What is the main role for teachers today? Why is the Council of Europe dealing with education, and teacher education in particular? How is educational thinking guided by visions of a future society desirable for all? How, in the midst of a fierce battle for curriculum time, can education for human rights, democracy and mutual understanding be embedded in the existing curricula? What are the values underlying our educational visions? The aim of this publication is to offer a few answers to these and many other questions. Above all, its purpose is to contribute to the ongoing debate, more necessary than ever, on the role of teachers and teacher education in the broader context of teaching and learning for a sustainable democratic society.

Leadership for Change in Teacher Education: Voices of Canadian Deans of Education presents a rich sampling of diverse perspectives on the topic in a unique collection of reflections contributed by Canadian deans of education. The focus of the inquiry, “What would we hear from deans of education invited to share their perspectives on leadership for change in contemporary teacher education?” invited deans of education to reflect on the research, policies and practices currently informing their leadership. The results, fourteen engaging and provocative essays, offer important insights and increased understandings of the complex nature of their work and explore concerns raised in relation to lived experience and the multi-faceted processes of leading change for teacher education in contemporary contexts. Reflections in these short essays underscore the critical role of deans in provoking, supporting and championing new ideas and approaches to pedagogy for teacher education, and make clear the complexities inherent in leading the change. The Coda highlights the limited scope of related research available in the current literature and recommends urgent attention, in both research and practice, to the preparation of deans and support for their ongoing professional learning and sustainable leadership. This book will be of great interest to scholars, deans of education, teacher educators, university administrators and other policymakers. “Leadership for Change was a catalyst to immersing myself in this book, promising as it does the “Voices of Canadian Deans of Education”. A member of the Association of Canadian Deans of Education (ACDE) for over a decade, I have been honoured to join these voices around many conference tables and other informal sessions. The promise of important insights these voices can share is fulfilled within every one of the compelling chapters. The book reminds us of the diverse geographical, political, and theoretical contexts that enhance understandings of multiple perspectives on leadership and the complex educational challenges inherent in contemporary teacher education. A deep commitment to public education and a profound work ethic towards stellar, relevant teacher education resonates across the work of these deans of education. This thought-provoking book makes a valuable contribution to the literature on reconceptualising leadership for teacher education.” – Professor Fern Snart, Dean of Education, University of Alberta

This report is organized around the following themes: (1) supply and demand for quality teachers (scholastic attainments of prospective teachers at the high school and college levels, demographic and social forces having an impact upon the recruitment of qualified students); (2) programs for teacher education (liberal education, subject specialization, professional education); (3) accountability for teacher education (state standards for teacher education programs, accreditation of teacher education programs); (4) resources for teacher education (school of education funding, allocation of resources for research and development, advanced degree programs); and (5) conditions necessary to support the highest quality of teaching (teacher salaries, advancement opportunities, work environments, status, autonomy). A broad analysis of each of the issues is provided and supported by empirical findings. A series of 16 recommendations is proposed to address the need for change and improvement. Included among the appendices is a listing of testimony presented at the commission hearings. (JD)

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.

The book takes as its premise the argument that diverse learner groups are a fact of demographic change that should be considered foundational in the preparation of teachers rather than be problematized as a challenge. It promotes the idea of teacher education for inclusive education based on a consideration of what it means to educate all children together. Divided into four parts, the book considers key issues for teacher education, teacher agency, teacher education for diversity, and a research agenda for the future. In today’s world, the demographic profile of students in schools is more complex than ever before, and the increasing cultural, linguistic and developmental diversity of today’s classrooms, along with the pressure to achieve high academic standards for everybody has significant implications for how classroom teachers should be prepared to meet these demands. This book advances a new understanding of inclusive education that addresses the limitations inherent in current approaches that problematize differences between learner groups by promoting a view of difference as an aspect of human individuality. It considers the implications of the research evidence underpinning teacher education for diversity and makes suggestions for future research in the field.

Serves to provide readers with an international understanding of how researchers and practitioners in different countries address some essential issues and initiatives in teacher education and development; what they have found from their known and applied research and what the implications are of which are crucial to coping with challenges from the ongoing developments in teacher education.

Examines just how the important goals of educating for democracy can be achieved from the perspective of those working in teacher education and in P-12 schools.

Many teacher education programs globally are undergoing significant changes in response to government policy, imperatives driven by global competitiveness, as well as local conditions. This is particularly relevant in the South African context where teacher education seeks to navigate from the ravages of apartheid education towards addressing the developmental needs of the majority of its citizens. This book records and explores efforts by academic staff members within the Faculty of Education at Stellenbosch University, South Africa, responding to the demands of a new program in initial teacher education. It brings together diverse views seeking to present a coherent program in the Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE). It examines how curriculum design unfolds across disciplines in the program, and crucially, the commonalities in the presentation of course material. Lecturers examine the purpose, structure and content of their teaching as they engage with putting democratic policy goals into practice in the core, as well as subject-specific modules of the program.

How teachers might best be prepared to work in schools with an increasingly diverse pupil population is of concern to educational academics, professionals and governments around the world. Changes that have taken place in legislation and practice often fail to taken into account how practitioners can ensure that all children and young people are able to achieve. The focus of this international text is on innovative practices for preparing teachers to work in inclusive classrooms and schools. Drawing on both pre and in-service training methods, the expert contributors to this book follow three major themes: social and political challenges regarding teacher education – providing an historical perspective on the training of teachers, tensions in preparing teachers for inclusion, cultural issues, the relationship between educational funding and practices and collaborative measures to support a whole school approach innovative approaches in pre-service teacher preparation – discussing a range of innovative models and approaches used in pre-service teacher education courses engaging professional development for inservice teachers – reviewing a range of approaches employed to engage working teachers and help them establish curricula and pedagogy that meets the needs of all students in their classes. Each chapter will include a list of proposed learning outcomes, a theoretical or conceptual framework to help readers develop the proposed innovation, an overview of recent research, discussion of the research data available and a discussion of the international implications and challenges, summarising in suggestions for a positive way forward. Teacher Education for Inclusion: Changing Paradigms and Innovative Approaches is essential reading for practising teacher educators, school leaders, university lecturers in education and post graduate students.

This edited collection responds to a gap in the literature by presenting a much-needed examination of both the theoretical and practical aspects of teacher education for English as a lingua franca in Indonesia. Through a series of extended research-based and conceptual chapters written by experts in teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) in and about Indonesia, this book offers an insight into Indonesia’s unique cultural, social and institutional contexts. The content focuses on four interrelated themes: the transition of perspective from English as a foreign language (EFL) to English as a lingua franca (ELF); the knowledge base of ELF pedagogy; teacher agency and identity in ELF; and innovations in teacher education for ELF. This book is highly relevant to English teachers, teacher educators and scholars worldwide aspiring to broaden their horizon and professionalism in the teaching of ELF.