This paper introduces the results of literature search in the U.S., in England and in Finland, looking for historical, theoretical and empirical studies across all subject areas in each country to answer the question of how teachers learn to teach (effectively) in each setting. For each country the historical evolution of different conceptions to prepare teachers will be presented chronologically. The chronology will include detail on policies that have influenced the development of different modalities, significant shifts in direction, and the consequences of such reforms for teacher preparation, the curriculum, teachers and pupils. Detail on the explicit or implicit theory behind such changes will be documented. The papers will also present a synthesis of the empirical research evidence (qualitative/quantitative or other approaches) documenting the effectiveness of different approaches to teacher preparation and whether and how research has served to inform policy and practice. Rigorous criteria for inclusion of research studies will be developed within each country context (e.g., what counts as valid, reliable and useable knowledge will vary from country to country this is an important meta-question that we will seek to answer through our work in this IRN). The comparative section of the paper will compare each country findings beginning with conceptions of learning to teach to what counts as effectiveness and what knowledge is considered important for teachers (and pupils) to have. Questions concerning how policy supports or hinders what and how teachers learn and how they are expected to teach it will guide this section of the paper. Each paper will conclude with limitations and question for future work. Our preliminary work in this area shows that in England from the 1980 the neo-liberal policies of M. Thatcher have had a profound effect in the rapid transformation of teacher education characterized by a move from higher education to school based. Similarly theories about how teachers learn to teach have morphed from more pedagogical approaches to more subject based approaches to an increasingly apprenticeship model. While in the US there is still a tendency to favor higher education based models of teacher education the introduction of market based approaches is gaining significant ground. In Finland the market is not allowed to operate and teachers are prepared in universities and attain master’s degrees which are a requirement to begin to teach. Keywords: teacher-education, research, policy practice

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