How do we think about the relationship between globalisation and teachers? This Symposium discusses from various theoretical perspectives the nature, forms, and drivers of globalisation and the implications for teachers.

The intensified political focus on teachers internationally over the last decades has been accompanied by a surge in the academic literature dedicated to the teaching professions in the context of globalisation. The objective of this Symposium is to take stock of this expanding field of scholarship and discuss in a prospective manner where it might be going. In exploring the epistemic gains that comes with reflecting on and across influential research paradigms in the field, the debate on how the ‘teacher problem’ is represented in scholarship and policy is broadened and deepened.

The direct background for the Symposium is the current undertaking of a literature review concerned with teachers and the globalising processes in which they are embedded. The literature review forms part of the five-year ERC-funded project TeachersCareers, based at Université Catholique de Louvain and involving partners in England and France. Focusing on peer-reviewed academic literature published over the last twenty years, the review maps and identifies three distinctive strands that help constitute the field, including i) a ‘teaching and learning-centric’ literature with a strong focus on teacher education, pedagogy, social and cultural context, levels of professional autonomy, and opportunities for career-long professional development; ii) a neo-institutionalist perspective concerned with cultural patterns of teaching practices and beliefs, and institutional change regarding teachers’ careers; and iii) a critical literature focused on domination and power relations in the global education policy field.

Though the three strands of literature together are not exhaustive of the relatively novel academic field, the entry point for this Symposium is that these strands have been crucial in establishing the field on the map. Whilst the strands are in flux, keeping up not least with the intensification of activities taking place in the political field over the last two decades, they are also distinctive in their specific knowledge interests and employment of theoretical resources and methodological approaches.

In practical terms, the Symposium seeks to accomplish the objective of opening a debate on the state of the art and prospects in the field by inviting key scholars to share their ideas and experiences in dealing with the pertinent questions driving their work on teachers and globalisation. The first paper presentation in the Symposium is dedicated to the literature review mentioned above. Subsequently, the key scholars are asked in their paper presentations to employ one or more of their publications or projects (past or current) as a basis for taking stock of the field and look ahead. Whilst the specific questions and their emphasis are bound to vary due to different ontological, epistemological and methodological approaches, the Symposium is meant to build common ground in addressing the following questions: What provided the original impetus and knowledge interest in engaging with the issue of teachers in the context of globalisation? What role do we attribute to the political dimension – including the global re-scaling of policy - in accounting for globalising processes related to teachers’ education and professional learning, work and labour markets? How might we make sense of the complex interplay between globalisation and Europeanisation in education? Where is the field going, and how does this reflect transformations and events in social reality? Considering the direction of travel in the field, which important issues are at risk of being excluded or under-emphasised?

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