Editorial

This Special Issue ‘Intercultural Studies of Teacher Education: Issues of Policy and Practice’ is dedicated to teacher education, which is related to the policy environment and to the wider social, cultural, historical and economic contexts in which it is embedded. Given the continuing concerns of governments worldwide about teacher quality and teaching quality, school development, student learning outcomes and student well-being, this Special Issue provides a unique insight into the common themes and concerns in teacher education, teacher education policy and practice, overcoming the contextually embedded tensions and challenges that exist in diverse national and international settings along the way. Although teacher education is an important area of debate in the public arena and has been so for many years, not enough is still known or has been researched across different geographical contexts regarding the issues of changing teacher educational contexts, professionalization of teacher education, initial teacher education, continuing professional development of teachers, reflective teacher, pedagogy of self-assessment, teachers’ motivation to choose teaching and remain in the profession, teacher career professional life, or beginning teacher educators’ professional development.

This Special Issue is based on the critical studies of contemporary teacher educational policies and practices of teacher education. The presented studies show portraits of the contexts and conditions for understanding and enhancing quality in teacher education, and they contribute to valid research in the area. The aim of this Special Issue is to bring together, disseminate and communicate original and influential international research which provides new knowledge, insights and experience about teacher education and teacher education policy in light of current challenges and future possibilities. The six papers selected for this issue authored by experts in their field of teacher education provide us with insights and perspectives on teacher education and its policy initiatives in the chosen 15 countries.

In this Special Issue authors from across six continents (Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and North and South America) provide an intercultural analysis of chosen issues of research, policy and practice connected with teacher education in 15 countries. This was achieved through the use of a consistent data gathering approach across countries and continents involved to explore the chosen issues for the studies presented in the Special Issue. Each paper is based on original, empirical research, where data was gathered from at least 3 countries in at least two continents. This includes at least one country that is economically developing and one that is more economically developed. The collected papers examine the cultural differences and similarities of teacher education around the world, and further open and deepen the conversation on the key issues in teacher education.

In the paper ‘Cultivating reflective teachers: Challenging power and promoting pedagogy’, Christopher DeLuca, Jill Willis, Khandu Dorji and Ann Sherman look at three teacher education programmes across three countries – Australia, Bhutan and Canada – to examine how reflection is cultivated in pre-service teachers through a pedagogy of self-assessment. The authors collected qualitative data from teacher candidates from one teacher education programme in each country to obtain the views and reflections of teacher candidates about the power and pedagogy of self-assessment in order to inform their learning and development. Data analysis allowed to identify three main themes: (a) consistent learning priorities of pre-service teachers as they engage with reflection; (b) pedagogical features that leverage self-assessment strategies to enhance reflective practice; and (c) the possibilities for reflection to facilitate a professional stance towards learning. This paper shows that despite time spent on training and the governance structures of the different contexts reflective practice was a staple aspect of the training of beginner teachers and a significant component of professional growth. Moreover, greater commitment was evident where beginner teachers could identify links to self-assessment. The study highlights key aspects of self-assessment practice that can, when explicitly implemented within teacher education programmes, contribute to enhanced reflection. Self-assessment then provides pedagogic features for the often-unstructured task of reflecting on one’s experience. In particular, linking reflection to larger professional goals, reflecting with others and gaining feedback on reflections were viewed positively by teacher candidates across contexts. Regardless of teacher education environment, framing reflection through an orientation of self-assessment appears to have merit.

Carmel Roofe, Kulwinder Maude and Sudha Govindswamy Sunder in the paper entitled: ‘From Classroom Teacher to Teacher Educator: Critical insights and experiences of beginning teacher educators from Jamaica, England and United Arab Emirates’ examine beginning teacher educators’ identities when transitioning from being a classroom teacher to being a teacher educator of pre-service teachers. Beginning teacher educators’ identities from Jamaica, England and the United Arab Emirates were reconstructed using Goffman’s Impression Management Framework (1968). Findings highlight the experiences and expectations that underpinned the beginning teacher educators’ period of transition from K-12 teaching to teaching pre-service teachers. They especially direct our attention to such themes as follow: the positional helplessness, perception versus reality and support for beginner teacher educators as they experienced emotional turmoil, coming to terms with feelings of isolation, a change in their identities as first order teachers to becoming novices as second order teachers, a lack of understanding of the systems, structures and procedures, having positional power but not knowing how to leverage it and dealing with extended work hours and pressures. Presented study illustrates that teacher educators’ experiences seem to transcend geographical borders and are not necessarily linked to the political or cultural context of each country studied. This study attempts to open new perspectives in understanding how beginning teacher educators’ identities are formed and redefined in the higher education contexts and discusses implications for teacher education.

