With chapter contributions from seminal scholars in the field of comparative and international education (CIE), this book examines the ways in which comparative education is being taught, or advocated for, in teacher education within higher education institutions worldwide. A particular concern raised by the authors - in locations as diverse as Germany, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States - is the utilitarian approach in teacher education, where that which is valued is that which is measurable. The implications for what and how CIE should be taught is examined in light of the ideological, sociocultural, political, and economic trends influencing education worldwide. The main questions posed in the book include: What are the challenges and opportunities for CIE, and its practice, now and in the future?

In the English-speaking world, university Schools of Education are usually heavily involved in the professional preparation of teachers. Yet, in England and the USA in particular, the role of universities in teacher education has increasingly seemed under threat as alternative providers of training have come on the scene, often with the overt encouragement of governments. This book, which is based on a project that explored how the study of Education is configured in different countries, makes visible the different knowledge traditions that inform university teaching and research in Education around the world. The extent to which these are related to the training of teachers is shown to vary historically and comparatively. The book consists of a substantial introduction by the editors, which identifies 12 major knowledge traditions in the study of education, and classifies these as Academic Knowledge Traditions (such as Sciences de l’Éducation), Practical Knowledge Traditions (like that practised in Normal Colleges) and Integrated Knowledge Traditions (including the currently fashionable concept of Research-informed Clinical Practice). This introduction is followed by contributions on the nature of Education as a field of study in six countries – Australia, China, France, Germany, Latvia and the USA – authored by established experts from each of those jurisdictions. There are also chapters that provide useful conceptual frameworks for understanding the dimensions on which the various traditions in the study of Education differ, as well as those that compare the nature of Education along specific dimensions in different countries. The book concludes with a discussion, in the light of these contributions, of future prospects for the field of Education. The book will appeal to students, teachers and researchers in Education and is intended to encourage less parochial thinking about the nature of Education as a field of international study.

The foundation of the first international schools of the modern era well over a century ago, and their burgeoning growth over recent years, provides the context in this book for a series of personal perspectives written by some of those who have been involved centrally in their development. As the schools themselves have increased not only in number and geographical distribution but also in diversity of style and ownership, so have a range of complex issues arisen relating to their fundamental purposes, the curricula that they choose (what should be taught and what should be learned), the nature of their organization (including leadership and management), and their potential contributions in responding to a perceived global need and in influencing the promotion of international education in national systems of schools. The distinguished group of authors contributing to this volume identify the current issues surrounding the rapid evolution of international schools and likely future directions of development, based on their own impressive personal and professional experience of the sector. That both comparative and international education genres are to be found in approaches taken in the various chapters means that the book will be of interest and value not only to teachers in international schools, but also to those working in national schools and to researchers in colleges and universities worldwide.

This book brings together studies of significant British scholars of comparative education from the 19th and 20th centuries. Providing a unique and detailed examination of the work of the founding British scholars of research in comparative education, British Scholars of Comparative Education considers the legacy of these key figures and emphasises the importance of understanding their achievements. The advancement of research in comparative education has long been driven by the work of key scholars, ensuring it remains a lively area of educational research. This book highlights the pivotal role played by each scholar in driving a progression through humanistic and scientific approaches to new epistemological traditions within the field of comparative education. This in turn reveals critical historical-epistemological transitions that have had lasting impacts on the field. With contributions from leading scholars in the field, this volume will be of great interest to researchers, academics, and scholars in comparative and international education.

This book seeks to raise the discussion of globalisation’s effects on teacher education, development and work, and its reforms and institutions, to a more theoretical and analytical level, and to provide specific examples in the comparative tradition to illustrate teacher policy in the context of education systems’ widespread variability and complexity. The contributors critically analyse current arrangements in teacher education, development and work, and highlight the forces that enter in this contested terrain, the sources of conflict and convergence, and the implication of these for teaching and learning, and for indigenous forms of knowledge and knowledge construction in the globalisation era.

Schoolteachers and the Nordic Model examines the cultural distinctiveness of the Nordic teaching profession and teacher training compared to examples from Europe and North America. The book explores the concept of these ‘teacher cultures’ as various dimensions of professional identities, recruitment patterns, teachers’ social status, values and knowledge. It considers how Nordic teachers ́ socio-cultural backgrounds and their shifting societal roles compare with continental European examples, analysing the societal consequences of teacher cultures for the current Nordic welfare states. Offering a unique focus on teachers, the book uses a shared comparative and historical approach to add new knowledge to the analysis of global convergence and divergence in educational systems. The book will be of great interest to researchers, scholars and post-graduate students in the fields of comparative education, educational policy, the sociology of education and the history of education. It will also be of interest to policy makers, teacher educators and school leaders. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.