It is well known and recognized that teacher educators play a decisive role for the quality of the education of new teachers and also for the quality of the profession as such. Despite it is well known that teacher educators’ competences are decisive for the quality of new teachers very little research is conducted on the training of teacher educators. Sometimes it is said that teacher educators belong to a ‘hidden profession’ (Commission, 2012, p. 1). It is also well known that the implementation of teacher education reforms to a large extent stands and falls with the competences of teacher educators. Not least it is of importance that teacher educators possess that kind of competences that are demanded by the intentions of the reform. Failing teacher educator competences might just as well be an explanation for the rapid reforms in teacher education in many countries as it can be the failure of the reforms themselves. (OECD, 2014) Danish teacher education was in 2012 reformed for the third time in only fifteen years, but teacher educator competences were not mapped at all during these years. It means that nobody (policy, education) knows whether teacher educators are equipped for the demands of the reforms and whether they themselves find their competences adequate. In our presentation we want to present the results of a national survey on teacher educator competences done in January 2015. The latest Danish teacher education reform puts strong emphasis on professional knowledge and skills and it expresses a shift from a curriculum organized around content to a curriculum organized around competences and competence goals. The survey especially revolved around such competences. The study included 750 teacher educators employed at seven university colleges. The aim of the study was to get information about the teacher educators competences and just as important the teacher educators needs for in-service training or capacity building in order to being able to implement the reform as it is intended. The results of the survey study will also be compared to similar studies in Norway and other European countries.

Commission, E. (2012). Education: Policy support for Teacher Educators'. Retrieved from http://ec.europa.eu/education/events/2012/educator/conclusions_en.pdf OECD. (2014). New Insights from TALIS 2013 Retrieved from http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/download/8714051e.pdf?expires=1423156059&id=id&accname=ocid177114&checksum=5482DC912C78DE521E8EC5CE97F5AE1F