Transitions in teacher education and professional identities: proceedings
Authors
Publication date
1 January 2015
Publisher
Universidade do Minho. Centro de Investigação em Educação (CIEd)
Abstract
The University of Minho, Braga, Portugal, was the host for the 2014 Annual Conference of
the Association for Teacher Education in Europe (ATEE), which took place in August, from the
25th to the 27th.
The Conference focused on Transitions in Teacher Education and Professional Identities
looked at the transitions in teacher education and analysed different experiences in professional
identity of (student) teachers from an international perspective. Three keywords may be identified:
challenges in teaching, dilemmas in teacher education and in teacher educators’ role and current
trends that are shaping teacher education in different contexts. Similar dilemmas and even
contradictions have been identified in different settings with different modes of government
intervention in teacher education in which content, structure and duration are also diverse but with
similar features. Another key theme discussed at the Conference was the complexity of the concept
of identity and also the contested nature of the transitions: transitions for what? How? Why? These
transitions and shifts in teacher education and professional identities need to be examined within
the context of current policies but also in the light of the complexities and contradictions of
teaching as a profession. Teacher educators are also facing transitions in teacher education
curricula but also regarding their own identities. These are complex processes that may include
resistance and turbulence because transitions may be troublesome for many reasons. In this regard
context and language matter but also the kinds of policies and practices that exist within teacher
education. There are questions that remain unanswered. However, despite the differences, the
dilemmas, and even the contradictions, teacher education can make a difference in professional
identity development as was the case of successful experiences that have been described in the
Conference