Abstract
Teacher Education (TE) in OECD nations is undergoing its most significant challenge since its relocation from colleges to universities. The focus of this change is the contribution that teacher education makes to the development of teachers for a new political and economic future. Today’s teachers now need to produce students who perform highly on international rankings in PISA (and TIMSS, PIRLS, etc.) in a context of increased neo-liberal governance led by ‘big data’ and policy as numbers (Grek 2009). When students perform at levels below national aspirations, it is their teachers who are deemed to be at fault and it is their teacher education that needs to change.
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Notes
- 1.
The terminology for teacher education varies between nations. In Australia it is known as teacher education (TE), while in the UK the terms initial teacher education (ITE) or initial teacher training (ITT) are more common. Our preference is for ‘education’ rather than ‘training’ although for the purposes of this chapter we understand the terms synonymously in how they are used within quotations and the like.
- 2.
In September 2015, there was a leadership coup in Australia within the ruling Liberal/National coalition of parties, resulting in a change in Australia’s Prime Minister and members of the cabinet. Although different individuals now occupy the positions of Prime Minister and Minister for Education, the Government’s education policies and sentiment remain unchanged.
- 3.
A ‘2:2 degree’ is an expression used in the UK to mean a lower second-class honours undergraduate degree. Honours is incorporated within students’ degrees, often spread over the final two years. In England, the undergraduate degree is taken over 3 years full time; in Scotland it is over 4 years full time.
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Gale, T., Parker, S. (2017). The Prevailing Logic of Teacher Education: Privileging the Practical in Australia, England and Scotland. In: Peters, M., Cowie, B., Menter, I. (eds) A Companion to Research in Teacher Education. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4075-7_35
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