The SAGE Handbook of Research on Teacher Education

For the further development of teacher education, the editors have tapped the wisdom of a core group of scholars from different parts of the world for this impressive two-volume collection on the state of the art of a complex and contentious field of study. The themes of the Handbook are thoughtfully framed under the concept of learning – learning to become and learning to embrace responsibilities of being a teacher. Its contents illuminate the enduring puzzles in teacher education with cutting-edge knowledge unearthed from research. With foresight to guide future inquiry, the Handbook will be a key reference for specialists in teacher education and teacher studies, and is highly recommended to all those who are interested in educational inquiry.

As the quality of teaching becomes ever more significant in debates around the world about educational improvement, there has never been a time when the need for high quality research in, on and about teacher education has been more important.  A collection such as this plays a critical part in providing the academic and professional communities with key insights into current developments in the field and in helping to plan for the future.

The contemporary impassioned debates about teacher preparation will be well served by this ambitious handbook.  The chapters cover the increasingly robust research literatures on the content and character of teacher preparation, including what is taught, how evolving competence is assessed, the signature pedagogies of teacher education, and the nature of the diverse set of people who enter the profession.  The book also summarizes research on teacher educators themselves: what they know and do, the challenges they face, and their own professional learning over time.  These more micro analyses are set alongside literatures that deal with the intellectual, political, cultural, economic, and social forces in which teacher preparation is embedded.  Forward looking and global in its outlook, this handbook is the definitive resource for understanding the past, present, and future of scholarship on teacher preparation. 

This volume could not be more timely and necessary, given the continued fixation of the world on quality teachers, teaching, and teacher education. Undoubtedly quality teachers matter in the learning and development of pupils, and figuring out how to identify and recruit such teachers, prepare them, and sustain them has become an imperative for most nations as each seeks to advance socially and economically. But addressing these imperatives requires a deep understanding of the teacher education profession, especially the complex nature of teachers’ work that demands so much more than the simple delivery of content. This Handbook unpacks the complexity of teaching and learning to teach by carefully identifying and examining in depth the many critical aspects of teacher education. As a collection, the Handbook speaks from an international perspective, deliberately crossing national boundaries to facilitate a free flow of diverse ideas, innovative possibilities, and authentic stories of practice. The authors use research to first explain and explore what is, and then to (re)imagine what could and should be if we are, as a global community, to grow the thoughtful teachers whom we seek to nurture and instruct the thoughtful citizens we need. Every scholar of teacher education and any person invested in good schools and teaching, will find this Handbook to be a rich and invaluable resource.

The policy and practice of teacher education has become a hotly contested space both nationally and internationally. Different countries have specific challenges as they try to accommodate and respond to changing local political economies, but they all respond to circulating global education discourses that embrace certain education ideologies. This Handbook provides a sophisticated engagement with these challenges and an insight into how research might better enable us to understand and influence such challenges. Collectively the chapters in the Handbook provide and important ‘go to’ resource for all those involved with and interested in the field of teacher education.

From teacher identity to social and political context. From pedagogies, content and assessment to competencies and reflexivity -and so much more. At last teacher educators and students have access to a comprehensive, up-to-date and readable overview of teacher education research. This Handbook is set to be an invaluable resource as a go-to text for everyone involved in education.

Teacher policy and particularly initial teacher education have become hot topics in contemporary international educational reform movement. Teacher education is perhaps the most diverse sector within education and therefore understanding policies and practices related to it around the world has become an imperative in any serious effort to enhance education system performance. This Handbook of Research on Teacher Education is an up-close to multiple aspects of teacher education in different countries and cultures. I recommend this volume as a reference for researchers, policy-makers, and students who want to establish better, research-based understanding of this fundamental element of today’s education systems and how to make them better.