Cynthia Onyefulu, Joanna Madalinska-Michalak and Bunyamin Bavli in the paper: ‘Teachers’ motivation to choose teaching and remain in the profession: A comparative mixed methods study in Jamaica, Poland and Turkey’ aim to determine the factors that motivate teachers in Jamaica, Poland and Turkey to choose teaching as a career and ascertain what motivated the teachers at different stages to remain in teaching. The starting point for study is the assumption that currently, many countries seek to improve their schools in order to respond to higher social and economic expectations, and teachers are perceived as the most significant resource in schools, but at the same time teachers should be seen as a priority for public policy, and likely to become even more so in future years. Improving the quality of schools mainly depends on ensuring that teachers who are willing and able to teach to their best ability and who have the necessary competencies to be able to face the challenges of today and tomorrow are willing to play a pivotal role in schooling/education and stay in the profession. Motivation for choosing teaching as a career is considered as essential effective premise for joining and remaining in the profession. Data were collected through the use of the questionnaire and focus group interviews. A total of 186 teachers participated in the quantitative phase of the study, whilst 75 participated in the qualitative phase. The presented findings indicate that extrinsic, intrinsic and altruistic motivation, roles and responsibilities, and opportunities can be perceived as the main reasons teachers in the three countries chose the teaching profession. Teachers in the different stages of their careers – despite they are burdened with excessive expectations from society and rather unfavourable working conditions – remain in the profession due to a strong sense of vocation, a passion for teaching, a need to make a positive difference in students’ life, job satisfaction, and connected with its rewards of being a teacher.

Janet Douglas-Gardner and Christine Callender in the paper on ‘Changing teacher educational contexts: Global discourses in teacher education and its effect on teacher education in national contexts’ examine the effects of global discourses on teacher education in the national contexts of developed and developing countries, for example, Guyana, Japan, South Africa, the United States and the United Kingdom before and during the times of COVID-19. This paper provides a mirror into the impact of globalization into the lives, work and practices of teacher educators. Global challenges such as the shortage of qualified teachers, international comparisons and quality standards have a direct impact on teacher educators. The authors argue that the flow of teachers from developing to developed countries creates internal challenges for smaller states resulting in the temporary re-alignment of entry requirements to ensure that there are sufficient teachers to meet needs. However, this is contrasted by a desire to maintain recognition as the best in the world and where it is noted that bureaucratic saturation can potentially impede teacher educators’ autonomy. The authors conclude that teacher education continues under increased levels scrutiny and centralized control due to global and national expectations, the demand for and how they are positioned in preparing teachers for the 21st century. Implications for curriculum, assessment and the role of teacher educators emerge as important areas of enquiry in the further research.

Claiming that the complex dynamics of the 21st-century classroom can be managed best by reflective teachers, Donna-Maria Maynard, Mia Amour Jules and Ian A. Marshall in the paper entitled: ‘Unearthing the common core for reflective teacher training in Antigua and Barbuda, England, and Canada’ have as a starting point the following two assumptions: (1) to advance the teaching profession for the 21st century, it is imperative to understand the underlying processes involved in developing the reflective teacher, and (2) to develop teacher-training programmes, we need the policy which is guided by theoretical frameworks and empirical data. The authors indicate that through the reflective process, teachers are empowered as change agents to modify learning environments to benefit their students and they hold the power to influence student learning. The authors explore the principles of the pre-service emerging reflective teacher training model to focus on teachers’ perceptions of their experiences of the psychosocial interpersonal process outcomes of the teacher education environment (i.e. reflective practices, instructional scaffolding, guidance and support, modelled behaviours and reinforcement) provided during their study. The presented findings reveal that there is merit to key theoretical principles of the pre-service emerging reflective teacher training model based on the lived experiences of the teachers in Antigua and Barbuda, England, and Canada during their teacher education at the universities. The study shows the importance of understanding the pre-service teacher education and their role in creating the conditions for developing reflective practitioners.

Maria Chalari, Cynthia Onyefulu and Olufunke Fasoyiro in the paper: ‘Teacher educators’ perceptions of practices and issues affecting initial teacher education programmes in Jamaica, Greece and Nigeria’ present the quantitative survey study that was aimed to explore and compare teacher educators’ perceptions of initial teacher education (ITE) programmes in Jamaica, Greece and Nigeria. The study investigates the similarities and differences in ITE programmes available in these three countries. The study participants (n = 135) were teacher educators who were purposefully selected. The authors argue that the features of national culture, tradition and institutional politics have a significant role in the approaches taken in ITE programmes. A significant convergence between the three countries in terms of the type, modality and duration of ITE, as well as the current issues facing ITE programmes and the areas that need improvement direct our attention to the trends associated with neo-liberal ‘globalisation’.

It is shown in the papers collected in this Special Issue that teaching and teacher education, understood broadly as an ongoing process of professional development within the continuum of the teaching profession, are concerns for teacher educators, student teachers, teachers, school principals, school boards, leaders within education systems, those providing continuing professional development for teachers, and national and international policy-makers at different levels. The research presented in this Special Issue further develops the critical debate on teacher education that we need in Europe and beyond, and its focus on teachers and teacher education is related to the policy environment and to the wider social, cultural, political and economic contexts in which it is embedded. The presented studies lead us to the question of meaningful and valuable ways to strengthen the quality of teacher education not only for today but also for the future.

I owe a huge debt of gratitude to all the authors of the papers that make up this Special Issue book and to Professor Paul Miller, Institute for Educational & Social Equity, UK, the Editor of the Journal of ‘Power and Education’. Our intensive cooperation on this Special Issue took place in the years 2021–2022. As we know now, this time turned out to be very complex and challenging. The events related to the COVID-19 pandemic further exposed the strengths and weaknesses of the education systems around the world and, at the same time, the role of the teacher and the need for research focusing on teacher education, with reference to both the present and the future. I am extremely grateful to all my colleagues who accepted Professor Paul Miller’s and my invitation to contribute to this Special Issue for their dedication and passion and for focusing their energy in order to present their international perspectives on the teacher education in a changing world, in a world that has recently been witness to hitherto unknown threats and the acceleration of social, political, economic and cultural life.

Joanna Madalinska-Michalak

Guest Editor