Since the 20th century, periodic demands have been made for education to foster international understanding, a trend intensified by neoliberalism and more recently translated into top-down policies suggesting internationalisation as an integrating part of universities’ strategic mission (Koh et al., 2022; Sjøen, 2023; Veiga, 2017). Internationalisation in higher education is understood as the process of integrating an international, intercultural or global dimension into the purpose, functions or ways of delivery of tertiary education (Knight, 2003).

Against this context, the internationalisation of teacher education (ITE) derives from international/global education in general and particularly from the internationalisation of higher education (Koh et al., 2022). It grows with the recognition of teaching as a cosmopolitan work and profession amidst critical and economic relations to flows, contexts and consequences linked to the globalisation of dimensions centred on economy and culture (Luke, 2004). Likewise, the need to internationalise teacher education unveils a scenario of growing mobility of people, resulting in environments characterised by linguistic and cultural diversity (Dooly & Villanueva, 2006; Kim, 2023; Larsen, 2016; Li & Santoro, 2023; Ollerhead et al., 2023).

ITE is frequently linked to improving the quality of education, addressing a call to enhance the quality of teachers in many countries (Li & Costa, 2023). Therefore, due to their impact, teacher education institutions are envisaged in two arenas simultaneously. On the one hand, higher education itself, where there is open competition towards other similar institutions (market-wise) and on the other hand, there is the engagement with the local education system, for which they are supposed to supply graduates who will become teachers in the school system (Bamberger & Yemini, 2022).

Considering the inevitability of a world characterised by interconnectedness (Sjøen, 2023), and the strong appeal of population mobility these days (Larsen, 2016; Ollerhead et al., 2023), it is agreed that teachers must possess a global mindset (Holmarsdottir et al, 2023), which is enabled by intercultural competencies (Sjøen, 2023). Teachers are expected to develop global citizens who can be critically aware of worldwide issues and understand how to relate self to a global community and vice versa while respecting alternative views and diverse cultures at the same time (Li & Santoro, 2023).

Various strategies are put in place to foster ITE, forging the desired competencies of the so-called cosmopolitan teacher (Koh et al., 2022). They include the internationalisation of the substance of teaching, learning and research, instances of cooperation, the release of supranational policies, internationalisation of the curriculum and, very commonly, mobility (e.g., Major, 2020; Sieber & Mantel, 2012). Considering this scenario, the funded project MIIT – Mapping Internationalisation conceptions and practices In Teacher education: a snapshot of Portugal – aims to further contribute to the knowledge of ITE in Portugal by identifying how key stakeholders (e.g., teacher educators) conceptualise it and mapping out strategies already in place, including those in the domain of internationalisation at home (Lourenço, 2018), i.e., the purposeful integration of international and intercultural dimensions into the in/formal curriculum for all students in the scope of domestic learning environment. In this communication, we draw on the project to explore the literature review results on ITE, articulating it with the mapping of internationalisation indices in the curricula of teacher education (Teaching Master’s Degrees) in Portugal.

The empirical study that informs this communication is led under the project MIIT - Mapping Internationalisation conceptions and practices In Teacher education: a snapshot of Portugal (2023.13967.PEX), which aims to further the knowledge on the internationalisation of teacher education in the Portuguese context. It intends to identify how key stakeholders (e.g., teacher educators) conceptualise ITE and map the strategies already implemented, including those in the field of internationalisation at home. The project set to begin in February 2025 implies carrying out a systematic literature review (Page et al., 2021; Boland et al., 2014) to provide a broad look at the existing conception and operationalisation of ITE, including at home, as a means to determine the current enablers, barriers and associated challenges. This systematisation will work as the backbone to further data analysis in the project context. Moreover, as part of the project strategy to advance knowledge on ITE, the team will be mapping internationalisation indices in the curricula of degrees addressing the training of teachers for the 3rd cycle of basic education (grades 7, 8 and 9), as well as secondary education (grades 10, 11 and 12) in public universities. In Portugal, ITE courses occur exclusively in higher education institutions via Master level programmes. The analysis involves consultation of programmes to identify if internationalisation is envisaged in aspects related to content (diversity of literature), teaching methodologies and tools, evaluation strategies, etc. It covers around 80 master’s degrees distributed in 11 universities nationwide, including the islands. The results to be discussed in this paper will result from content analysis of thematic nature.

Previous studies on the internationalisation of teacher education suggest that different stakeholders acknowledge that its focus is to broaden students’ (future teachers’) horizons and help them realise global problems while thinking of international solutions in the teaching profession (e.g., Mireia et al., 2022). Our ongoing systematic literature review will allow us to deepen such perspective and feed knowledge, especially on drivers, barriers, and challenges related to ITE. Moreover, realising there is a broad understanding of the importance and/or imposition of ITE, the analysis of curricula aimed at training teachers for the 3rd cycle of basic education and secondary schooling in Portugal will enable a discussion on how much it is a matter of rhetorics or an actual reality in teacher education.

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