Editorial: Teacher education for enduring impact

Abstract

The six papers in this issue address, in different ways, teacher education1 programs and initiatives for practising teachers. While the necessity of ongoing professional learning across all the professions is a given, we argue that it is of increasing importance in teaching in the current era. The shift in many countries in the 21st century to the standardisation of teaching means that teachers and school leaders are required to account for their teaching practices in ways to which they were not previously called. In Australia, for example, engaging in professional learning represents one of seven standards of practice (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL), 2011) and, in the United Kingdom, the Teachers’ Standards (United Kingdom Department of Education, 2011) require teachers to take responsibility for developing their teaching skills through appropriate professional development. The introduction of these types of accountability measures has led to changes in many quarters in the ways in which professional learning is conceived and delivered, as well as to increased scrutiny from the educational and broader communities of the efficacy of teacher professional learning measures (see, e.g., Darling-Hammond, Chung Wei, & Andree, 2010; Productivity Commission, 2017).