The presentation provides an overview of the extensive literature that informs the (Teacher) Education Work theme of the Education Cluster part of the Armenian Academic City project. The paper focuses specifically on international published research around the professional preparation of teachers (and in particular beginning teachers) and examines a range of inter-related factors inherent in a range of different models. Following a search of educational databases using specific selection criteria, the most relevant papers were collated within sub-topics to inform the review. The paper will reflect on wider conceptualisations of the purposes of teacher education, and what teacher professionalism entails (Winch, Oancea and Orchard, 2015). First, it will explore the different models of teacher education that operate in and across a range of international contexts and, through analysis of the underpinning rationales for such models, will identify the inherent assumptions about professional learning that each embodies. It will also explore to what extent these models might reflect a particular signature pedagogy for initial teacher education (Shulman, 2005). Second, this analysis will lead to a broader exploration of the nature of beginning teacher learning and the development of appropriate teacher education curricula. This will include an examination of the specific contextual factors which have a role in determining these curricula, including the influence of both the global and the local. Third, the paper tackles the perennial (and often seemingly problematic) role of both theory and practice in teacher education, and the relationship between the two within the different models under discussion. The issue is an ongoing focus of research, both in England (see for example, Burn, Mutton and Thompson, 2023), in Europe (see for example, Resch, Schrittesser and Knapp, 2024; McGarr, O’Grady and Guilfoyle, 2017; Rasmussen and Rasch-Christensen, 2015) and internationally (Darling Hammond, 2017). In particular, it will explore the way in which innovative, research-informed approaches have attempted to address this seemingly unhelpful binary. Central to any consideration of the relationship between theory and practice is the final area addressed in the paper, namely a consideration of the complex nature of school-university partnerships and the challenges of effective partnership working, including a focus on the role of teacher educators (including those who work either in university or in school settings) and the related professional knowledge base that these educators require.

Burn, K., Mutton, T. and Thompson, I. (eds.) (2022) Practical theorising in teacher education, London: Routledge Darling-Hammond, L. (2017) ‘Teacher education around the world: what can we learn from international practice?’ In European Journal of Teacher Education 40(3), pp. 291-309 McGarr, O., O’Grady, E., and Guilfoyle, L. (2017) ‘Exploring the theory-practice gap in initial teacher education: moving beyond questions of relevance to issues of power and authority.’ In Journal of Education for Teaching 43(1), pp. 48-60 Rasmussen, J., and Rash-Christensen, A. (2015) How to improve the relationship between theory and practice in teacher education.’ In Educational Research for Policy and Practice 14(3), pp. 213-230 Resch, K., Schrittesser, I., and Knapp, M. (2024) ’Overcoming the theory-practice divide in teacher education with the ‘Partner School Programme’. A conceptual mapping.’ In European Journal of Teacher Education 47(3), pp. 564-580 Shulman, L. (2005) ‘Signature pedagogies in the professions’. In Daedalus 134 (3), pp. 52–9 Winch, C., Oancea, A. and Orchard, J. (2015) ‘The contribution of educational research to teachers’ professional learning: Philosophical understandings.’ In Oxford Review of Education 41(2), pp. 202-216