This book presents recent international research on how teacher educators, institutions and policy makers perceive, act on and experience the dual responsibility that teacher educators are required to develop. Teacher educators are both teachers and researchers, a hybrid position which might be challenging to fulfil.
Teacher education has attracted much research over the years. It has also been subject to national and international debates about its goals and core features as well as issues of quality and effectiveness. More recently, attention has been given to the work, identity and professional development of teacher educators. The various chapters in the book address the topic of teacher educators as teachers and researchers in diverse countries and contexts, namely Australia, Belgium, England, Ireland, Israel, Portugal, Norway and the USA. Collectively, the authors examine the work of teacher educators considering their core mission, their professional development opportunities and the demands and needs of their working contexts.
The chapters in this book were originally published in a special issue of the European Journal of Teacher Education.