Networks
NW 01. Professional Learning and Development / NW 10. Teacher Education Research
Title
Professional Development of Teacher Educators
Abstract
More than a decade ago Goodwin and colleagues (2014) posed the question of what teacher educators need to know and be able to do. The issue remains still open. The work of teacher educators has become increasingly complex and multifaceted. This special call invites contributions that examine teacher educators’ professional backgrounds, identities, practices, and development across their careers. We particularly welcome studies that explore how contemporary developments, including teacher shortages, increasing student diversity, and the emergence of artificial intelligence reshape teacher educators’ professional learning and development.
The Call
Teacher educators are all those formally involved in the preparation and ongoing professional development of teachers, whether based in higher-education institutions, schools, teachers’ professional-development centres, or other settings. Because they are responsible both for preparing teachers and for supporting their continued learning, teacher educators are key actors in improving the quality of teaching and, ultimately, students’ learning outcomes and wellbeing (European Commission, 2013). Yet teacher educators have often been described as a “hidden profession”: many enter the role without formal preparation, induction, or shared professional standards, instead drawing on expertise from school or academic settings and learning the work largely through experience (Guberman et al., 2021; Liang et al., 2024; Livingston, 2014).
Over recent decades, teacher educators’ roles have expanded and become increasingly complex. Beyond teaching, they are expected to act as second-order teachers who model and make explicit the practices of teaching and learning. They are also researchers, curriculum developers, mentors, gatekeepers to the profession, and boundary-crossers between universities, schools, and local communities (Kelchtermans et al., 2018; Lunenberg et al., 2014). More than a decade after Goodwin and colleagues (2014) asked who teacher educators are and what they need to know and be able to do, these questions remain only partially answered. Research shows that teacher educators hold multiple, sometimes competing professional identities shaped by individual, interpersonal, institutional, and national contexts (Eryılmaz & Dikilitaş, 2025; Liang et al., 2024).
Their work is characterised by recurring tensions. These include balancing research and teaching (MacPhail et al., 2019), managing academic responsibilities alongside administrative demands (Sengsoulintha, 2025), negotiating the differing expectations of schools and universities (Merket & Engvik, 2025), and preparing student teachers both to meet prescribed standards and to engage critically with educational and societal challenges (Cochran-Smith, 2021). Such tensions also reflect broader challenges associated with maintaining professional autonomy while responding to political and policy-driven reforms. Consequently, professional development for teacher educators can be understood not only as the acquisition of knowledge and skills but also as the strengthening of resilience, adaptability, and professional agency.
This special call invites contributions that examine teacher educators’ professional backgrounds, identities, work, and professional development across the course of their careers. We particularly welcome studies that explore how contemporary developments are reshaping teacher educators’ work and learning. These developments include, but are not limited to, the global teacher-shortage crisis and the alternative or accelerated preparation pathways introduced in response, which are redefining who prepares teachers and how (UNESCO, 2024); the growing emphasis on school-based and clinical experiences in teacher education (Mattsson et al., 2011); increasing student diversity and the demands of equitable and inclusive teacher preparation (Hosseini et al., 2026); accountability regimes and standardised measures of teaching quality that may influence teacher educators’ autonomy and professional identities (Cochran-Smith, 2021); and the rapid diffusion of generative AI, which challenges established assumptions about teacher preparation and teacher educators’ own professional learning (Tan, 2025).
We welcome quantitative and qualitative empirical studies, as well as conceptual and theoretical contributions, from a range of national and institutional contexts.
Contact Person(s)
NW 1
Hannu L. T. Heikkinen, hannu.l.t.heikkinen(at)jyu.fi
NW 10
Marita Cronqvist, Marita.Cronqvist(at)hb.se
Itxaso Tellado Ruiz de Gauna, itxaso.tellado(at)uvic.cat
Ainat Guberman, ainatgub(at)gmail.com
References
Cochran-Smith, M. (2021). Rethinking teacher education: The trouble with accountability. Oxford Review of Education, 47(1), 8-24. https://doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2020.1842181
Eryılmaz, R., & Dikilitaş, K. (2025). Identity tensions of in-service teacher educators: A narrative inquiry. Language Teaching Research, 29(8), 3448-3466. https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688231216816
European Commission. (2013). Supporting teacher educators for better learning outcomes.https://school-education.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2024-04/Supporting-Teacher-Educators-for-better-learning-outcomes.pdf
Goodwin, A. L., Smith, L., Souto-Manning, M., Cheruvu, R., Tan, M. Y., Reed, R., & Taveras, L. (2014). What should teacher educators know and be able to do? Perspectives from practicing teacher educators. Journal of Teacher Education, 65(4), 284–302. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487114535266
Guberman, A., Ulvik, M., MacPhail, A., & Oolbekkink-Marchand, H. (2021). Teacher educators’ professional trajectories: evidence from Ireland, Israel, Norway and the Netherlands. European Journal of Teacher Education, 44(4), 468-485.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02619768.2020.1793948
Hosseini, N., Leijgraaf, M., Gaikhorst, L., & Volman, M. (2026). Navigating Challenges and Tensions in Social Justice–Oriented Teacher Education: A Review of the Literature. Review of Educational Research, 96(3), 870-912. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543251325572
Kelchtermans, G., Smith, K., & Vanderlinde, R. (2018). Towards an ‘international forum for teacher educator development’: An agenda for research and action. European journal of teacher education, 41(1), 120-134. https://doi.org/10.1080/02619768.2017.1372743
Liang, J., Meissel, K., & Ell, F. (2024). Understanding the professional identity of university-based teacher educators: A systematic review of the literature. International Journal of Educational Research, 127, 102406. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2024.102406.
Livingston, K. (2014), Teacher Educators: hidden professionals? European Journal of Education, 49, 218-232. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejed.12074
Lunenberg, M., Dengerink, J., & Korthagen, F. (2014). The professional teacher educator: Roles, behaviour, and professional development of teacher educators. Sense.
MacPhail, A., Ulvik, M., Guberman, A., Czerniawski, G., Oolbekkink-Marchand, H., & Bain, Y. (2019). The professional development of higher education-based teacher educators: needs and realities. Professional Development in Education, 45(5), 848-861. https://doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2018.1529610
Mattsson, M., Eilertsen, T. V., & Rorrison, D. (Eds.). (2011). A practicum turn in teacher education. Sense.
Merket, M., & Engvik, G. (2025). University-based teacher educators facing the field of practice: an analysis of power and control relations in Norwegian teacher education. Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 33(5), 602-621. https://doi.org/10.1080/13611267.2025.2549262
Sengsoulintha, K. (2025). Teacher educators' challenges: focusing on teacher training colleges in Laos. Frontiers in Education, 10, 1614060. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2025.1614060
Tan, Q. (2025). Reimagining teacher development in the era of generative AI: A scoping review. Teaching and Teacher Education, 168, 105236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2025.105236.
UNESCO. (2024). Global report on teachers: Addressing teacher shortages and transforming the profession. UNESCO. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000388832