Newly Qualified Teachers in Northern Europe – Research and Development Network (NQTNE) is an international network of researchers focusing Newly Qualified Teachers (NQT) and development of systems promoting NQTs professional development. The NQTNE-network was in 2005 initiated by participants from the University of Gävle (Sweden); University of Jyväskylä (Finland); University College Copenhagen (Denmark); University College of Telemark and University College of Oslo (Norway); Tallinn University and University of Tartu (Estonia). The main aims of the network are to stimulate and co-ordinate international co-operation in research focusing NQTs in a broad sense as well as Research and Development of professional support systems. Matters of importance in the network are comparing perspectives, exchanging of experiences and developing joint research projects. In Europe and the US, there has been rather extensive research focusing on newly qualified teachers and their working conditions for several decades. In the Nordic and the Baltic countries, however, research focusing on newly qualified teachers has not received very much attention until the last few years – and the development is uneven. The main challenge in an international network is to come to the point where the participants share each others perspectives. However, depending on what kind of cooperation going on and what kind of research-focus elaborated, there are different needs of sharing perspectives. When analysing and trying to understand each others systems and approaches to promote new teachers professional development; specific efforts has to be made to consider the cultural, social, economical and political conditions forming the national educational contexts and philosophies. Comparative research will be facilitated if there are a movement towards shared perspectives and understandings in the analysis. This is not only a question of learning, but also a question of quality in research, if different contexts are understood, communicated and analyses on the same premises (or at least as near it is possible to come). In the kind of research performed within NQTNE, specific efforts has to be made to consider the cultural, social, economical and political conditions forming the national educational contexts and philosophies. When analysing and trying to understand each others systems and approaches to promote new teachers professional development, these conditions emerge on macro-level as well as on a micro-level.

The NQTNE-network is organized as an international committee with one to three participants from each country, who usually also represent powerful national research groups. On the national level, the members of the committee have the ambition to coordinate local/national networks in their own countries. However, due to different conditions and circumstances this is conducted differently in each country. The network is co-ordinated from the University of Gävle by the Induction Research Group (IRG) at the University of Gävle, Sweden. International co-ordinator has been Ph.D. Göran Fransson. The network’s webpage is: http://www.hig.se/p-inst/nqtne/

During the years 2005-2008 the network has met physically at least twice a year discussing and comparing the newly qualified teacher’s situation; the systems and ways to support them in the five countries. This basic knowledge was in autumn 2008 published in a book (Fransson & Gustafsson, 2008). The network has participated in organising three national conferences (University of Jyväskylä, Finland, 30-31st March 2006; CVU Storkøbenhavn, Denmark, 29th November 2007; Tallinn University, October 2008). The network has also given symposiums at the annual ATEE-conferences (Association of Teacher Educators in Europe) in 2006 and 2007 and approximately 30 papers, key-note speeches, presentations and panel discussions has been delivered in conferences, the above mentioned and others. Aim of poster is to informe about the network, disseminate results, and find new research-partners.