Institutions of higher education are keen to improve teachers’ intercultural experiences, communication, and understanding, but offer few resources for bringing the research literature to direct application in teacher education programs. This volume addresses that gap by examining what intercultural exchanges in teacher education look like, why they are important, and how they can be maintained. The authors examine how socio-cultural beliefs, institutional structures, and external accreditation bodies interact in the process of interculturalization, highlighting the incentives and barriers as well as strategies to implement and maintain interculturalization projects. Highlighting pragmatic examples, this book addresses the challenges and benefits of interculturalization that can be applied to teacher education programs from both a theoretical and practitioner perspective.

Since the Teacher Education Act was in place in 1994, student teachers were educated through diverse educational institutions instead of the traditional normal schools (Taiwan’s equivalent of teachers’ colleges). But such market-based teacher education has been altered by politics, society and culture in the direction of government-controlled teacher education, particularly in the quality evaluation of teacher education. Taiwan maintains teacher education quality by controlling the number of teachers, using teacher assessment to eliminate teachers who are not up to standard, evaluating teacher education institutions, evaluating professional development of teachers to raise elementary and secondary teacher quality. This book uses Taiwan as a case study to analyze the transformation of teacher education in a country which goes through political, economic and societal transitions, along the axis of state regulation vs marketization. It analyzes the uniqueness of Taiwanese teacher education for international reference, and draws implications for teacher education policies in the context of education reform. The Formation of Two Approaches to Teacher Education Teacher Education Policy and Policy Direction in Taiwan The Ideology, Implications, Applications of Teacher Profession Standards The Teacher Education Strategic Alliances in Taiwan This book will interest policy makers, researchers and students in the field of education, especially in teacher education and comparative education.

Models of teacher education in England have undergone major upheaval in recent years. Teacher Education in England draws on the experiences of some of the people directly involved in these changes and explores the implications that they have had on their professional lives. The book also explores the challenges faced by universities in responding to the ascendance of school-led teacher training and the ways in which this impacts on conceptions of teacher education more generally, in England and beyond. Drawing on 150 interviews with teacher educators and trainees, this book documents how the systemic changes to teacher education have been implemented and explores the impact of these changes on the people directly affected by them. Presenting insider accounts, the book shows that the structural adjustments have impacted on many dimensions of teacher education that had characterised university input and that they have also unsettled more familiar understandings of professional identity and staffing composition. Demonstrating that the redistribution of teacher education across new apparatuses bolsters market forces, whilst maintaining the option of creating new forms of training that transcend established boundaries, Brown also explores the opportunities that are opened up by the new models. Teacher Education in England is the first substantial study to focus on School Direct since its implementation in 2013. As such, the book should be of great interest to academics, researchers and postgraduate students engaged in the study of teacher education and educational policy. It should also be essential reading for teacher educators, as well as teachers and trainee teachers.

In teacher education, field work in community-based spaces (including foster homes and programs for homeless youth) is frequently contrasted with "traditional" field experiences in classroom settings, where beginning teachers are immediately introduced to teacher-centered models of instruction. This volume works against such a model, presenting a counter-narrative of new teachers’ understanding of the act of teaching. By exploring their work with at risk youth in community-based sites, the authors uncover how non-traditional spaces for teaching and learning have the potential to open new doors for reimagining the teaching act and teacher identity. This volume examines how prospective teachers have used writing within unconventional spaces as catalysts for considering what it means to become a teacher, as well as how the work of teaching can be conceptualized. It unites the practical aspects of field work and with theoretical conceptions of teaching, and envisions how the work and the definition of "teaching" can be broadened.

