European Doctorate in Teacher Education (EDiTE) is a project supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, Marie-Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement number 676452. The 4-year long project involves early stage and independent researchers, employed by five partner universities (ELTE Budapest, University of Innsbruck, University of Lisbon, Masaryk University, University of Lower Silesia) in conducting research on the theme of “transformative teacher learning for better student learning in an emerging European context”. As its main focus, EDiTE investigates the interconnectedness of educational research, policy and practice; and how transformative teacher learning is related to change in Europe (EDiTE, 2014).

The proposed symposium brings together theoretical and empirical papers of the EDiTE researchers, focusing on issues related to teacher learning such as teacher education, innovation, and inclusion. The aim is to gather transnational research perspectives of teacher learning, reflecting on the dynamics in which future education in Europe is emerging. Drawing from research, policy and practice, EDiTE papers will examine the nature of teachers’ professional knowledge, practice and learning process, quality inclusive education as well as teachers’ initial education and continuous professional development. Furthermore, as teacher learning is situated in teachers’ unique national systems, researchers will specifically focus on the context of four European countries, namely Hungary, Finland, Poland and Portugal. Recognising the importance of national context for understanding the processes of teacher learning around Europe is essential and consists an integral part of the work of the EDiTE researchers. The inter-institutional and collaborative work of EDiTE enables collecting evidence from several national contexts, while at the same time leads to establishing a transnational, European space for understanding teacher learning on the academic level.

Specifically, the first paper explores the process of Europeanisation in the field of teacher education, drawing from policy analysis and interviews with international policy experts. To exemplify how European policies and ideas influence national education systems, the paper considers the case of Hungary by analysing relevant policy documents and interviews with national policy experts and practitioners. The second paper is built on the analysis of a unique Finnish platform HundrED, thus examines the notions and prospects of teacher learning and different approaches in knowledge development. On the basis of ethnographic descriptions of an exemplary multi-needs classroom in Poland, the third paper explores starting points for teacher learning in order to realise the EU goal of educational inclusion as a principal for achieving greater social justice within the union. The fourth paper provides an alternative method for assessing Initial Teacher Education programs through the perspective of pre-service students, and their observation of programme execution.

A key question underpinning the symposium’s papers is how teacher learning translates into policy, research and practice in different European countries. Thus, the research findings will show how teacher learning is interpreted in Europe, raising awareness of what constitutes the “Europeanness” of teacher learning and what it means to be a “European teacher” (Schratz, 2014; EDiTE, 2014). We believe that the acquisition of theoretical and rational-empirical knowledge relies on the potential to conduct localised and comparative research and to relate the research process and results to one’s own practice. This is a view “that disrupts the assumption that theory and practice can be kept separate and it assumes not just that the motivations for, commitment to and practice of research are central to the research enterprise, but that they are inextricably as much as they are scientific” (Schratz & Walker, 1995, p. 1f). Therefore, the methodological approaches of this symposium’s papers will follow a European comparative perspective, applying a variety of research techniques, such as ethnography, case study research and secondary data analysis. 

EDiTE. (2014). Teacher education and teacher education policies in the European Union. Final conference and seminar 3rd-4th July 2014. Retrieved from http://www.fmik.elte.hu/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/EDiTE_Budapest-conference_Issues-Paper_2014071.pdf European Doctorate in Teacher Education (EDiTE) (2015). EDiTE Research Program. Retrieved from http://www.edite.eu/ Schratz, M. & Walker, R. (1995). Research as social change. New opportunities for qualitative research. New York: Routledge Schratz, M. (2014). The European Teacher: Transnational Perspectives in Teacher Education Policy and Practice. CEPS Journal, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 11-26.