Teacher Education Reforms between Higher Education and General Education Transformations in South-Eastern Europe: Reviewing the Evidence and Scoping the Issues

Overview & Synopsis

The present paper considers reforms and developments in teacher education in South-Eastern European countries as part of overall reforms in higher education, and in light of changes in general education that impact teachers and their preparation. The paper reviews the literature and reports from the region that offer some evidence of and insights into the issues surrounding teacher education reforms in the contexts of postsocialist education transformations in South-Eastern Europe. It scopes the issues relating to: structural and curricular changes in teacher preparation; coordination of reforms across different levels; development of a common vision of good teaching in cooperation between teacher education institutions, schools and communities; and quality assurance of teacher preparation. The identified issues include: the superficial nature of structural reforms and the neglect of substantial curricular changes; the dearth of opportunities for reflection linking theory and practice; insufficiently developed cross-curricular approaches to teacher education reforms; the fragmentation of teacher education along a number of lines; the absence of a common vision of quality teaching, and of formative links between quality assurance systems for teachers, schools and teacher education providers. Finally, the paper outlines potential avenues for future developments and implications for teacher education policies and practices.