Being a Teacher Educator in Challenging Times

This book presents a duoethnographic exploration and narrative account of what it means to be a teacher educator today. Adopting a narrative approach, the book presents different personal, political and institutional perspectives to interrogate common challenges facing teacher education and teacher educators today. In addition, the book compares and contrasts the teacher education landscapes in Australia and the UK and addresses a broad range of topics, including the autobiographical nature of teacher educators' work, the value of learning from experience, the importance of collegiality and collaboration in learning to become a teacher educator, and the intersection of the personal, professional and political in the development of teacher educator pedagogies and research agendas. Each chapter combines personal narratives and research-based perspectives on the key dimensions of teacher educators' work that can be found in the literature, including self-study research. Readers will gain a better understanding of the processes, influences and relationships that make being a teacher educator both a challenging and rewarding career. Accordingly, the book offers a valuable asset for university leaders, experienced and beginning teacher educators, and researchers interested in the professional learning and development of teacher educators.

1 Introduction.- 2 Duoethnography to Explore the Work and Lives of Teacher Educators.- 3 Our educational journeys.- 4 Becoming a teacher educator.- 5 Policy and educational contexts of teacher education.- 6 Collaboration and the work of teacher educators.- 7 Working with the teaching profession.- 8 Developing pedagogies of teacher education.- 9 Constructing an identity as a teacher educator.- 10 What does 'becoming a teacher educator' mean?.