses the perspectives and practices of teacher education programs in order to shed new light on the national priorities, policies, curriculum inputs, delivery mechanisms, challenges and future trends in 20 selected countries. It examines and compares the complexity of teacher education in international contexts, providing insights into educational change and reform in emerging democracies. Further, it includes cases from various countries that reflect how the profession is moving forward. In order to deepen readers’ understanding of teacher training and the challenges posed by globalization, the book concludes with a discussion of theoretical perspectives applied to teacher education, and with recommendations for new directions. Given its scope, the book is an essential read for teacher educators, students, and researchers working in the field of education.

Education policymakers often demonstrate surprisingly little awareness of how popular reforms impact teaching and teacher education. In this book, well-regarded scholars help readers develop a more robust understanding of the nature of teacher preparation, as well as an in-depth grasp of how popular policies, practices, and ideologies have taken root domestically and internationally. Contributors include Deron Boyles, Anthony Cody, Kerry Kretchmar, Carmen Montecinos, Beth Sondel, and Christopher Tienken. “This book will help readers consider the possibilities of democratic visions in the teaching profession and in public education, particularly in this time of intense political polarization when critical citizen engagement with our public institutions and policies is deeply needed.” —Janelle Scott, University of California, Berkeley “The chapters in this book make clear that ongoing policy disconnects cannot be ignored and that now is the time to elevate the teaching profession for students who have faced historical inequities.” —Julian Vasquez Heilig, dean, University of Kentucky College of Education “Public teaching and teacher education in the U.S. and in many other parts of the world are under assault by concerted efforts to deregulate and marketize them. This collection of essays examines the consequences of these privatization efforts in the U.S., Chile, and Singapore and should be required reading for those wanting to understand their complexity and consequences for teaching and teacher education today.” —Ken Zeichner, Boeing Professor of Teacher Education, University of Washington

This book introduces a state-of-the-art model for second/foreign language language teacher education ─ Knowing, Analyzing, Recognizing, Doing, and Seeing (KARDS). Its goal is to develop prospective and practicing teachers into strategic thinkers, exploratory researchers, and transformative teachers.

Teacher education in times of change offers a critical examination of teacher education policy in the UK and Ireland over the past three decades. 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.

We live in dangerous times when educational policies and practices are debated largely in terms of how they fit with the needs of the free market. This volume is a collection of writing by teacher-educators that draws on their unique biographies, experiences and perspectives to denounce these misguided norms. It explores what it means—practically and intellectually—to teach for social justice in conservative times. In a globalised world where the power of capital holds sway, the purposes of social institutions such as universities and schools is being refashioned in ways that are markedly instrumental and technicist in nature. The consequence is that teachers’ work is increasingly constrained by regimes of control such as standardised testing, accountability, transparency, and national curricula. In the meantime, large numbers of students and teachers are disengaging physically, emotionally and intellectually from learning. The contributors to this edited volume present both a powerful critique of these developments and a counter-hegemonic vision of teacher education founded on the principles and values of social justice, democracy and critical inquiry. Teacher education, they argue, involves a commitment to critical intellectual work that subjects some deeply entrenched assumptions, beliefs, habits, routines and practices to closer scrutiny. The contributing authors expose how ideology and power operate in seemingly blameless, rational ways to perpetuate social hierarchies based on class, gender, sexuality, race and culture.

This book focuses on current trends, potential challenges and further developments of teacher education and professional development from a theoretical, empirical and practical point of view. It intends to provide valuable and fresh insights from research studies and examples of best practices from Europe and all over the world. The authors deal with the strengths and limitations of different models, strategies, approaches and policies related to teacher education and professional development in and for changing times (digitization, multiculturalism, pressure to perform).