The proposal is a synthesis of a research study for a Ph.D.Ed. thesis, which aims at giving comparative perspectives on European Teacher Education in four different national contexts (France, the UK, Italy and Spain), within an international scenario of complexity, change and reform characterised by contradictory tendencies(Hagger & McIntyre, 2006). Owing to the Bologna Process and global drives towards convergency in education and training systems, tensions between needs and constraints on different levels (local, national, European) often result in hybrid solutions of Higher Education providers’ TE programmes and practices, which could be defined as glocal – overcoming the dialectics of local and global features(Arnove & Torres, 1999; Crossley & Watson, 2003; Edwards & Usher, 2008). Although some similarities about key elements and features of European Teacher Education aims, curricula and practices can be detected, the peculiar standing of Teacher Education within the European Higher Education Area ought to be recalled, due to strong influences of national cultures, norms and traditions over conceptions of education, schooling and teaching(González & Wagenaar, 2005). The implications of teachers’ roles and status, as well as recruitment and career options linked with national trends of teacher staff demand, often turn Teacher Education programmes into the most externally regulated ones in Higher Education across Europe(Eurydice, 2002, 2004). The increasing centrality of education and training within European and national policies further enhance politics’ connotations in Teacher Education, by its very nature laden with values and ideologies(Cochran-Smith, 2006). European recommendations within Lisbon strategy and Life Long Learning Programme indicate the pressing need for Teacher Education as an object of study, in order to explore and understand Teacher Education practices, contexts and trends in Europe, highlighting challenges and opportunities for constructive developments(Zgaga, 2006). Some European studies have endeavoured to outline the fundamentals of a European Teacher Education framework, with extensive international consultations of experts, professionals and stakeholders; even if concerned with Language Teacher Education, they provide relevant foundations for priorities and concerns about professional profiles and preparation of European teachers across subject specialties (Kelly et al., 2004; Kelly & Grenfell, 2004). The empirical study described in the proposal relies on a theoretical framework embedding a substantial range of recent European recommendations and studies on teacher education policies and practices, as well as relevant international research on teacher education with national references to four European countries, within backdrop perspectives of comparative and globalisation literature. This choice fits the complexity of research area and theme, which involve different levels, actors, contexts and cross-effects, suggesting the  suitability of systemic, ecological perspectives (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Feiman-Nemser, 2008).

The research questions are the following:

1)Which relevant similarities and differences can be found across Teacher Education programmes and practices in different countries, about interpretations of issues, priorities and expected outcomes?

2)Can the European dimension of Teacher Education offer a generative framework for flexible, effective solutions and evolutions in different nations’ cultural contexts?

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