Our unique pre-service and in-service teacher education programmes at Simon Fraser University, in which experiential learning and professional mentorship are combined with academic course work, have undergone emergency modifications in order to enable our students to continue with their programmes while adhering to government restrictions due to…

This paper has two purposes. First, to explore ways in which a western-centric in-service teacher education programme has transformed the teaching of 14 teacher participants who hitherto used a more Chinese-centric approach to teaching. Second, to investigate if any changes that have occurred have diffused beyond the teacher participants'…

Opportunities for high quality teachers' continuing professional development (CPD) are considered scarce in Asian countries such as China, Vietnam, and Cambodia. In addition, there seem to be few sustainable outcomes of teachers' CPD. The present study aimed to address English teachers' dissatisfaction with their own CPD in China. With some…

This article discusses the contributions of the international studies in this special issue and presents a few emerging topics on school, family, and community partnerships. The studies in Part I confirm that, across countries, future teachers are inadequately prepared to conduct effective partnership programmes with all students' families. Part…

This article describes an in-service teachers', staff-development model "Peer Learning Network" and presents results about its efficiency. "Peer Learning Network" promotes three levels of peer learning simultaneously (among pupils, teachers, and schools). It supports pairs of teachers from several schools, who are linked…

Even though there is no common conceptual basis guiding teacher education in Canada, over the past two decades teacher educators both in Canada and around the world have called for teacher candidates to become agents of change. While researchers across Canada strive to demonstrate "how" to prepare pre- and in-service teachers to be…

This article uses a South African case study to argue that postcolonial, emerging economy societies in transition often contain schools characterised as high risk and high need. Such schools require teachers to adapt to roles other than facilitating learning, such as psychosocial support and care, and which requires additional professional…

The Chinese Government has conducted a series of top-down reforms of teacher education over the past several decades. The reforms have established a relatively stable teacher education system, regulated teacher education programmes and curricula, and provided opportunities for in-service teachers to be trained and to upgrade their educational…

This paper reports on a Professional Learning Programme undertaken by primary school teachers in China that aimed to facilitate the development of "adaptive expertise" in using technology to facilitate innovative science teaching and learning such as that envisaged by the Chinese Ministry of Education's (2010--2020) education reforms.…

Education policies, and in particular those related to teacher education, are central to the construction of Europe as a knowledge society and for facing the social and economic challenges that European countries must respond to in this millennium. This article presents an analysis of studies on the evaluation of in-service teacher education…

Professional development is deemed necessary for university teachers at all levels, as it helps to enhance teaching quality. However, the extent of English language university teachers' professional development might depend on a number of factors. This paper reports on a study investigating English language university teachers' professional…

Summer 2009 saw the introduction in England of the Masters in Teaching and Learning (MTL). Funded in full by the Training and Development Agency for Schools, the MTL aims to improve the quality of teaching and to raise standards in schools. In this paper we discuss what the MTL might mean both for in-service teacher education and initial teacher…

In this article Hong Kong's policy on initial teacher training is used as a case study of the interplay between international trends and local policy. Traditionally initial teacher preparation in most countries has been based in higher education institutions. In recent years alternative routes for initial teacher education have proliferated in the…

This paper reviews early childhood teacher education in the People's Republic of China in the past years and raises the issues about teacher's education in the future. With thinking about early childhood education reform in China, unevenness in development in different areas and regions, and disparity in resources and programming among teacher…

Recent educational changes in China such as the decentralization policy and the marketization of education have introduced concepts such as performativity, competition and effectiveness to the education sector and they have become part of the educational lexicon. Such policy shifts force more local participation in teacher education programmes and…