This paper focuses on the professional and academic development of teacher educators in two European countries. It draws on findings from a small-scale, comparative study in higher education institutions in England and Greece. The objectives of the study are to analyse and compare the transition and early career experiences of teacher educators; and identify effective forms of individual, collaborative and institutional learning and support. Research questions are: 1. What are the key features of the early career experiences of teacher educators and to what extent are they similar and different in the two countries? 2. What are the major factors affecting the effective transition of teacher educators into the role? 3. What strategies for professional development are particularly useful and do these differ in the two contexts? There is a growing body of research on the professional development of teacher educators. In the UK, studies have highlighted the difficulties and tensions experienced by teacher educators who often make the transition from school teaching into academic life and the growing need for teacher educators to develop research as well as pedagogical identities (Murray 2005a). Researchers stress the value of effective induction procedures into higher education (Murray 2005b, Harrison & McKeon 2008) and within-team support (Murray 2008). In European countries such as Greece, teacher educators often make the transition into teacher education from other disciplines in higher education and may already have academic profiles. International studies have identified the importance of activities such as teacher educators’ development portfolios (Koster et al 2008), self-study groups (Kitchen et al 2008) and research into practice (McGee & Lawrence 2009). The importance of personal and professional biographies in the shaping of new academic identities is also emphasised (Keltchtermans 2003, Skerrett 2008). The study findings are analysed within the theoretical framework of situated learning, in recognition that the specific context in which teacher educators work is of vital importance in the process of learning. Teacher educators are engaged in a constant process of negotiation and interaction between academic and pedagogical demands and mediate their experiences through membership of one or more communities of practice (Wenger 1998). It will be argued that Lave and Wenger’s (1991) theory of legitimate peripheral participation is particularly useful when considering the transition of teacher educators. Eraut’s (2004) research on informal learning in the workplace will also be drawn on to identify key factors affecting successful transitions.

Six teacher educators from each university were interviewed in order to map personal biographies, experiences of transition, forms of support and learning strategies, as well as any barriers or problems encountered in developing a teacher educator identity. An innovative aspect of the methodological approach is that early career researchers from the teacher education faculty in both universities undertook the interviewing and co-authored the paper. Narrative analysis (Clandinin & Connelly 2000) will be used to examine the teacher educators' own accounts of these processes, including relationships, induction practices, learning strategies and types of support, major problems and conflicts and longer term personal, professional and academic development. It is argued that a biographical approach (Biesta et al 2008) is particularly suitable for investigating individual experience and highlighting new insights into transition processes.

Key contextual features of each university are highlighted in relation to teacher education and the induction and support of teacher educators, foregrounding the perspectives of the teacher educators. Positive aspects of individual and collective practices and other forms of support are identified, as well as barriers to development arising from teacher educators' professional and academic roles. Because of the different backgrounds of teacher educators in the UK and Greece, and different organisation of teacher education in both countries, it is expected that individual needs, institutional demands, strategies and forms of professional development may differ considerably within the two contexts. Nevertheless, some common features of successful transition may also emerge, with important implications for European teacher education. The need for an entitlement to and protection of development time for teacher educators is stressed, as well as the importance of a range of supportive practices within an active learning community.