1st Edition

Challenges to Teacher Education in Difficult Economic Times International perspectives

Edited By Joan Stephenson, Lorraine Ling Copyright 2014
    264 Pages 5 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    Teacher education in a financial crisis – what are the consequences and how can probity be maintained?

    Education, like most other parts of everyday life, is experiencing the challenges brought about by global financial constrictions. This book presents the experiences and views of practising teacher educators from multiple countries and continents on how the melt-down in world economics has affected and will continue to affect teacher education and concomitant experiences in schooling. The ramifications are seen to extend into every aspect of teacher preparation, continuing staff development and teacher support, and there are significant implications for the quality of teaching and learning, and the ethos and standing of the process of education as a whole.

    Drawing on educational theory and social, political, and economic discourses, the book addresses issues such as policy, philosophy, organisation, funding, resources, modes of teaching and learning, curricular change, recruitment and retention, amongst others, and provides a snap-shot across diverse contexts. It aims to provide an evaluative, analytical but reflective picture of teacher education in the light of the world economic crisis, whilst exploring good practice and suggesting future strategies to develop the quality of teacher education and professional support, teaching and learning.

    The volume provides an insight into the need for a new paradigm for teacher education: one that involves teacher educators in devising a discourse of positive and radical change. It will be a valuable resource for teacher educators, educational leaders, policy makers, educational commentators and teachers seeking to engage with the scholarship of teaching as a means to engage in continuous professional development.

    Foreword Michael Apple.  Introduction Joan Stephenson and Lorraine Ling  Part 1: Australia and New Zealand  Common Sense in Uncertain Times?: New Directions in Teacher Education in Australia Tanya Fitzgerald.  From Crisis to Change: An Australian Perspective Lorraine Ling.  The New Teacher Education Policy Discourse in New Zealand: Fiscal Probity or Ideological Opportunism? John O’Neill  Part 2: Continental Europe  Global Recession: Current Processes, Challenges and Perspectives of Teacher Education in the Baltic Countries Irēna Žogla.  Challenges in Times of Recession in Spain José Luis Antiñolo Piñar, Maria Dolores Molina Jaén and Álvaro García Pérez.  Challenges in Teacher Education in Turkey in the Age of Neoliberalism H. Tugba Ozturk and Berna Aslan  Part 3: Ireland and the United Kingdom  Pre-service Teacher Education Policy and Practice in an Economic Recession: Perspectives from the Republic of Ireland Marie Clarke and Maureen Killeavy.  State Intervention and Vocational Teacher Education in Scotland and England: 1999-2012 James Avis, Roy Canning, Roy Fisher and Robin Simmons.  A Nettle or Two: Learning to Teach English in a Recession John Gordon.  Reconciling Professional and Political Imperatives for Teacher Education in Northern Ireland (NI) in a Changing Global Economy Anne Moran.  Innovations in Teacher Professional Learning in Scotland: Moving Forward in Challenging Times Kay Livingston and Moira Hulme.  Foxes and Hedgehogs: Politics and Pathways to the Teaching Profession in England Joan Stephenson.  Conclusions: Layer Upon Layer Lorraine Ling and Joan Stephenson.

    Biography

    Joan Stephenson, formerly Head of the Department of Education at De Montfort University, UK, is an International Educational Consultant and an Adjunct Fellow of the Faculty of Education at Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick, Ireland.

    Lorraine Ling is Professor of Education and Executive Dean of the Faculty of Education at La Trobe University, Australia.