As Bradley (2019) has argued, crises have a way of “…forcing authorities to rethink models and innovate” (p.87). He was speaking in the context of financial institutions however his observation holds equally true for teacher education. Considering the deep changes that have permeated teacher education across Europe in recent years as a result of teacher shortages, policy-driven ITE programme reform / renewal, increasing digitalisation, and more recently COVID-19, there is a growing sense that we need a serious rethink on how such crises reshape the experiences of teacher educators and teacher-students.

This proposed ECER symposium brings together work in progress by researchers from several European countries collaborating on three aspects of an ongoing “Dresden conversation”. This proposal has emerged from a series of seminars organised by the TU Dresden Centre for Teacher Education & Educational Research (ZLSB). The papers offer critical consideration of: the changing role of different partners in quality and standards in teacher education; educational policy measures to address teacher shortage; and, the digitalisation of school placement support and teacher-student learning. These will then be discussed critically by an internationally well-regarded thought-leader (Poland) on teacher education.

The first paper addresses the political discussion of, and the strategies adopted for, tackling teacher shortages with reference to the Swiss context over the past decade. It opens with a consideration of the nature of transformation in teacher education and the value to understanding this of a theoretically informed analysis of the governance of education policy processes and the actors involved in seeking to spark transformation in teacher education as a response to perceived shortages. It details the decision-processes involved for Switzerland and the various regulatory measures and education policy employed to address this situation. This results in an interesting – and novel – discourse analysis of the policy shifts involved, and equally interesting European parallels that illuminate how aspects of policy transfer (policy borrowing, lending, and learning) impact on transition and transformation. [Kost / Salihovic; Switzerland]

The second paper introduces two institutional responses to ongoing challenges within the teacher education system in Germany. While the Teacher Training Quality Campaign addresses the fostering of academic studies in order to enhance professional teaching standards at schools, teacher shortages have evoked new forms of academic programmes for lateral entrants and second career teachers. The ZLSB at the TU Dresden delivers insights in both perspectives of academic professionalization in between strengthening traditional structures of teacher education and qualifying non-teaching professionals with new concepts of “teacher education on the job”. By providing profound empirical perspectives of a second career teacher program at the TU Dresden the authors are able to offer an alternative perspective in the discussion around the understandings of professional teaching in times of transformative challenges in the teacher education system in Germany. [Gehrmann / Barany / Germer; Germany]      

The final paper explores the need to innovate digitally in teacher education to better support teacher-students during their school practicum and to assist their progress. It reports ongoing work at a teacher education programme in Ireland in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2020 all university-led learning events and activities transitioned to at-distance. Similarly, all placement support – methodology visits and supervisions, optional community and social projects, portfolio activity – moved online. This involved lecturing, tutoring and placement staff transforming their expertise into something qualitatively different and digitally-aligned. The ‘reprogramming’ of the course has been developmental. As an exercise in resilience, pragmatic action, and values-led work there are lessons to be learnt from the COVID moment; especially around the mediation and consumption of technology-led solutions to pedagogical and psychosocial challenges. [Galvin/ Farrell/ Fogarty; Ireland]

Bradley, A. (2019) Global banking regulation: Why and how; Session summary minutes. In: Papaconstantinou, G., & Pisani-Ferry, J. (2019). Global Governance: Demise or Transformation? Progress report on the Transformation of Global Governance project 2018-2019. Florence: EUI