Section archive - Trends in Teacher Education

In this article, the author discusses how to enhance Japanese teacher education. After sketching teacher education from the mid-1940s to the 1960s, he sums up the main topics people discussed through each decade of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s. The author concludes by proposing an ideal network for promoting teaching expertise. He proposed establishing education networks in which universities, junior colleges, schools, education authorities, youth and children, teachers, parents and communities could join together with equal partnership to discuss almost all of local education plans. The author hopes that in such ways, all teachers could be educated, trained and recruited as independent intellectuals who could serve education within the national–international–global contexts of higher education-based teacher education.

In this article, a short history of Finnish teacher education has been presented and the main developments during the last 40 years discussed. The status of the teaching profession has remained very high in Finland during all these years. Teachers are trusted and respected, and the profession attracts good students year after year. This is a unique advantage to teacher education in Finland by comparison with other countries. The ethical role of a teacher has changed from that of a religious and moral example to a principled professional who needs moral competence in pedagogical encounters.

This article explores the work of teacher education in England and Scotland. It seeks to locate this work within conflicting sociocultural views of professional practice and academic work. Drawing on an activity theory framework that integrates the analysis of these seemingly contradictory discourses with a study of teacher educators’ practical activities, including the material artefacts that mediate the work, the article offers a critical perspective on the social organisation of university-based teacher education.

Since the 1970s, the Chinese political, economic and social sectors have experienced significant transformations, which have caused educational challenges. The quality of education, of the teaching force and of teacher education has become a major concern in educational reform. This article examines the educational reforms conducted in China in the past 40 years. The Chinese Government has conducted a top-down reform of teacher education over the past several decades. This reform has established a relatively stable teacher education system, regulated teacher education programmes and curricula, and provided an opportunity for in-service teachers to be trained and to upgrade their educational credentials.