Internationalization (as defined by Knight 2004) has been identified as one of the major trends in higher education (HE) over the past decades (Altbach et al. 2009). Scholars have also acknowledged that disciplines and subject areas differ in terms of their background, needs or affordances in relation to internationalization (Kerr 1990, de Wit 2002, Teichler 2007), but neither is research extensively concerned with assessing such differences, nor are policies geared towards taking account of possible implications. Not many research accounts are available extending the idiosyncratic nature of single-discipline studies, which would provide a comparative perspective across a range of subject fields or assess and extract (possibly conflicting or reinforcing) trajectories of a subject field when it is plotted against the characteristics of internationalization in the HE sector in general. The latter is the focus of this contribution, using previous research and concepts of internationalization research to take a particular look at the subject area education/teacher education (short: edu/TE; in particular on teacher education) and its internationalization, as compared to the larger/general HE sector. The subject area edu/TE is among the least internationalized in Europe (cf. CHEPS n.d., Orr et al. 2011), probably due to its quite specific affordances in relation to internationalization.

The overarching research question will therefore be on the similarities and differences revealed when we assess discourses, policies and practices in internationalization from a comparative perspective, taking the HE sector as a whole and the edu/TE subsector as entities.

This will involve an inquiry into the question of the scope, form and extent of internationalization we were to expect in the field of teacher education in Europe, judging from the HE sector-level discourse, policy and practices and the possible differences to it found when looking to the edu/TE sector.

As the pathway of inquiry continues a particular focus will be given to a comparative assessment of so-called “structural and normative internationalization models” as they are revealed in European-level and national policies (exemplified by two countries) relating to the internationalization of higher education and teacher education. Further pointers to possible differences and implications (in particular at the institutional level) will be gained from a look towards the internationalization models found at institutions/departments of the specific subject field.

Two conceptual frameworks will be used to describe and assess internationalization: rationales (cf. de Wit 2002, Knight 2004) and program and organization strategies (cf. Knight 2004). Rationales point to the underlying drivers and describe the ‘why’ and ‘what for’ while program and organization strategies describe the ‘what’ and ‘how’. Together they are able to extensively characterize internationalization in a specific form.

Internationalization will be conceptualized as an innovation in higher education, i.e. an idea, practice or object subjectively perceived as new by an adoption unit (Rogers 2003), using van der Wende´s (1999, based on Levine 1980) inno­vation model of internationalization which opens up an interpretative frame and a view towards the (differing) profitability and compatibility of (different forms of) internationalization among different actors and stakeholders involved and affected.

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