This is the foundational book for the new series, Teacher Education, Learning Innovation and Accountability. The book canvasses research, practice and policy perspectives in teacher education across diverse geographic, social and political contexts. It explores the lifespan of teacher development from initial preparation through to graduate classroom practice as it occurs in an intensifying culture of standards and regulation. The characterization of initial teacher education (ITE) in a crucible of change permeates throughout the book. The chapters open up new ways of thinking about innovation and accountability in ITE and the professionalization of teaching, exploring fundamental questions, such as "Who are the actors in teacher preparation and how do they interact? How can we learn about the quality of teacher education? Where can we hear the voices of teacher educators and preservice teachers, as well as school-based teacher educators? What are the new and emerging roles of others in teacher education who have not been involved previously, including employing authorities?" (p. 22). While the book provides responses to these and other provocative questions, it also offers new insights into innovative teacher education from a wide range of policy and practice contexts. This book contains the following chapters: (1) New Cultures in Teacher Education (Claire Wyatt-Smith, Lenore Adie); (2) Accountability in Teacher Education in Norway: A Case of Mistrust and Trust (Kari Smith); (3) Notes from a Small Country: Teacher Education, Learning Innovation and Accountability in Scotland (Louise Hayward); (4) Lost in Transition: Learning to Teach in the Era of Test-Based Accountability (Jina Ro); (5) The Explicit Nature of Educational Goals for the Twenty-first Century (Esther Care, Helyn Kim); (6) Challenges for Initial Teacher Education in the Context of 'Twenty-first Century' Learning Imperatives (Rosemary Hipkins, Jo MacDonald, Jenny Whatman); (7) Conceptions of Readiness in Initial Teacher Education: Quality, Impact, Standards and Evidence in Policy Directives (Colette Alexander); (8) Research-Informed Conceptualization and Design Principles of Teacher Performance Assessments: Wrestling with System and Site Validity (Lenore Adie, Claire Wyatt-Smith); (9) Analyzing Curriculum Orientations of Kindergarten Curriculum (Barley Mak, Chrysa Keung, Alan Cheung); (10) Engaging with Ambivalence: The Neglect of Early Childhood Teacher Education in Initial Teacher Education Reform in Australia (Joce Nuttall); (11) Preparing Teachers for Assessment in Schools: The Influence of Teacher Educators (Christopher DeLuca, Andrew Coombs, Ann Sherman); (12) Looking for Synergies to Meet the Challenges of Teacher Education (Bronwen Cowie, Beverley Cooper; (13) Enhancing Inclusive Education through Teacher Education Reforms (Joy Cumming, Megan Tones, Chantelle Day, and Elizabeth Heck); (14) Is Quality Initial Teacher Education Where the Music Stops? Conceptualizing the Becoming of a Teacher: Lessons from the Field (Anna E. Plessis); (15) Early Career Teachers' Perceptions of Initial Teacher Education (Alex Kostogriz); (16) Revisiting the Teaching Practicum: Effecting Innovation or Entrenching the Status Quo? Reflections from an ITE Program in South Africa (Anil Kanjee); (17) School-Based Work in Initial Teacher Education: Responding to Policy in Practice (Bernadette Ní Áingléis, Anne Looney); (18) Designing for Integration in Initial Teacher Education Curricula: The Hong Kong Postgraduate Diploma in Education (Susan Margaret Bridges, Stephen Andrews, Amy Bik May Tsui, Carol Chan Kwai-kuen, Dan Wang, Tammy Yim Lin Kwan, Joseph Wai Ip Lam, Gary James Harfitt, Cheri Chan, Wing-Wah Law, Maurice Man Wai Cheng, Pui-sze Yeung, Wai Ming Cheung, and Rhoda Kuan Yun Wang); and (19) Teacher Education in a Crucible of Change (Ian Menter).