Professional development in teacher education: European perspectives

It is always a risky business putting together an article with a focus on ‘policy’ because of the time lag between research or data collection, writing, submission and eventual publication. If, in Harold Wilson’s terms, ‘a week is a long time in politics’, the publication gap for academics can be an eternity. New governments, or in some cases new ministers from continuing governments, often establish policies that announce their arrival, impose their ideologies and, for them, hopefully leave their mark on history. The articles in this issue illustrate the ways in which policies change with time and with changes in personnel at various levels in the political or professional spectrum. They also illustrate the ways in which different countries apply central, local or individually focused policies to promote and sustain the professional development of teachers. The focus of this special issue of Professional Development in Education is the way in which policy relating to professional development and professional learning is being defined or changed in Europe. The geographical context is important. Europe is a diverse area and even though there have been movements towards economic integration (through the establishment and expansion of the European Community) and social integration (in particular through the mobility of people from Eastern Europe to Western European countries in the first decade of the twenty-first century), the education systems of the individual nations have arguably remained stubbornly independent. Within the United Kingdom, for example, there are policy differences between the four nations and these are becoming more rather than less pronounced as devolution of legal and political authority becomes established. We have not included articles from all countries in this special issue, and some articles give an insight into policy change indirectly through their focus on particular aspects of continuing professional development (CPD) such as leadership development or the professional development of teacher educators. In all of the articles it is possible to draw conclusions about the changing priorities of the countries concerned or their consistency. History will show whether the political and ideological changes that have impacted on educational policy have led to significant shifts in practice, with positive benefits for teachers and pupils, or whether the changing economic climate in Europe has impacted negatively on the ways in which education, schooling and professional development are enacted. However, a significant feature of the articles contained within this special issue is their commonality in underlining the importance of the professional development and professional learning of educators in the success and effective operation of the education systems of the countries concerned. They are also similar in drawing attention to the polarisation that often exists between centralisation of policy in determining priorities for teacher development and the individual professional freedom for teachers and others to determine their own learning needs. Professional Development in Education Vol. 37, No. 5, November 2011, 645–650