Abstract
Teacher education in times of change offers a critical examination of teacher education policy in the UK and the Republic of Ireland over the past three decades, since the governments of all five nations started making major interventions. Written by a research group from the five countries, it makes international comparisons and covers broader developments in professional learning, to place these key issues and lessons in a wider context. The approach taken is a broad cultural historical one that seeks to deploy a ‘home international’ comparative methodology. After analytical accounts of policy developments in each of the five nations, four themes are considered cross-nationally: standards and accountability; research; higher education; and partnership. The major conclusion reached is that there are distinctive elements both in policy processes and in policy outcomes in all five of the nations but also significant commonalities that appear to reflect some of the wider trends in teacher education internationally that may be associated with globalisation. The analysis provided by the book demonstrates the deep political, sociological and educational significance of teacher education in contemporary democratic societies.