Empathy is a form of perception in which individuals access the perspectives of others about the world in order to build knowledge about it. It is also a source of self-knowledge because, as a con- sequence of learning how others see us, we can regulate and refine how we see ourselves. Empathy is, therefore, an important capacity through which…

In this final article, we bring together the issues raised by authors included in this special issue. We start by describing the current situation in our own countries, partly to highlight the different ways in which nations are responding in the longer term to the pandemic, but also to draw attention to the similarity of experience -- of…

This article provides a critical exploration of the textbook-based character of Finnish educational culture. The opening section points to the need to recognize and better understand the role of textbooks in Finnish education. The next section outlines how and why textbooks have become a characterizing feature of Finnish educational culture before…

The timing of what occurs in the classroom can affect how successfully new concepts are learned. This paper analyses two promising ways of modifying the schedule of tasks or examples -- the spacing effect and interleaving. The spacing effect refers to improvements in long-term retention if practice sessions are separated by delays. Interleaving…

The work of Vygotsky is widely used in teacher education and other education-related literature, in discussion of sociocultural perspectives, and in relation to themes such as second language acquisition, the teaching of mathematics, and approaches to teaching and learning. Much of this work gives the impression that Vygotsky's work is…

In the United States, educator preparation is regulated at the state level. Accordingly, each state education system, and even individual districts, responded uniquely to the COVID-19 pandemic. Western Governors University (WGU) compiled a list of each state regulators' response to COVID, many of which included relaxation of student teaching…

The term 'clinical' is increasingly used to define the kind of teaching initial teacher education will produce. While affordances of this metaphor have been claimed, it has been less widely critiqued. As a teacher and a medical doctor, we bring our interdisciplinary understandings of curriculum studies and medicine to this analysis, to theorise…

Dealing with the often-overwhelming nature of the school placement experience and the associated demands of classroom management can be a significant challenge for many pre-service teachers. These challenges point to the need for pre-service teachers to experience aspects of challenging pupil behaviour in less pressurised environments and where…

This article argues for the humanisation of research evidence through narrative as an urgent project in teacher education and development. Narrative has the potential to make a significant contribution to a critical re-definition of both evidence and innovation in teacher education. But this argument is not a call for a user-friendly (re)packaging…

In the course of introducing a themed issue of the journal on "Innovation in Teacher Education', we lay out an argument for re-examining the meaning of innovation in the field, shifting it away from the dominance of the economistic and technological. Acknowledging its status as a 'buzzword', we distinguish between purposes for innovation and,…

The preparation of teachers for diversity within and between schools is a growing focus in teacher education worldwide, and particularly in South Africa, where the education landscape has shifted dramatically since the democratic elections of 1994. While diversity is a recurring theme in the literature, the matter of contextual diversity still…

This introductory paper reviews the literature on the use of evidence-based knowledge (EBK) in the initial and continuing professional development of teachers and also in their everyday practice. It will set the scene for the theme of the SI and critically discuss general current issues about the generation of educational research evidence, how…

Teacher recruitment and retention is an international challenge. In England the government have reported that more teachers leave before retirement age than five years ago, 30% within five years and schools are finding it difficult to fill posts with quality teachers . This paper evaluates the contribution of the research-informed RETAIN Early…

Two aspects of teacher education for cooperative learning are the content taught and the processes used to teach the content. Of the two, the processes used may have the most powerful influences on the desired outcomes. One important theory related to the processes of learning is social interdependence theory. It posits that there are three ways…

Pre-service teachers typically find it challenging to implement cooperative learning authentically in schools given the complexities of classroom environments. Curriculum integration also is demanding because it requires combining research-informed pedagogies and best practices to promote academic and social learning. This article describes how…