Learning to Teach in England and the United States studies the evolution of initial teacher education by considering some of the current approaches in England and the United States. Presenting empirical evidence from these two distinct political and historical contexts, the chapters of this thought-provoking volume illustrate the tensions involved in preparing teachers who are working in ever-changing environments. Grounded in the lived experiences of those directly affected by these shifting policy environments, the book questions if reforms that have introduced accountability regimes and new kinds of partnership with the promise of improving teaching and learning, have contributed to more powerful learning experiences in schools for those entering the profession. The authors consider the relationships between global, national and local policy, and question their potential impact on the future of teacher education and teaching more generally. The research adopts an innovative methodology and sociocultural theoretical framework designed to show greater insights into the ways in which beginning teachers’ learning experiences are shaped by relationships at all of these levels. A key emerging issue is that of the alignment – or not – between the values and dispositions of the individuals and the institutions that are involved. This book will appeal to academics, researchers and postgraduate students in the fields of teacher education, comparative education, higher education, and education policy and politics.

This book shares a range of examples where international students have undertaken a work placement, practicum, internship or participated in work integrated learning. Contributions reflect on the successes and challenges that this particularly diverse group of students experience when undertaking work placement programs in a variety of disciplines, such as education, engineering and health. The book explores these experiences via three main conceptualisations: 1. Internationalisation and interculturalisation – including the diversity of international student cohorts and the associated policy, practices and assessment related to international students in higher education; 2. Multi-socialisation – of international students with a focus on new cultural contexts, professional learning and disciplinarity; and 3. Reflection and reflective practice – acknowledging that for improvement and change to occur those involved need to reflect on current and possible future practice. A working model of effective practice is introduced which can inform prospective international students, their mentors/supervisors, work placement coordinators and other relevant university staff.

The Use of Children's Literature in Teaching reveals the impact of politics, professional guidelines and restrictive measurements of literacy on the emerging identities of young teachers. It places renewed emphasis on the importance of creative teaching with children’s literature for the empowerment of teacher agency to enhance the learning of their students. Framing the debate alongside the issue of teacher autonomy, Simpson describes results from a two-year study, which brings together information from interviews, surveys, document analysis and digital stories from Australia, Canada, the UK and the US to assess the role of children’s literature in pre-service teacher education. Through cross-cultural comparison, this research captures the different levels of connection between politics, education systems, higher education and pre-service teachers. It exposes how politics, narrow views of professionalism and program structures in teacher education may adversely affect the development of pre-service teachers. This book presents a strong case that reading and responding critically to literary texts leads to better educational outcomes than basic decoding and low-level comprehension training. As such, this book will be of great interest to researchers and scholars working in the areas of teacher education and literacy and primary education. It should also be essential reading for teacher educators and policymakers.

Challenging the current state of public education and teacher preparation, this book argues for a re-imagination of teacher education through a critical feminist and critical education perspective. Offering a rich discussion of the promise and pedagogy of self-reflexivity and testimonio, which emerges from critical feminism, this book brings together theory and practice in critical feminism, critical education, and testimonio to serve as a platform in which to reconceptualize the philosophy of traditional teacher education, arguing that too many programs prepare teachers who often preserve, rather than challenge, the status quo.

Teaching morally and teaching morality are understood as mutually dependent processes necessary for providing moral education, or the communication of messages and lessons on what is right, good and virtuous in a student’s character. This comprehensive and contextualized volume offers anecdotes and experiences on how an elementary schoolteacher envisions, enacts, and reflects on the ethical teaching and learning of her students. By employing a personally developed form of moral education that is not defined by any particular philosophical or theoretical orientation, this volume relates that classroom-based moral education can, therefore, be conceived of and promoted as moral agency. Accentuated by the teacher’s voice to offer the experience of being in the classroom, this volume enables others to transfer relevant practices to their own teaching contexts.

Teaching is often seen as an identity process, with teachers constructing and enacting their identities through daily interactions with students, parents and colleagues. This volume explores how conducting video analysis helps teachers gain valuable perspectives on their own identities and improve classroom practice over time. This form of interactional awareness fosters reflection and action on creating classroom conditions that encourage equitable learning. The volume follows preservice English teachers as they examine video records of their practice during student teaching, and how the evidence impacts their development as literacy teachers of diverse adolescents. By applying an analytic framework to video analysis, the authors demonstrate how novice teachers use positioning theory to transform their own identity performance in the classroom. Education scholars, teachers and professional developers will greatly benefit from this unique perspective on teacher identity work.