The crucial role played by teacher educators within the formation of the next generation of teachers is indisputable (Murray, 2019). Yet there is, it seems, not so much interest in the occupational group that influences the initial phase of teachers, a fact that was already criticised by Lanier and Little (1986): “Teachers of teachers - what they are like, what they do, what they think - are typically overlooked in studies of teacher education” (ibid, p. 528). This is striking, given the number of authors and studies that deal with the profession of school teachers, as well as their professional development. According to Davey (2013) it should be ‘logical to assume’ that the fact that ‘teachers matters’ also goes for teacher educators (Davey, 2013, p. 4). Even if there has been a rising interest in the practices of teacher educators, mostly out of their own engagement (Murray, 2019), but also noted in some reforms and policy documents (European Commission, 2013) there is still a considerable silence about systematic research on teacher educators, their beliefs and knowledge, as well as their preparation and professional learning (InFo-TED, 2019). This is even more inexplicable, when looking at the complex challenges that teacher educators face in their diverse professional environments:

• a constantly, vastly changing society, involving an increasing internationalisation digitalisation, as well as an overall politicisation (Ozga & Jones, 2006; Czerniawski, 2018);

• critical working conditions – especially for women – gradually leading to stress and ill-health (Van den Besselaar & Sandström, 2017);

• several areas of responsibility in a highly diverse environment (Czerniawski, 2018);

• a comprehensive lack of systematic, scaffolded and situated learning opportunities (InFo-TED, 2019).

Due to internationalisation, the engagement in transnational networks, as well as the participation in third-party funded initiatives is becoming steadily more important. This leads to the professional environment of teacher education being constituted more and more by transnational and transient communities, which are often oscillating and overlapping on various levels (Hazel, 2017). Based on the work of Mortensen (2017) and Hazel (2017) we propose the following definition when speaking about transient professional communities: social configurations where professionals from diverse sociocultural backgrounds come together (physically/online) to engage in a temporary bounded activity which results in prior agreed-upon outcomes.

This paper introduces some results from the first part of a cumulative PhD study investigating the potential benefits of a transient transnational community of teacher educators (Oesterle et al., 2020). Taking a European perspective, this paper draws on qualitative data collected in the context of an Erasmus+ project, proPIC (Schwab & Oesterle, 2019). Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to approach our data, we present the findings of a case study investigating factors that teacher educators describe as beneficial and restraining when engaging in a transient professional community in a transnational project context.

The term transnational is generally understood to mean “extending or operating across national boundaries” (Oxford University Press, 2017). Throughout this paper we will use the term in the context of teacher education to refer to professional learning taking place across borders with the active involvement of professionals travelling to and interacting with other professionals from outside their own nation.

With this paper we not only intend to contribute to the field of teacher education. Moreover, we are determined to challenge the current state of it by using innovative formats in research and practice to promote long-term changes in teacher educators’ professional identities to help them cope effectively with their complex and constantly changing workplace. By introducing the concept of transnational professional learning, we suggest making professional learning more situated and embedded in teacher educators’ work life.

Using an Erasmus+ project consortium as a case study, this qualitative study is guided by the following research questions: 1. What are the perceived potentials and challenges of teacher educators being engaged in a transient professional community in language teacher education? 2. What are potential learning opportunities for teacher educators being part of transient professional communities in a transnational project context? The consortium consisted of eleven teacher educators. We chose our sample on the basis of their participation in the Erasmus+ project (http://www.propiceuropa.com/). In the context of this project, we collected a variety of data choosing eleven semi-structured interviews as our main data corpus. All interviews were transcribed. Reading through the data and identifying a first set of common themes was done using only pen and paper. In a next step, we used the MAXQDA software to re-read through our data. The software helped us to (re-)structure our themes, to categorise the various patterns more easily and make the amount of data we had more manageable. After this, we created an overview using a regular Word table to visualise all themes that had emerged. Based on this, we conducted another extensive literature review and added supporting, but also contradicting information to it. In a final step we got back to our data and discussed our final themes. We analysed our data using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). In his paper, Noon (2018) describes three fundamental orientation guiding IPA: Phenomenology, Hermeneutics and Idiography. Combining these three, IPA seeks to uncover “the participants’ view of the topic under investigation” (Smith, Jarman & Osborn, 1999, p. 218). To involve the process of our own “sense-making”, our data additionally comprised a digital researcher’s diary, recordings of our personal reflections, as well as written notes that were created observing the participants during the project meetings. This led to what Smith (2004) calls a double hermeneutic: we observed the teacher educators trying to make sense of their personal and social world, but we also included our own conceptions of making sense of the teacher educators’ sense-making (ibid., p. 40). By visiting the working contexts of most of the participants, it was possible to examine them in their particular environment, which is an essential commitment of IPA. This paper is driven by the phenomenological endeavour to investigate factors that teacher educators perceive as beneficial and restraining when engaging in a transient professional community.

Our data shows that it is essential to be aware of the pre-existing factors when planning, managing or taking part in a transient professional community in a transnational context. The evidence from this study suggests to view the challenges that teacher educators face in their everyday work life more as potentials (Oesterle et al., 2020). Based on our data, we believe that if scaffolded some challenges can be used throughout a teacher educator’s career to promote professional learning and development. To give an example, this paper will introduce the potential of transient spaces, which can be used to facilitate the engagement in transnational experience and dialogue. In line with the findings of Lunenberg et al. (2017) our data shows the benefits of using scaffolded ‘architectures’ which facilitate collaboration among professionals. Proposing the notion of transnational professional learning, we suggest making use of the numerous transient settings in which teacher educators are involved in for their own professional development. Based on our findings, we define transnational professional learning as authentic, partly scaffolded and evidence-based learning across national boundaries in which professionals from diverse cultural and possibly occupational backgrounds collaboratively engage in, which is thus social and intercultural in nature. By engaging in these learning experiences, the following three elements can be fostered: 1. professional awareness 2. professional orientation 3. professional practices The significance of our contribution lies in highlighting the value of transnationalism in European and beyond, and the impact it can have on the professional learning of teacher educators. We are convinced that transient transnational communities can help teacher educators to not only build a sustainable network across their own borders, but also to be supported more thoroughly and actively in their own professional development.

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