European Perspectives in Transformative Education

Abstract

This edited volume is a result of the international conference, “European Perspectives in Transformative Education,” held in Wrocław, on June 19th–June 20th. The conference and this publication are an integral part of the project European Doctorate in Teacher Education (EDiTE), which has spanned over the course of two projects: In the first preparatory stage, EDiTE was funded through the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Commission, while the current project is supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, Marie-Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement number 676452. In the current project, researchers from eleven countries (Czech Republic, Ecuador, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Nepal, Poland, Serbia, Syria, Buthan and United States of America) are working in the partner universities (University of Innsbruck, University of Lower Silesia, University of Lisbon, Masaryk University and Eötvös Loránd University) where they cooperate closely with supervisors and pursue individual research projects in the framework of the EDiTE joint research programme. The theme of the EDiTE program, Transformative Teacher Learning for Better Student Learning within an Emerging European Context, draws on the deep interdependence of educational research and practice. Over the course of the project, the EDiTE community envisions growing into a European network for innovation in teacher education, accessible to academics, practitioners and policy makers. A key principle of the projects is its collaborative character. In addition to junior and senior academic researchers located at the partner universities, strong institutional partnerships are built with the field of practice – with schools, research and development institutes, as well as government agencies – seen as key partners in promoting quality and relevance in teacher education and research. Collaborations within the EDiTE program take place on multiple levels – within host institutions (between researchers, supervisors and partners), and trans-institutionally with other teams at partner universities. This cooperation is made possible by a number of structural and mobility solutions that constitute essential elements of the project design. This includes joint meetings during summer schools, virtual seminars and conferences; periods of secondment for doctoral researchers at partner universities; virtual co-operation and networking between supervisors, researchers and partner institutions across the consortium and a knowledge portal