This paper builds on an initial study of the professional and academic development of early-career teacher educators in two European countries (Griffiths et al 2009). It draws on findings from a comparative case study of mid-career teacher educators in higher education institutions in England and Greece. The objectives of the study are to analyse and compare the career experiences of teacher educators in the two country contexts; in particular, to identify stages of development, landmark events and contextual factors affecting professional learning and academic identities.

Research questions are:
1. What are key features of, and landmarks in, the early and mid-career experiences of teacher educators, and to what extent are they similar and different in the two countries?
2. What are the major factors affecting the professional and academic development of teacher educators in both contexts?
3. What strategies for professional learning and academic development are particularly useful and do these differ in the two country contexts?

There is a growing body of research on the professional and academic development of teacher educators. In the UK, where teacher educators usually come from a school teaching background, studies have highlighted the following challenges: the growing demand for teacher educators to develop research as well as pedagogical identities (Murray 2009); heavy teaching loads and accountability requirements (Furlong 2005); perceived divisions between teacher educators and other academics (Maguire 2000); increased expectations for research components within teacher education programmes (Griffiths et al 2010 forthcoming).

In European countries such as Greece, the issues are rather different, as teacher educators usually make the transition into teacher education from other disciplines in higher education and already have established academic profiles. For these teacher educators, developing knowledge about schools and pedagogical strategies are the major challenges. Although, like their British counterparts, they have heavy teaching loads, there are greater expectations of research outputs and these may be related to contractual requirements and opportunities for tenure (Griffiths et al 2009).    

In order to meet these challenges, international studies have identified the importance of activities such as: in the UK, research training and focused mentoring of teacher educators in their early and mid-careers (Murray 2009) and structured peer support (Harrison & McKeon 2008); in New Zealand, collaborative working through in-service programmes (McGee & Lawrence 2009); in the USA, qualitative self-study (Ritter 2009); and in the Netherlands, the value of role models (Timmerman 2009).

The study findings are analysed within the theoretical framework of situated learning, in recognition that the specific context in which teacher educators work is of vital importance in the process of learning (Wenger 1998). Akerlind (2008) provides a useful categorization of understanding an academic identity which we will draw on in the analysis. Eraut’s (2007) research on contextual and learning factors in the workplace will also be used to identify key factors affecting teacher educators’ professional learning and differences between formal and informal learning opportunities. In addition, the complex relationships between learning, identity and practice, agency and contextual support, are usefully explored by Billett et al (2005).

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